Premier League: Liverpool Humble Man United, Palace Hold Chelsea to a Draw
Two goals from Luis Diaz and one from Mohamed Salah helped Liverpool stroll to a 3-0 victory at Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday, with Erik ten Hag’s side humbled by their fierce rivals.
Liverpool dominated a United team who could not keep pace with them in the first half, the visitors taking the lead in the 35th minute through a back-post header from Diaz after United midfielder Casemiro had given the ball away.
Casemiro was again at fault for Diaz and Liverpool’s second, again supplied by Mohamed Salah, with the Colombia international sweeping home three minutes before the break, sending United supporters off for their halftime refreshments early.
With United on the ropes, Liverpool smelled blood after the break, Salah adding a third 11 minutes into the second half, but the visitors settled for three as they maintained their 100 per cent record this season under new coach Arne Slot.
A second-half equaliser by Eberechi Eze gave Crystal Palace their first point of the Premier League season as they secured a 1-1 draw away to Chelsea.
The home side broke the deadlock in the 25th minute after Palace defender Marc Guehi made an ill-advised raid forward and lost the ball, and the visitors’ defensive frailties were once again quickly exposed.
Winger Noni Madueke surged down the right before picking out Cole Palmer, and his deft pass found Nicolas Jackson steaming through the centre to score with ease from close range and put Palace on the back foot.
After slumping to successive defeats in their opening games of the season against West Ham United and Brentford and starting badly at Stamford Bridge, the Eagles finally achieved lift-off after the break.
The influential Palmer almost scored from a direct free kick before Palace found their mojo and Eze equalised in the 53rd minute, picking up the rebound from Cheick Doucoure’s blocked shot and curling the ball beautifully into the net from outside the box.
Both sides continued to chase a winner, with Levi Colwill going close for Chelsea and Palace’s Daichi Kamada forcing a fine save as the clocked ticked up towards 90 minutes.
Eze had a shot from the edge of the box blocked as his team seemed to tire in stoppage time, and Jackson had two great opportunities to snatch a winner for the Blues.
Newcastle United’s striker Alexander Isak secured a 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur with a simple tap-in as they weathered a second-half storm from the visitors to secure the points in an entertaining Premier League clash at St James’ Park on Sunday.
Adding to Newcastle’s delight, their Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali made his first league appearance since being handed a 10-month ban for a breach of betting rules and received a rapturous reception from the home supporters.
Harvey Barnes’ first-half opener for Newcastle was cancelled out by a Dan Burn own goal after the break as Spurs dominated the chances in the second period but spurned numerous openings and were beaten by a lightning-quick break from the hosts.
Joelinton’s defence-splitting pass was perfect for Jacob Murphy who, after drawing out keeper Guglielmo Vicario, laid the ball on a plate for Isak to secure the three points for manager Eddie Howe’s side, who remain unbeaten at home since January.
Newcastle now have seven points from their first three games, while Tottenham remain on four.
