Gameweek 3 of the Barclays Premier League saw yet another clinical performance from City, some cagey affairs and the trend of poor home performances continued, with only 6 home wins in 30 games played so far.
Sterling performance by City in Merseyside
Raheem Sterling enjoyed a victorious return to Merseyside, helping his new side Manchester City to a 2-0 win against Everton. The young Englishman had a field day on the left hand side and showed a clever understanding with Kolarov. The Serbian was always a willing runner overlapping with Sterling and the duo created a lot of chances before the left-back scored a super goal from a tight angle. David Silva, once again showed his creativity and Yaya Toure is back to his best it seems. City look a scary prospect with that squad and with Kevin de Bruyne rumored to sign, the blues from Manchester can only get better.
Arsenal and Liverpool play out a thrilling 0-0 draw
If there is ever a DVD made on 0-0 games, then the Arsenal-Liverpool game played on Monday night would top the list. From exhilarating pace to near misses to brilliant saves, this game had everything except goals. It was also a tale of two halves, with Liverpool dominating the first and Arsenal the second half. Both managers would be happy with a point especially after Arsenal`s shaky performance in the first half and Liverpool`s poor record at The Emirates. Liverpool epitomized hard work and a charactera in the first half with the likes of Milner, Coutinho and Benteke running their socks off and creating chances. Benteke should have scored his second goal in as many games courtesy a Firmino cross, but Petr Cech had other ideas. The Arsenal custodian silenced his critics with a spectacular array of saves, and one save from a rasping Coutinho curler showed he is still one of the best in the business. The Gunners were all over Liverpool in the second half, but could not create enough chances to get their first home win of the season.
Pedro shines on Chelsea debut
It might well turn out to be a case of a one that got awaya for Manchester United as far as Pedro Rodriguez is concerned. The La Masia graduate, who only signed last week, underlined his intentions to expand his already glittering trophy cabinet with an impressive debut at The Hawthorns. The Spaniard combined well with the likes of Hazard, Willian, Costa and helped his team to a 3-2 win against a resilient Tony Pulis side. Pedro`s ability to run in behind the defence is going to cause problems to many teams this season and he might prove to be a bargain. John Terry had another game to forget, getting sent off in the early stages of the second half and The Blues had to fight off a determined West Brom side, who should have got a point had it not been for James Morrison’s penalty miss.
Sweet victory for The Cherries
Eddie Howe would have been pleased to see his Bournemouth side bag their first ever win in the Barclays Premier League, courtesy a treble from striker Callum Wilson, who scored his first ever hat trick. The Cherries were aided with some horrific defending by West Ham, who were down to 10 men following a silly challenge from Carl Jenkinson. The Hammers did launch a spirited fightback to bring the scoreline to 3-4, but eventually ran out of time.
United and Spurs held, Leicester continue their dream start
Manchester United maintained their unbeaten record with a frustrating 0-0 draw at home to Newcastle. Wayne
Rooney did put the ball in the back of the net, only for it to be ruled offside. The Englishman has not scored in 10 games now, and despite Van Gaal`s insistence that United do not need a new striker, there are problems in the final third.
Claudio Ranieri has his feet firmly on the ground about Leicester`s ambitions this season, but the Italian would be hoping for a top ten finish if his wards continue to show this impressive form. The Foxes played some scintillating football and held Spurs to a 1-1 draw at the King Power Stadium. Riyad Mahrez was the stand out player, and the Algerian`s direct approach of taking on defenders with his pace and trickery is one to savour. Leicester would be glad he signed a new long term contract recently, and if he has a stellar season, we may well see a big money move.
More draws, a Palace win and…water breaks
Norwich played out a 1-1 draw against a Shaqiri inspired Stoke at Carrow road, while their possible relegation rivals Sunderland broke the rut of consecutive defeats by holding Swansea 1-1 at The Stadium of Light. Southampton continued their Europa hangover with a 0-0 draw at Vicarage Road and Palace ran out 2-1 winners against Tim Sherwood`s Aston Villa.
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There were scheduled a water breaksa across the Premiership on Saturday with temperatures in the high 20s. Games at Norwich and Leicester were temporarily stopped to make sure the players kept themselves hydrated. It was met with boos by the crowd and derision by some of the pundits, but with a World Cup in Qatar and climate change always lurking, we may get to see more a water breaksa in the future.