After a week of continental football, all eyes turned back to the Premier League this weekend as a reduced list of Saturday fixtures kept us entertained, with bags of goals and plenty of talking points.
There were some standout results from Saturday’s action, with the most shocking of all being West Brom’s 4-2 win over visitors West Ham.
Elsewhere, Man City continued their dream start under new manager Pep Guardiola with a routine 4-0 win over Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth side.
In the late kick-off, where Ronald Koeman’s Everton hosted Aitor Karanka’s Middlesbrough side, a special landmark was reached as former Aston Villa and Man City midfielder Gareth Barry marked his 600th Premier League appearance with a goal. The Toffees ran out 3-1 winners to continue their unbeaten start under Ronald Koeman.
There were goals all over the country throughout the fixture list, but what can we take from all the action? Here are FIVE things we learned from Saturday’s action…
Man City will take some stopping
The Sky Blues are now enjoying their best ever start to a season, with seven wins from seven in all competitions, and they cruised past The Cherries at The Etihad on Saturday.
If there is a league in which Pep’s plan can be undone then it’s the Premier League, with banana skins, such as the visitors from the South Coast, lying around every corner. However, it looks as if it will take something special to stop their charge this season.
Title challenge from the Gunners?
The Gunners have found their feet after a tough opening few weeks and could well have been another victim of Hull City’s surprising start to the season.
Having seemingly matured in the way they handled going 1-0 down to PSG in the week, could this be the year Arsenal finally take their chance?
The Foxes have their bite back
Ranieri’s side endured a tough start to their title defence, with an opening day loss to Hull and a 4-1 drumming from Liverpool being the lowest points.
After a historic week in the Champions League, you’d be forgiven for thinking the Foxes would be distracted. But no, the dispatched Burnley 3-0, with a brace for new man Islam Slimani on his Premier League debut.
West Ham are in real trouble
Something needs to turn for the Hammers, whether that be on or off the field. The embarrassing scenes from the London Stadium last week did not help the club during a rough start, meaning a win at the Hawthorns was crucial.
However, going into the break 3-0 meant Slaven Bilic’s side had their work cut out and despite a rally of two goals in the second half, they could do nothing to stop the hosts taking all three points.
Everyone loves Gareth Barry
The former Man City man joined a very exclusive club as he made is 600th Premier League appearance in the late kick-off, joining just Ryan Giggs and Frank Lampard on the list of players to have broken that barrier.
He marked the day with a wonderfully finished goal to bring the Toffees level after they went behind to Boro, and was bought off to a standing ovation in the final few minutes.
