A round-up of results and match reports from all of this weekend’s Premier League action.
SUNDAY
Manchester United 1 Stoke City 1
Manchester United: Martial (69’)
Stoke: Allen (82’)
• Manchester United’s recent form continues to stutter after Stoke City held on for a point at Old Trafford in Sunday’s early match.
In a game United dominated, it took until the 69th minute for the deadlock to be broken when substitute Anthony Martial swept home the opening goal.
While it seemed United would then see out the victory, midfielder Joe Allen scored the equaliser in the 82nd minute when Jon Walters’ follow-up from a spilt David De Gea save rebounded back off the crossbar.
*The National staff
Leicester City 0 Southampton 0
• Leicester’s spluttering title defence suffered another blow after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Southampton at the King Power Stadium.
Retaining the title always looked like a bridge too far for Claudio Ranieri’s side, but the autumn leaves have hardly started falling from the trees before Leicester appear to have fallen out of contention.
This was another subdued performance from the champions, who lacked the ferocious work rate that carried them to the title, and they have now won only two of their seven league games this season.
Leicester are already marooned in mid-table, 10 points behind leaders Manchester City, and challenging for a top four finish might be the limit of their ambitions.
*Agence France-Presse
Tottenham Hotspur 2 Manchester City 0
Tottenham: Kolarov (9’ og), Alli (37’)
• A vibrant Tottenham Hotspur won the meeting of the Premier League’s only two unbeaten sides when they beat leaders Manchester City 2-0.
City, who had won their first 10 matches of the season under new manager Pep Guardiola before drawing 3-3 at Celtic in the Uefa Champions League on Wednesday, remain top of the table but could not cope with the intensity, pace and pressing of Spurs, who now sit second, only a point behind.
The home team went ahead in the ninth minute when Aleksandar Kolarov put Danny Rose’s long cross into his own net and an unmarked Dele Alli doubled the lead before halftime.
In the second half Claudio Bravo saved Erik Lamela’s penalty to prevent an even heavier defeat.
*Reuters
Burnley 0 Arsenal 1
Arsenal: Koscielny (90+3’)
• A bizarre last-gasp goal deflected into the net off Laurent Koscielny’s hand from a close-range effort by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain gave Arsenal a 1-0 victory at Burnley that moved them up to third in the Premier League.
Just when the home side thought they had secured a hard-earned draw, their defence failed to deal with a short corner that swung in from the right. The ball was headed on to substitute Oxlade-Chamberlain, who bundled the ball in off the hand of an oblivious Koscielny near the end of added time.
It was a cruel end for Burnley, who had twice gone close when Sam Vokes headed wide and Michael Keane hit the crossbar. At the other end, Alexis Sanchez forced a good save from Tom Heaton and blasted wide from inside the area.
With Theo Walcott also missing out with one curled effort, the visitors abandoned their patient approach in search of the winner.
*Reuters
SATURDAY
Swansea City 1 Liverpool 2
Swansea: Fer (8’)
Liverpool: Firmino (54’), Milner (84’)
• James Milner scored an 84th-minute penalty as Liverpool came from behind to win at Swansea and move to second in the table.
Swansea, who are still without a league win since the opening day of the season, took the lead after eight minutes when a simple far-post corner was headed back across goal for Leroy Fer to poke home.
Yet after the hosts dominated the opening 45 minutes, Liverpool woke up in the second half and wrestled back control of the game, levelling through Roberto Firmino’s header nine minutes after the restart. When Firmino was dragged back in the area by Angel Rangel, Milner stepped up to coolly sidefoot down the middle of the goal as Liverpool continued their excellent start to the season with a fourth successive league win.
*Reuters
Hull City 0 Chelsea 2
Chelsea: Willian (61’), Costa (67’)
• Willian and Diego Costa scored twice in six second-half minutes as Chelsea won 2-0 at Hull City to claim a first win in four league games.
Willian struck in the 61st minute after Chelsea launched one of a series of increasingly dangerous counter-attacks. Costa’s pass picked out the Brazilian, who checked, putting his defender out of the game in the process, before curling an unstoppable shot into the top-right corner of the Hull goal. Six minutes later the game was put beyond Hull’s reach in similar fashion.
Having powered into the area, Nemanja Matic saw a shot blocked by Curtis Davies, but Costa latched onto the rebound to bend a shot past Hull goalkeeper David Marshall for his sixth goal in seven games.
Victory provisionally lifted Chelsea to sixth place in the table and saw Hull drop to 15th.
*Agence France-Presse
Sunderland 1 West Bromwich Albion 1
Sunderland: van Aanholt (83’)
West Brom: Chadli (35’)
• Substitute Patrick van Aanholt scored with seven minutes left to earn struggling Sunderland a 1-1 draw at home to West Bromwich Albion.
It looked as if Nacer Chadli’s classy first-half opener would give West Brom all three points until Dutchman Van Aanholt, on for the injured Jan Kirchhoff, conjured an equaliser at the Stadium of Light.
The result will come as something of a relief to Sunderland fans and beleaguered manager David Moyes, but they are still without a win and have only two points from seven matches.
*Reuters
Watford 2 Bournemouth 2
Watford: Deeney (50’), Success (65’)
Bournemouth: Wilson (31’), King (62’)
• Substitute Isaac Success scored with a header as Watford fought back twice to draw with Bournemouth in an entertaining match.
Callum Wilson put Bournemouth ahead on the half-hour, heading in Junior Stanislas’s cross at the near post, although Watford goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes should have saved it.
Watford striker Troy Deeney equalised five minutes after halftime with a low shot but Bournemouth restored their lead with a deflected strike from substitute Josh King.
Success headed Watford’s second equaliser shortly after coming on to the pitch and Stanislas hit the crossbar with a late free kick, the third time Bournemouth were denied by the woodwork in the match.
*Agence France-Presse
West Ham United 1 Middlesbrough 1
West Ham: Payet (57’)
Middlesbrough: Stuani (51’)
• Dimitri Payet produced an early contender for goal of the season as his sublime strike salvaged a 1-1 draw against Middlesbrough.
Slaven Bilic’s struggling side were in danger of a fifth successive Premier League defeat after Cristhian Stuani put Middlesbrough ahead early in the second half at the London Stadium.
But Payet finally showed a glimpse of last season’s fine form to drag West Ham level with a superb individual effort that brought the France playmaker his first league goal this season.
Even Payet’s heroics couldn’t completely lift the gloom over the club, who remain in the relegation zone with only one win from their first seven league games.
Middlesbrough, with only one victory since winning promotion last season, are two points and two places above the Hammers after ending a three-match losing streak.
*Agence France-Presse
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