Manchester City will enjoy a three-point Premier League lead for the next three weeks after Arsenal’s perfect start came off the rails in a 3-0 defeat at Brighton.
Chelsea were also defeated 3-0 at Brentford to take the shine off Xabi Alonso’s start at Stamford Bridge, while Manchester United could only manage a 1-1 draw at winless Fulham. Assailed by stinging criticism of Manchester United’s abject performance in their 1-1 draw against lowly Fulham on Sunday, Michael Carrick mounted an unconvincing defence of his spluttering side as the pressure mounted. United have won just once in five league games, equalling their worst start to the season in the Premier League era.
AFP Sport looks at three talking points from the Premier League weekend: But Brighton showed the rest of the Premier League that the Gunners do have flaws by inflicting their heaviest defeat in over three years. United trailed to a farcical second half goal that summed up their malaise as Lisandro Martinez made a hash of clearing from Senne Lammens’s save and scuffed the ball into his own net via a deflection off his keeper.
Giving away possession carelessly time and again, while lacking the basic defensive solidity to contain a previously moribund Fulham attack, United looked no better than the lethargic group that struggled under Carrick’s predecessor Ruben Amorim.
