Brighton win 3-1 and move into third place in the table. Tottenham’s sensational comeback in injury time
– London
City remains first, Brighton tears United to pieces, Liverpool doesn’t stop. These are the main verdicts on Saturday of matchday 5, waiting for Newcastle (with the injured Tonali on the bench) to face Brentford before thinking about Milan. The champions are ahead with 15 points, followed by the Reds, Tottenham (last minute triumph over Sheffield United) and De Zerbi’s incredible seagulls.
West Ham-Manchester City 1-3
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It took more effort than the final 3-1 suggests, but City remains the only team with full points in the Premier League. The champions celebrate Pep Guardiola’s return to the bench after two games of absence by moving to the London Stadium, completing the comeback into which the excellent West forced them with a cunning goal from Bernardo Silva (before Haaland’s inevitable final goal). Ham, also encouraged by Paolo Di Canio, Hammers legend in the stands with his family after taking to the pitch to receive the applause of his former fans before the match and sing the team anthem with them among the soap bubbles. The 5th victory in 5 games is confirmation that City has the stubbornness of the team that has won everything but still has a lot of work to do. Also because the absences of 4 starters weigh heavily, especially if Erling Haaland finds the monumental Alphonse Areola on his way to scoring until the 85th minute and if Phil Foden doesn’t make an impact either from central or from the outside. West Ham let it happen, trying to respond with the defensive organization that allowed Moyes’ team to score 10 points in the first 4 games: City are at another level, but compared to almost all the other teams in Premier. And the Hammers had confirmation that they have a team capable of achieving the goal of finishing behind the big teams. Ward-Prowse confirmed himself as one of the best signings of the summer when he put West Ham ahead in the 35th minute, with City ending the first half with 17 shots on target. The 18th is the one good for the draw: it was scored by Jérémy Doku, his first goal with the team he joined a month ago. Guardiola changes his offensive structure for the second half, with Foden wide on the right, Silva replacing Gündogan last year and Alvarez replacing De Bruyne: City is even more in control of the pitch, but West Ham slowly recovers and the match it is balanced. Until Silva changes it in the 76th minute, anticipating Areola’s exit after Alvarez’s lob missed by Aguerd. Before the end the Portuguese also helps Haaland to exorcise Areola, who can do nothing on the diagonal of the Norwegian, with the 7th goal in the first 5 games.
Manchester United-Brighton 1-3
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Brighton are a dream, United a nightmare. At Old Trafford, De Zerbi’s team enjoyed another magical afternoon, winning 3-1 against the Red Devils, their third defeat out of 5 in the Premier League. The Seagulls are third behind City and Liverpool with their fourth win in 5 games, yet another confirmation that they are not a loose cannon but a great one in this tournament. What United is trying to remain: not even the change of formation (from 4-1-4-1 to 4-3-1-2) made necessary due to the absences makes United smile again, in which the former Atalantino Rasmus Højlund plays his first match as a starter. De Zerbi’s team broke the deadlock in a lively first half in the 20th minute, when the former Welbeck player collected a nice cross from close range from close range from Adingra, the 21-year-old Ivorian starting for the first time in his career. United tried to react, but Højlund’s physical goal in the 40th minute was canceled out by VAR (Rashford had brought the ball out before providing the assist) and the Red Devils began the second half 1-0 down. Instead of the hosts reacting, Old Trafford witnessed the guests’ show in the second half: in the 53rd minute Gross doubled the lead, with a precise shot from inside the area that left Onana no chance; in the 71st minute, after the entry of Ansu Fati, Joao Pedro made it 3-0, who like Gross picked up an idea from Lamptey, deployed by De Zerbi as left back. The immediate goal of the 20-year-old Tunisian Mejbri, in the 4th Premier League match of his career, does not change things: Brighton achieved a monumental victory, United another heavy defeat to live with while preparing the trip to the Champions League at Bayern Munich’s den.
Wolverhampton-Liverpool 1-3
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Liverpool have done it again. In Wolverhampton, Klopp’s team snatched the fourth victory in a row (and the 16th useful result in a row, including last season), erasing a bad first half in the second half and scoring the winning goals between 85′ and 91′. For the fourth time in 5 games, the Reds conceded a goal in the first half but came back to dispel the hourly taboo: last year they had never won in lunchtime games. They slipped, penalized in defense by the absences of Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk and Konaté, but with their enormous offensive potential and the usually wonderful Salah, decisive even when he doesn’t score (2 assists), they found a way to turn the situation around and rise at 13 points. For the Wolves it was the second defeat in a row and fourth in 5 games: hard to digest, given that in the first half O’Neil’s team had been decidedly superior, but in the end deserved. The illusion for Wolverhampton begins in the 7th minute, when Neto invents a splendid assist from the left which Hwan puts into the net. The Wolves control the first half, they have a couple of sensational chances but before the break they risk a draw, saved by Sa’s instincts. Klopp starts again with Diaz replacing Mac Allister and the Reds find the equalizer in the 55th minute with Gakpo, who collects an assist from Salah. After the goal Nunez also comes on and the guests are a different team, more offensive and confident: Liverpool dominates and the goal with which Robertson scores the lead in the 85th minute seems the logical consequence. The hat-trick arrived after the 90th minute, with Hugo Bueno who unstoppably deflected Elliott’s shot from the edge, once again inspired by Salah.
the others
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Sensational home comeback by Tottenham, who beat newly promoted Sheffield United 2-1 between 98′ with Richarlison and 101′ with Kulusevski, just as the first defeat of the Postecoglou era was materializing in a match that Spurs dominated. Victory in injury time also for Aston Villa, with Zaniolo starting for the first time: the 3-1 over Crystal Palace (without Roy Hodgson, who felt ill a few hours before the match) came from a penalty in the 98th minute with Douglas Luiz and then 101′ with Diaby. The 1-1 had arrived in the 87th minute. A goal from Vinicus in the 67th minute gave Fulham a 1-0 home win without drama over Luton Town, still at zero.
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