Premier League takeaways: Kane on trophy trail, Chelsea stars suffer, Ten Hag's big calls

The big talking points from the weekend games in the English top-flight

PREMIER LEAGUE WEEKEND RESULTS: Saturday, August 20 - Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Kane 64') Wolves 0: Harry Kane headed gome his 250th goal for Spurs as they took over at the top of the league ... for a few hours at least. Spurs manager Antonio Conte on Kane: "I know very well that Harry would like to exchange his personal achievements for a trophy and he is working very hard for this." Getty

Crystal Palace 3 (Zaha 7', 58', Mateta 71') Aston Villa 1 (Watkins 5'): A Wilfried Zaha double - with Jean-Philippe Mateta grabbing the other a minute after coming on as a substitute - helped Palace come back from a goal down against Steven Gerrard's Villa. Palace manager Patrick Vieira said: "From the first minute until the last we played with a lot of intensity and I was really proud of the players." Reuters

Everton 1 (Gray 88') Nottingham Forest 1 (Johnson 81'): Demarai Gray's late goal earned Everton their first point of the season to deny newly-promoted Forest their second win on the spin. Everton manager Frank Lampard said: "When you have 19 shots at home you expect to see more than one goal. You need someone with a bit of composure in that moment to be clinical." Getty

Fulham 3 (De Cordova-Reid 1', Joao Palhinha 20', Mitrovic 90') Brentford 1 (Norgaard 44', Toney 71'): A late header from Aleksandar Mitrovic secured the London-derby bragging rights for Fulham who remain unbeaten from three games. Cottagers manager Marco Silva said: "We're pleased with how we've started the season, but we could even have had - and obviously would have wanted - more points." Getty

Leicester City 1 (Maddison 54') Southampton 2 (Adams (68', 84'): James Maddison's superb free-kick was not enough to earn Leicester their first win of the season as a brace from substitute Che Adams saw the Saints seal all three points. Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl said: "After the goal we saw we had nothing to lose and the guys stepped up. We played some fantastic football. AP

Bournemouth 0 Arsenal 3 (Odegaard 5' 11', Saliba 54'): An early double from captain Martin Odegaard put Arsenal on the road to victory - and the top of the table - while William Saliba curled home a stunning third goal. Gunners manager Mikel Arteta said: "We were dominant, precise. The two goals gave us a lot of confidence. Winning makes life completely different. The atmosphere is good. The unity is incredible." Getty

Sunday, August 21 - Leeds United 3 (Aaronson 33', Rodrigo 37', Harrison 69') Chelsea 0: An error from Blues goalkeeper Edouard Mendy gifted Brenden Aaronson the opening goal and Kalidou Koulibaly was sent off late on in front of a raucous Elland Road crowd. Leeds manager Jesse Marsch said: "I love it here, I love our fans, our club. You have to enjoy it, this business is not easy." Reuters

West Ham United 0 Brighton 2 (Mac Allister pen 22', Trossard 66'): Brighton scored two goals from their only two shots on target at the London Stadium to leave West Ham without a goal or point this season. Hammers manager David Moyes said: "We are struggling a bit for goals. We're aware we are not as free-flowing as we have been. I am concerned, but also I'm having to bed people in." AFP

Newcastle United 3 (Almiron 28', Wilson 39', Trippier 54') Manchester City 3 (Gundogan 5', Haaland 61', Silva 64'): City fought back from 3-1 down to earn a point after a pulsating match at St James' Park that saw Magpies captain Kieran Trippier score a brilliant free-kick and have a red card overturned. City manager Pep Guardiola said: "Proper football game. To see the team fight to the end is enough." Reuters

Monday, August 22 - Manchester United 2 (Sancho 16', Rashford 53') Liverpool 1 (Salah 81'): Erik ten Hag dropped captain Harry Maguire and Cristiano Ronaldo for the game but earned his first Premier League win as United manager. Ten Haag said: "I enjoyed it from the first minute, it was such a big fight. Both teams made a huge performance and it was a great night especially for the Manchester United fans." AFP

Kane eyes goals and silverware with Spurs

It was only a year ago that the new Tottenam Hotspur manager Nuno Espirito Santo left an unhappy Harry Kane out of his starting line-up for the opening game of the season against Manchester City – the team he was pushing for a move to. The England captain was desperately unhappy at the club's failure to win a Champions League spot with his hopes of securing silverware seemingly as far away as ever.

Fast forward 12 months and a very different picture has emerged for player and club. Nuno has long since been replaced with the ferociously ambitious Antonio Conte and a focused Kane is back firmly on the goals and trophy trail with a Spurs side set for top-tier European football this season.

His headed winner against Wolves on Saturday was goal No 250 for Tottenham and his 185th in the Premier League that saw him beat Sergio Aguero’s post-1992 record for the most at one club. Kane is also now just two goals behind third-place Andrew Cole (187) in the all-time Premier League scorers chart, with Wayne Rooney's 208 next in his sights.

Not so jolly Rodgers at Leicester

These are tricky times for Brendan Rodgers and Leicester City. The 2016 champions and 2021 FA Cup winners were beaten at home to Southampton on Saturday, leaving the Foxes without a win from their first three games.

Key defender Wesley Fofana was deemed not “in the right frame of mind” to play against the Saints, midfielder Youri Tielemans - linked with a move away from the King Power Stadium all summer – started on the bench, while the likes of Harvery Barnes and James Maddison have also been attracting admiring glances from Premier League rivals.

“There have been a few offers in for some players – nowhere near the valuation the club would want to sell,” said Rodgers. “None of them are for sale but I know how the game works. There are a few weeks to go, I don't know what's going to happen.”

Chelsea summer signings suffer at Leeds

In what will be their first full season post Roman Abramovich, Chelsea's new owners have forked out more than £170 million ($199.8m) on players and the London club are looking to strengthen further with Everton forward Anthony Gordon seemingly next on their wish list.

Manager Thomas Tuchel saw his team fall to a largely self-inflicted defeat at Leeds United on Sunday that began with goalkeeper Edouard Mendy gifting Brenden Aaronson the opening goal when he miscontrolled a back-pass.

But it was Chelsea's new boys that really suffered on a day to forget for the Blues at Elland Road. Attacker Raheem Sterling – their £50m signing from Manchester City – missed a great chance in the first minute, had a goal disallowed not long after and gave away the free-kick that led to Leeds' second. Full-back Marc Cucurella (£62m) missed two good chances to score, while £32m centre-half Kalidou Koulibaly was shown a second yellow with six minutes to go.

Newcastle no longer parking bus for Big Six

Judging by the thrilling draw with Manchester City on Sunday, the days of Newcastle United simply setting up their team not to lose against 'Big Six' opposition are seemingly now firmly in the past. Manager Eddie Howe stuck by his attacking 4-3-3 line-up against the reigning champions in a breathless six-goal rollercoaster of a game on Tyneside.

Both had kept clean sheets in their opening two games, only for Newcastle to concede after just five minutes at St James' Park and City before the half-hour mark. Winger Allan Saint-Maximin was virtually unplayable for the Magpies while City striker Erling Haaland scored one, hit the post and could easily have had a hat-trick.

Newcastle captain Kieran Trippier scored a brilliant 25-yard free-kick to put his team 3-1 up but also saw a straight red card for a foul on Kevin de Bruyne reduced to yellow after a VAR check. In the end, a draw was a fair result in what will certainly be one of the games of the season.

Dropping Maguire and Ronaldo pays off for Ten Hag

Manchester United manager Eric ten Hag showed he was not afraid of making the big calls ahead of his team's impressive win over Liverpool on Monday night.

United had endured a torrid start to the new campaign following defeats against Brighton and Brentford and their new Dutch coach decided captain Harry Maguire and attacker Cristiano Ronaldo would pay the price and start on the bench at Old Trafford.

It proved a bold decision as United fought from the first minute to the last as goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford secured victory against their old rivals, despite a late wobble after Mohamed Salah's scrambled header.