Premier League takeaways: Madueke has day to remember, Salah on target again, Everton woes

We pick out the big talking points from the latest round of English top-flight fixtures

Noni Madueke of Chelsea celebrates scoring his team's fifth goal to complete his hat-trick in the 6-2 Premier League victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on August 25, 2024. Getty Images

Joao Felix of Chelsea celebrates scoring his team's sixth goal with teammates Noni Madueke, Malo Gusto and Pedro Neto. Getty Images

Chelsea's Joao Felix scores his sides sixth goal. PA

Noni Madueke of Chelsea scores his team's fifth goal. Getty Images

Noni Madueke of Chelsea celebrates scoring his team's fourth goal. Getty Images

Chelsea's Noni Madueke scores their fourth goal. Action Images

Chelsea's Noni Madueke celebrates scoring their third goal with teammates. Action Images

Wolverhampton Wanderers' Jorgen Strand Larsen celebrates scoring their second goal. Action Images

Wolverhampton Wanderers' Jorgen Strand Larsen scores their second. Reuters

Cole Palmer of Chelsea celebrates scoring his team's second goal with Noni Madueke and Enzo Fernandez. Getty Images

Chelsea's Cole Palmer scores his sides second goal. PA

Mattheus Cunha of Wolverhampton Wanderers scores his team's first goal. Getty Images

Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson scores their first goal. Reuters

Chelsea's Noni Madueke celebrates after Nicolas Jackson scored their opener. Reuters

Wolverhampton Wanderers' Matheus Cunha scores a goal that was later ruled out. Action Images

Wolverhampton Wanderers' Matheus Cunha reacts after scoring a goal that was later disallowed for offside. Action Images

The second week of the new Premier League season saw the title contenders maintain their early pace, promoted sides continue their search for maiden wins, and a couple of hat-trick heroes.

Brighton kicked off the round with a 2-1 victory over Manchester United on Saturday afternoon, before the unstoppable Erling Haaland fired Manchester City to a 4-1 win against Ipswich Town, Tottenham thrashed Everton 4-0, and West Ham won 2-0 away at Crystal Palace.

There was also a 2-1 win for Fulham over Leicester City, Nottingham Forest defeated Southampton 1-0, and in Saturday's late game Arsenal impressed with a 2-0 victory at Aston Villa.

On Sunday, Chelsea flexed their attacking muscles by crushing Wolves 6-2, while Bournemouth and Newcastle United played out a 1-1 draw. In the last game of the round, Liverpool collected maximum points by beating Brentford 2-0.

Here are the big takeaways from the latest Premier League weekend.

Madueke the villain and hero at Molineux

Chelsea winger Noni Madueke experienced a day he will certainly not forget after banging in a superb hat-trick while also managing to insult the city of Wolverhampton.

The England Under-21 winger scored three times in 14 second-half minutes in Chelsea’s 6-2 win against Wolves – with all three being set up by Cole Palmer.

Madueke had to endure a somewhat angry reception from home fans after an Instagram post he failed to delete quickly enough in the early hours that was less than complimentary about the Midlands city he was staying in.

“I just want to apologise to anyone that I might have offended,” he said in an interview with Sky Sports after the game.

“It is just a human mistake, an accident. It wasn’t meant to be out on my socials like that. I’m sure Wolverhampton is a lovely town and I’m sorry.

“In terms of the boos, I expected it but it is part of the game. You have to be able to play under that sort of pressure.”

Salah helps Slot make it two wins on spin for Liverpool

Arne Slot made it 2-0 wins on the spin from his first two Premier League games since replacing Jurgen Klopp as manager.

Following their opening weekend win at Ipswich Town, the Reds eased to victory over Brentford on Sunday courtesy of goals from Luis Diaz and the relentless Mohamed Salah.

The Egyptian's strike made it 128 goal involvements in 128 league appearances at Anfield for Liverpool (93 goals, 35 assists). His finish at Portman Road last week broke the record for most goals scored on the opening weekend of the Premier League season.

Captain Virgil van Dijk, playing his 100th league game at Anfield for the club, revealed after the match that he is enjoying life under Slot. "The time with Jurgen is amazing and the time with the new boss is a joy and he has a certain way of playing," said the Dutch defender.

"We work a lot on so many good things and you see a lot with and without the ball that gives confidence to the team.

"We have to, I won't say forget about the Jurgen period, but that is in the past and we had an amazing time and now it is a time for the new boss to hopefully be successful."

Haaland hat-trick shows Ipswich that long road lies ahead

If last week's home defeat against Liverpool provided a warning sign of what lies ahead for newly promoted Ipswich Town, Saturday's visit to the Etihad Stadium was an even more brutal reality check.

The Tractor Boys remained all square against the Merseysiders for an hour before being swept aside in a one-sided second half. Against Manchester City, Kieran McKenna's side even had the temerity to take the lead after seven minutes through Sammie Szmodics on his full debut.

But this simply provoked the beast – and Haaland in particular – as champions City quickly blasted back with three goals in four minutes thanks to a double from the Norwegian striker and one from Kevin De Bryune. Midfielder Ilkay Gudogan was also given a roaring reception as he came on as a second-half substitute after rejoining from Barcelona.

Haaland completed his 10th hat-trick in all competitions for City with two minutes to go, taking his tally for the season to four in two games, leaving manager Pep Guardiola to say: “He did it in Salzburg, he did it in Germany. Yeah, the numbers are ridiculous. Ridiculous. So, he can compete in terms of goals with Cristiano [Ronaldo] and [Lionel] Messi.”

Son ensures Everton's season goes from bad to worse

Keeping Ipswich off the bottom spot is Sean Dyche's hapless Everton side, who followed up their opening day 3-0 home battering by Brighton with a 4-0 thrashing at Tottenham Hotspur in North London.

The scoreline would have been even worse for Everton – who managed just one shot on target for the second game running – had it not been for a string of saves from Jordon Pickford.

But the England goalkeeper had his own nightmare moment when he was caught in possession by Son Heung-min for Spurs' second, leaving the South Korean free to slot home the first of his two goals into an empty net.

Seven goals conceded and no goals scored, things are looking grim for Everton who had just 14 fit first-team players at the weekend, with little or no chance of squad strengthening before the transfer window closes.

“It's a weird thing in football when people say: 'Why don't you go out and buy someone?' I'm like: 'What do you mean? There is no money,' said Dyche on Saturday.

“It's as if, as a manager, I don't want to buy anyone. It's not that I am a manager wanting to keep the money here. Unless someone tells me something different, this is what we've got.”

Raya 'magic moment' earns Arsenal sweet revenge

At the other end of the table, Arsenal overcame bogey side Aston Villa to secure their second successive 2-0 win, courtesy of goals from Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey after the break.

One of the big talking points last season for the Gunners – who have finished runners-up for the last two campaigns – was Mikel Arteta's decision to drop goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale in favour of David Raya.

Arteta has again kept Raya as his No 1 and the Spaniard repaid that faith when he produced a superb reaction save to prevent Ollie Watkins opening the scoring at Villa Park.

That paved the way for a win over Unai Emery's men, who completed the double over Arteta's men last season when Arsenal missed out on the title to Manchester City by two points.

“They had the big chance and David made an unbelievable save, and it was the magic moment of the game,” said Arteta.

“We conceded really little, and it's a big credit to the team as it is a difficult place to come, but when we needed him he was there, and he made a terrific save.”