Tag: English Premier League

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Postecoglou fired; Haaland scores 2 more for Man City and Arsenal profits again from a corner

Around 20 minutes.

That’s how long it took Nottingham Forest to fire manager Ange Postecoglou after losing to Chelsea 3-0 in the Premier League on Saturday.

As for Erling Haaland, he did his damage in a devastating five-minute spell in the second half, scoring twice more for Manchester City in its 2-0 win over Everton to move to 11 goals in eight league games.

City jumped to second place and was three points behind Arsenal, a 1-0 winner at Fulham thanks to another set-piece goal.

Postecoglou was removed after just 39 days in charge of Forest, which didn’t win any of its eight matches under the Australian after he replaced Nuno Espirito Santo on Sept. 9.

In a terse 39-word statement issued while the City Ground was emptying following the defeat to Chelsea, Forest said Postecoglou was “relieved of his duties as head coach with immediate effect” after “a series of disappointing results and performances.”

British media had already been linking former Burnley and Everton manager Sean Dyche with the beleaguered Postecoglou’s job. On Saturday, The Athletic reported that former Man City and Italy coach Roberto Mancini has been contacted by Forest.

Goals early in the second half by Josh Acheampong and Pedro Neto, and another by Reece James in the 84th minute, earned Chelsea a victory that prompted loud jeers inside the City Ground at fulltime and signaled the end for Postecoglou.

Postecoglou had been in defiant mood in recent weeks, even delivering a five-minute monologue on Friday in which he rejected talk that he was a “failed manager” and promised to win a trophy at Forest — just like he did at Tottenham last season before being fired.

However, Forest lost six and drew the other two of its eight games under Postecoglou. That included four losses from five in the league, scoring just one goal in the process, to leave Forest rooted in the bottom three.

Malo Gusto became the fifth Chelsea player to be sent off this season after collecting a second yellow card in the 87th.

Haaland has 23 goals in 13 games for club and country this season, having just come off a hat trick for Norway against Israel in a World Cup qualifier last week.

The striker has said he is in the best form of his career and it seemed inevitable he would make no mistake when Nico O’Reilly teed up a cross from the left in the 58th. Haaland leapt high and buried his header.

Five minutes later, Haaland peeled away from his marker in the box and met a cut-back from Savinho with a shot that went through the legs of defender James Tarkowski and past the unsighted Jordan Pickford in goal.

“He’s our key man, what can I say?” City manager Pep Guardiola said. “But at the same time, we cannot rely and do good things just with Erling.

“So our wingers, attacking midfielders and our other players have to make a step up.”

Jack Grealish wasn’t able to play for Everton under the terms of his loan move from City.

Make that 37 goals Arsenal has scored from corners since the start of the 2023-24 season.

The league leader’s 58th-minute winner at Fulham came from a familiar source, as Bukayo Saka swung in the corner, Gabriel Magalhaes flicked it on and Leandro Trossard converted at the back post.

It was a sixth win in eight games for Arsenal, which is seeking a first league championship since 2004 after being runner-up in the last three campaigns.

Fresh off his debut for France, Jean-Philippe Mateta scored a hat trick — including an equalizer from the penalty spot in the seventh minute of stoppage time — in a breathless 3-3 draw against Bournemouth.

Nick Woltemade’s latest goal for Newcastle — a deft flick between his legs into the corner — proved to be in vain in a 2-1 loss at Brighton, which had a goal in each half from Danny Welbeck.

Burnley beat Leeds 2-0 and Sunderland won at home to Wolverhampton 2-0. (JapanToday)

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Manchester United beats Liverpool 2-1 with Maguire’s late goal in big boost for Amorim

After nine painful years, and at the 11th time of asking, Manchester United ended its Anfield hoodoo with a 2-1 win against Premier League defending champion Liverpool on Sunday.

Harry Maguire’s header in the 84th minute sealed one of United’s most significant wins under coach Ruben Amorim and consigned Liverpool to a fourth straight defeat in all competitions.

The frustration of so many miserable experiences on Merseyside appeared to pour out of Maguire as the defender celebrated in front of United’s traveling fans.

“It means everything. They’ve had the better of us over the last few years and we know that and it hasn’t been good enough for our club,” Maguire said. “The old cliche is that it is only three points, but it definitely isn’t. It means a lot more than that for the club, the boys and the fans.”

Maguire’s goal came late in another frenetic and thrilling match involving Liverpool in a season of dramatic finales for Arne Slot’s team.

That’s three league games in a row in which Liverpool has been beaten by a goal scored in the last 10 minutes of regulation time or beyond. Before that, it had scraped to late wins of its own in six of the first seven games.

So while Maguire’s headed goal maintained the losing trend, perhaps the biggest surprise was that there wasn’t another twist in the tale.

There might have been when Cody Gakpo headed wide with an open goal to aim at and the fourth official indicated there would be eight minutes of added time.

The Dutch forward had already got Liverpool back on level terms in the 78th – poking in from close range after Bryan Mbeumo had fired United ahead inside two minutes.

United’s last win at Anfield came back in 2016 when Wayne Rooney scored the only goal of the match. Since then there have been some humiliating defeats, notably the 7-0 rout in 2023 and a 4-0 loss a year earlier.

Not only has Amorim ended that bitter run, but he also collected back-to-back wins in the league for the first time since taking over at United last November.

The Portuguese coach has been under increasing pressure, with speculation mounting over his position after a troubled start to his first full season in charge. While United is ninth in the standings, it is only two points off the top four and such a morale-boosting performance could finally prove a turning point for Amorim.

Defeat for Liverpool raises more doubts about its wobbling title defense, leaving it fourth and four points behind leader Arsenal.

That is not an insurmountable gap but the run of four straight defeats extends what was already Slot’s worst run as Liverpool coach and further highlights weaknesses in his team.

Liverpool has only kept two clean sheets in 12 games in all competitions this season and a creaking defense continues to be breached late on in games.

In attack, Mohamed Salah’s only goal in his last seven league games was a penalty against Burnley, while British record signing Alexander Isak has only scored one goal in seven appearances since joining from Newcastle.

“We have to stick together. Not just as players but the fans and everyone,” said Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk. “First and foremost we have to stay humble, and stay working. We need to keep our confidence high and stay very calm.”

Emi Buendia’s curling shot sealed a 2-1 comeback win for Aston Villa against Tottenham.

The victory continued Villa’s resurgence after a desperate start to the season and denied Spurs the chance to provisionally move up to second in the standings.

Buendia shimmied his way across the edge of the box in the 77th minute at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before sweeping a perfect shot low into the bottom corner.

It was Villa’s fifth-straight win in all competitions after failing to pick up a victory in its first six games of the campaign.

It ended Spurs’ seven-game unbeaten run that looked set to continue when Rodrigo Bentancur fired the home team ahead after just five minutes.

Morgan Rogers leveled the game in the 37th before Villa went on to take all three points and consign Tottenham coach Thomas Frank to his second league loss since taking over in the summer. (JapanToday)

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EPL: Man United’s Ratcliffe gives Amorim three years to prove himself

Ruben Amorim has been given three years to prove himself at Manchester United after co-owner Jim Ratcliffe insisted he will not make a knee-jerk decision about the under-fire manager’s future.

Amorim has endured constant speculation that he faces the sack throughout this season as United lurched from one crisis to another.

The former Sporting Lisbon boss, who was hired by Ratcliffe in November 2024, admitted earlier this term that he had considered quitting during United’s darkest moments.

Amorim’s side finished 15th in the Premier League last season — their lowest final top-flight position since 1973-74 — and squandered a chance to qualify for the Champions League when they lost the Europa League final to fellow strugglers Tottenham.

Tenth-placed United have fared little better this season, losing three of their first seven league games and crashing to a shock League Cup defeat at fourth-tier Grimsby.

Amorim has yet to record successive Premier League wins since replacing the sacked Erik ten Hag, with a trip to champions Liverpool next up for United after the international break.

Despite the talk that Amorim, whose side beat promoted Sunderland in their last game, remains in danger of being axed, Ratcliffe said the 40-year-old would be given time to turn things around.

“He has not had the best of seasons. Ruben needs to demonstrate that he is a great coach over three years. That’s where I would be,” Ratcliffe told The Business podcast, produced by The Times and The Sunday Times.

“The press, sometimes I don’t understand. They want overnight success. They think it’s a light switch. You know, you flick a switch and it’s all going to be roses tomorrow.

“You can’t run a club like Manchester United on knee-jerk reactions to some journalist who goes off on one every week.”

Ratcliffe has owned just under 30 percent of United since February 2024, when he took control of football operations at the 20-time English champions.

That left the Glazer family, who have endured numerous fan protests since taking over in 2005, still in overall charge at Old Trafford.

United haven’t won the English title since 2013, while their last European trophy was the 2017 Europa League. (Punch)

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Haaland fires Man City to win at Brentford, Everton end Palace’s unbeaten run

Erling Haaland carried Manchester City to within three points of Premier League leaders Arsenal with the only goal at Brentford, while Crystal Palace’s 19-game unbeaten run was ended by a 2-1 defeat to Everton on Sunday.

The Norwegian maintained his sensational early season form to score his 18th goal for club and country in just 11 appearances this season.

Haaland showed his strength to bully his way through the Brentford defence from Josko Gvardiol’s long ball and fire home on nine minutes.

Victory came at a cost for Pep Guardiola’s men as Rodri was forced off in his latest injury setback since returning from an anterior cruciate ligament tear that saw him miss most of last season.

The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner was in tears when he had to be replaced with an apparent hamstring problem midway through the first half.

Despite a less than sparkling performance, City held out to haul themselves up to fifth and right back into the title race.

Palace missed the chance to go second after suffering a European hangover at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

The Eagles were dominant in the first 45 minutes but were left to rue not adding to Daniel Munoz’s finish from Ismaila Sarr’s pass.

However, their UEFA Conference League exertions in winning away to Dynamo Kyiv on Thursday took their toll in the second half.

Iliman Ndiaye equalised from the penalty spot after Maxence Lacroix clumsily upended Beto as Everton fought back to avoid a first defeat at their new home.

Jack Grealish then got fortunate for his first Everton goal as Munoz’s attempted clearance rebounded off the Manchester City loanee into the roof of the net.

“I thought Crystal Palace should have been out of sight, they should have been 3-0 up, but we stuck at it,” said Everton boss David Moyes.

Ange Postecoglou’s wait for a first win as Nottingham Forest manager goes on after a 2-0 defeat at Newcastle.

The Australian is the first Forest boss in over 100 years to fail to win in his first seven games and now faces an anxious wait to see if club owner Evangelos Marinakis decides to make another managerial change over the international break.

“I knew it was a big challenge walking in. That’s what it is and there’s nothing wrong with that,” said Postecoglou.

Newcastle had only won one of their opening six Premier League games.

But Bruno Guimaraes led the Magpies to victory with a brilliant strike from outside the box to break the deadlock on 58 minutes.

Guimaraes then won a penalty after robbing former team-mate Elliot Anderson inside the Forest box.

Nick Woltemade smashed the resulting spot-kick into the top corner for his fourth Newcastle goal since joining from Stuttgart last month.

Forest slip to 17th, the same league position that saw Postecoglou sacked by Tottenham at the end of last season despite winning the Europa League.

After a slow start to the season, Aston Villa beat Burnley 2-1 to secure a fourth win in the last 11 days.

Donyell Malen was the Villa match-winner with his first goals since April.

The Dutch forward opened the scoring after racing onto Boubacar Kamara’s brilliant through ball to slot into the far corner.

Morgan Rogers was the creator for the second that Malen controlled before drilling confidently into the far corner.

Lesley Ugochukwu pulled a goal back but Burnley remain in the relegation zone.

Wolves are still rooted to the foot of the table after conceding a late equaliser to draw 1-1 at home to Brighton. (JapanToday)

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Chelsea beats Liverpool after late Estevao goal; Arsenal tops Premier League

Estevao struck in added time to inflict a third straight defeat on Premier League champion Liverpool.

The Brazilian teenager slid in at the far post to seal a 2-1 win for Chelsea in a breathless finish at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Estevao’s goal sparked wild celebrations that earned Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca a red card and ensured Liverpool goes into the international break knocked off the top of the standings.

“It is extra special to win like that because you win energy, trust and confidence in the process,” Chelsea assistant Willy Caballero said. “It is also something unforgettable for Estevao.”

Arsenal was in first place, a point ahead of Liverpool, after beating West Ham 2-0, while Manchester United picked up a crucial win against Sunderland to ease pressure on coach Ruben Amorim.

Liverpool is no stranger to late drama this season but the tide has turned on manager Arne Slot.

Late goals in six of the Merseyside club’s first seven games helped it maintain a 100% record and build an early lead in the standings.

But a first defeat of the campaign via Eddie Nketiah’s strike in the seventh minute of stoppage time for Crystal Palace last week was followed by Estevao’s strike in the fifth minute of stoppage time for Chelsea. In between, Liverpool lost to Galatasaray 1-0 in the Champions League.

Cody Gakpo looked like salvaging a point for Liverpool with his score in the second half after Moises Caicedo fired Chelsea in front with a thunderous long range strike in the first half.

But Chelsea, on the back of a three-game winless run in the league, mounted a late onslaught.

Enzo Fernandez headed against the post in added time and Estevao, the 18-year-old forward who joined from Palmeiras in the summer, converted Marc Cucurella’s cross.

“After we scored 1-1 it went our way and I was waiting for us to score the second,” Slot told the BBC. “Last week, same as this week, two difficult away games, the fine margins haven’t been in our favor.”

Ruben Amorim rang the changes and got the result he desperately needed.

Victory against Sunderland came at a crucial time for Amorim ahead of the international break, with speculation mounting over his position. He has still to lead United to back-to-back victories in the league after almost a year in charge but this was a step in the right direction.

“It’s really important to win games and have a better feeling but we need to forget this game and go for the next one,” he said.

Amorim showed his ruthless side by dropping $84 million summer signing Matheus Cunha and handing a first start to new goalkeeper Senne Lammens. Those decisions paid off with first half goals from Mason Mount and Benjamin Sesko at Old Trafford and a first clean sheet of the season.

This was only Amorim’s 10th win from 34 league games and going into Saturday’s match he accepted it would be “impossible” to continue in the job if results didn’t turn.

Which is why victory against Sunderland was crucial in a week when he was criticized by United greats Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville, and ahead of the international break, which has traditionally been a convenient time to make managerial changes.

After 300 games in charge, Arsenal Mikel Arteta is looking down on the rest of the Premier League after victory against West Ham.

“I wanted to celebrate it with a win, I’ve got it,” he said.

Goals from Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka, from the penalty spot, inflicted a first defeat on new West Ham coach Nuno Espirito Santo.

That’s four wins in a row for Arsenal in all competitions and, after a daunting start to the campaign, Arteta’s team looks like a title contender again.

Saka, who scored on his 200th appearance for the club, is convinced Arteta will deliver trophies after finishing runner-up three years in a row.

“We’ve had some tough games, particularly away. We are in a strong place in the Premier League and looking forward to coming back and pushing on,” he told the BBC. “Mikel has very much improved my game. He will bring this club success and (I’m) looking forward to when that day comes.”

Victory, however, came at a cost after another injury to captain Martin Odegaard.

Mohammed Kudus scored his first Tottenham goal to keep Thomas Frank’s team riding high. Kudus’ second-half strike from the edge of the box secured a 2-1 win at Leeds to move Spurs up to third.

Spurs have lost just once in the league under Frank, who took charge in the summer.

Kudus was one of Frank’s big signings, joining from West Ham.

Spurs led through Mathys Tel, whose deflected shot rocketed into the top corner.

Leeds, which was unbeaten at home since February, equalized through Noah Okafor from close range in the 34th. (JapanToday)

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EPL: Arsenal snatch late 2-1 win against Newcastle

Arsenal staged a late comeback to beat Newcastle 2-1 thanks to a stoppage-time header from Gabriel Magalhães at St James’ Park, on Sunday.

The game looked to be slipping away from the visitors after Nick Woltemade scored one for Newcastle in the 34th minute.

Arsenal had dominated the opening half but failed to find the net despite good chances from Eberechi Eze and Leandro Trossard.

The London club were left frustrated when a penalty awarded for a foul on Viktor Gyökeres was overturned following a VAR review.

Newcastle had weathered the storm with the help of goalkeeper Nick Pope.

Mikel Merino rose to nod home from close range in the 84th minute to level, setting up a frantic finish.

Arsenal pushed with everything they had and were ultimately rewarded deep in stoppage time when Martin Ødegaard’s corner found Gabriel, who rose highest to head the winner in the sixth minute of added time.

Arsenal’s late victory will feel like a statement of character for Mikel Arteta’s side, who move on with a precious away win after dominating long spells of the match but having to fight until the final whistle to secure the three points.

Newcastle will take encouragement from a dogged defensive display.

Arsenal now have four wins, one draw, and one loss in six Premier League games. They sit in the second position on the table, while Newcastle is in 15th. (Punch)

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Liverpool concedes late goal as its 100% start to Premier League ends with loss at Palace


There was a flurry of stoppage-time goals in the Premier League on Saturday — and one of them ended Liverpool’s 100% start to its title defense.

Eddie Nketiah’s strike in the seventh minute of added-on time secured Crystal Palace a 2-1 victory over the champions and extended the London team’s unbeaten run to 18 games stretching back to April.

Liverpool, which won its first five games of the campaign, saw its lead trimmed to three points — with second-place Palace now its unlikely closest challenger.

The Reds have made a habit of scoring late goals themselves this season and Federico Chiesa’s 87th-minute effort looked like securing a draw at Selhurst Park — or even giving them a chance of grabbing a sixth straight win.

Chelsea played almost the whole second half with 10 men against Brighton and paid the price, conceding two goals in stoppage time to lose 3-1 for a second straight defeat.

Erling Haaland scored in the 90th minute and again in injury time to wrap up Manchester City’s 5-1 win over Burnley.

Tottenham scored in the fourth minute of stoppage time through Joao Palhinha to draw 1-1 with Wolverhampton, which collected its first point of the campaign.

And Manchester United’s latest loss was sealed by a stoppage-time goal for Brentford, which won 3-1. It could have been so different had Bruno Fernandes’ penalty not been saved by Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher in the 76th minute, denying United an equalizer for 2-2.

Bournemouth also scored in stoppage time to earn a 2-2 draw at Leeds and Sunderland won 1-0 at Nottingham Forest, whose recently hired manager Ange Postecoglou has yet to win a game in five matches at his new club.

Liverpool had not been entirely convincing in gaining a maximum 15 points and Arne Slot’s team was undone again by Palace, which beat the Reds in a penalty shootout to win the Community Shield before the English season began.

Palace took the lead in the ninth minute through Ismaila Sarr and wasted a string of chances to move further ahead — with striker Jean-Philippe Mateta the biggest culprit.

Nketiah’s goal was scrappy but maintained Palace’s long undefeated run under Oliver Glasner, who has kept the team playing well despite losing star midfielder Eberechi Eze to Arsenal late in the transfer window.

“If one team deserved to win today it was Palace,” Slot said. (JapanToday)

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Arsenal snatches 1-1 draw with Man City with Martinelli’s stoppage-time goal

A goal by Erling Haaland was perhaps to be expected. What Manchester City did next certainly wasn’t.

With an ultra-defensive performance so unlike a team coached by Pep Guardiola, City came close to holding out against Arsenal for the most unusual of wins in a Premier League match between two title contenders on Sunday.

Then, in the third minute of stoppage time, Eberechi Eze played a ball over City’s packed defense and substitute Gabriel Martinelli latched onto it before lobbing goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma for Arsenal’s dramatic equalizer in a 1-1 draw.

“We’ve obviously gained the respect of the opposition,” Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice said, “… we probably haven’t dominated a game against Man City as we did today.”

No one has.

The 32.8% average possession by City is the lowest by a Guardiola team in a top-flight match, according to statistic supplier Opta.

Rice noted City went to a 5-4-1, adding: “I’ve never seen them do that.”

Back to his prolific best, Haaland made it 13 goals in eight appearances for club and country this season by sprinting upfield and collecting a return pass from Tijjani Reijnders to slot home a finish in the ninth minute.

The Emirates Stadium was then treated to a defensive master class from the visitors as Guardiola, who is famed for cherishing possess, set up City to let Arsenal have plenty of the ball and to defend deep. He kept putting on defenders to protect the lead.

It almost worked, except for the late twist by Martinelli — who has become something of a supersub for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta this season.

The result left Liverpool, the defending champion, with a five-point lead after just five games, with Arsenal in second place on goal difference over Tottenham and Bournemouth.

“They win every match,” Arteta said of Liverpool. “It’s going to be very difficult but if we play at this level, like we did against Manchester City, we will be fine.”

City is already eight points off the pace and showing it is willing to shake up the team’s tactics deep into Guardiola’s tenure.

Guardiola made no apologies for eschewing his long-held soccer principles and adjusting for a match that came three days after a 2-0 win over Napoli in the Champions League. Arsenal had two extra days to prepare, having played — and beaten — Athletic Bilbao on Tuesday.

In Haaland, Guardiola also has one of the most dangerous players in the world on the counterattack and it was from that source that City took the lead with the Norway striker’s sixth league goal this season.

“We don’t try to come and be like this,” Guardiola said. “But when the opponent is better and we defend deeper and we have Erling and Tijjani, we can use the counterattack, yes. But our intention is not like this.

“I would prefer to not do it but you cannot expect at this level to not do it. It’s impossible.”

City defender Ruben Dias said it was nice to have such “safety” in numbers in defense and to have a goalkeeper behind with the presence of Donnarumma.

“We are proud of what we have done,” Dias said, “and how we behaved on the pitch.”

Aston Villa ended its goal drought but still couldn’t beat 10-man Sunderland in a 1-1 draw.

Matty Cash blasted a swerving shot from 25 meters that Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs could only parry into his own net in the 67th, giving Villa its first goal after five games in the league.

However, Sunderland — playing with 10 men from the 33rd minute after Reinildo’s red card for kicking out at Cash — equalized in the 75th through Wilson Isidor to leave Villa without a victory and in third-to-last place.

Newcastle rotated its team after a Champions League loss to Barcelona on Thursday and struggled to create many clear-cut chances in a 0-0 draw at Bournemouth.

It meant Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, who used to coach Bournemouth, has now not beaten his former side in seven attempts.

Bournemouth was seeking a fourth straight win after an opening-round loss at Liverpool and was unable to take advantage of Newcastle making seven changes to the team which was defeated 2-1 by Barcelona. (JapanToday)

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Man Utd earns vital win against Chelsea as Liverpool stays perfect

Manchester United beat Chelsea 2-1 in a chaotic match at Old Trafford on Saturday to earn vital breathing space for beleaguered manager Ruben Amorim as Liverpool stayed perfect in the Premier League.

But Graham Potter’s future as West Ham boss appears bleak after a fourth defeat in five matches left the club firmly rooted in the relegation zone.

All eyes were on a rain-lashed Old Trafford for the early evening kick-off, with Amorim in desperate need of a win after a terrible start to the season.

The home side were given a huge helping hand when Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was sent off in the fifth minute of a stormy encounter.

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca made frantic personnel changes to compensate for the loss of Sanchez but the match immediately became an exercise in attack versus defense.

United captain Bruno Fernandes made the breakthrough in the 14th minute, prodding home from close range in his 200th Premier League game.

Casemiro doubled the lead before the Brazilian midfielder was shown a second yellow card on the stroke of half-time for tugging back Andrey Santos.

Even though both teams were now down to 10 men, Chelsea struggled to create chances in sodden conditions until Trevoh Chalobah brought the visitors back into the match with a bullet header 10 minutes from time.

But United survived some nervy moments to record just their second win of the season, lifting them into the top half of the table.

It was a first league defeat for Chelsea.

“Every win especially in this moment is important, against a great opponent,” Amorim told the BBC.

“We started the game in the right way, really aggressive. The red card helped us dominate the game but we were already there.

“We scored two goals and then we tried to complicate our game again. It’s always complicated with us. It should have been different, this game.”

In the early kick-off, Arne Slot’s Liverpool were 2-0 up against Everton inside half an hour through Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike and seemingly coasting to a fifth straight league win.

But they had to withstand an impressive fightback from their Merseyside rivals, who have not won at Anfield in front of fans in the 21st century.

The champions took the lead in the 10th minute when Gravenberch collected Mohamed Salah’s lifted cross before hooking a rasping shot over Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

France international Ekitike finished off a silky move in the 29th minute, with Gravenberch turning provider.

Liverpool have not made things easy for themselves this season, relying on a series of late winners, and Everton made them sweat when Idrissa Gueye pulled a goal back in the 58th minute.

But Arne Slot’s men held on win 2-1 and make it six victories out of six in all competitions as they hunt down a record 21st English title.

“We needed mentality today in a different fashion than the few times before,” said Slot, who left Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak — costing a combined £225 million ($303 million) — on the bench.

“You can see how well we can play when we are fresh in the first 45 minutes. We ran out of energy a bit but we didn’t run out of mentality.”

West Ham boss Potter admitted that his side’s 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace was a “tough moment” as he fights to keep his job.

Former Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo and ex-Wolves manager Gary O’Neil have been linked with the position at the London Stadium.

Asked whether he felt he still had the support of the Hammers’ hierarchy, he replied: “I’ve no reason to think not.

“But I also understand the environment and the results. But I have no complaints about the support I have had.”

Tottenham came from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Brighton, climbing to second in the table, five points behind leaders Liverpool.

Goals from Yankuba Minteh and Yasin Ayari gave the home side a cushion before Richarlison pulled one back shortly before half-time and Jan Paul van Hecke’s own goal made it all square.

Newly promoted Leeds recovered from conceding the first goal to beat Wolves 3-1, leaving the Midlands club without a single point from their five matches.

Burnley and Nottingham Forest shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw.

Arsenal host Manchester City on Sunday, seeking their third straight win against Pep Guardiola’s men at the Emirates. (JapanToday)

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Levy exits role as Tottenham executive chairman

Daniel Levy’s near 25-year reign as executive chairman of Tottenham is over.

Spurs’ official announcement said he had “stepped down”, but BBC Sport understands the decision was taken out of Levy’s hands.

Well-placed sources said the ownership agreed for him to leave his position amid a belief that change would lead to greater sporting success.

Levy was appointed in March 2001 and leaves after the club won the Europa League in May to end a 17-year wait for a trophy.

The 63-year-old was the Premier League’s longest-serving chairman and earned an estimated £50m-plus during his time in charge, but he was also the target of regular protests from Spurs fans, especially last season.

Levy will go with immediate effect and there will be no notice period, with the timing of his departure after the summer transfer window a deliberate move.

However, one source familiar with Levy told BBC Sport the former chairman had to operate with “one hand tied behind his back” during his tenure, and had to diversify revenue streams as a result.

They said they felt there’d been insufficient investment in Spurs for the past 25 years, and the question was whether that would really change.

“I am incredibly proud of the work I have done together with the executive team and all our employees,” said Levy, who had a reputation in football for being a shrewd operator and tough negotiator.

“I am incredibly proud of the work I have done together with the executive team and all our employees,” said Levy, who had a reputation in football for being a shrewd operator and tough negotiator.

“We have built this club into a global heavyweight competing at the highest level. More than that, we have built a community.

“I was lucky enough to work with some of the greatest people in this sport, from the team at Lilywhite House and Hotspur Way to all the players and managers over the years.

“I wish to thank all the fans that have supported me over the years. It hasn’t always been an easy journey but significant progress has been made. I will continue to support this club passionately.”

Tottenham’s European trophy success last season came against the backdrop of a difficult Premier League campaign in which the team finished 17th under head coach Ange Postecoglou, who was sacked in the summer and replaced by Thomas Frank.

There were a number of protests aimed at Levy last season, with prominent banners at the home defeat by Leicester in January carrying the messages “Our game is about glory, Levy’s game is about greed” and “24 years, 16 managers, 1 trophy – time for change”.

There were also regular chants of “Levy out” during the campaign.

During his tenure, Levy oversaw the switch from White Hart Lane to the £1bn state-of-the-art Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which the club made their new home in 2019.

Spurs also reached the Champions League final under former manager Mauricio Pochettino in 2019 but missed out on the trophy following a 2-0 defeat by Liverpool. (BBC)