Manchester United scraped a narrow 1-0 win over Burnley at Turf Moor, with Anthony Martial scoring for the third successive league game. It was a game devoid of quality, opening up slightly only after Martial’s second-half strike, and Jose Mourinho will hope that Alexis Sanchez’s impending arrival lifts his side’s attacking performances. The defeat extended Burnley’s winless run to eight games; despite this they remain in eight place, behind Leicester on goal difference.
Manchester City restored their 12-point lead at the top with a 3-1 win over Newcastle at the Etihad. Sergio Aguero marked his 200th Premier League appearance with a hat trick; Jcob Murphy had briefly reduced the deficit in the 67th minute before Aguero scored his, and City’s third goal to finish the game off. Newcastle are one of Aguero’s favourite opponents; he has now scored 14 times in 12 games against the Magpies. Champions Chelsea shrugged off their recent goalscoring woes with a 4-0 hammering of Brighton at the Amex. Eden Hazard capped a wonderful performance with a brace, while Victor Moses and Willian were the other goalscorers. Elsewhere, Arsenal began the post-Sanchez era with a 4-1 victory over Crystal Palace at home. Arsenal were 4-0 up inside 23 minutes, with goals from Nacho Monreal, Alex Iwobi, Alexandre Lacazette and Lauent Koscielny, before Luka Milivojevic got a late consolation strike.
Paul Lambert’s reign at Stoke got off to the perfect start; his Stoke side beating Huddersfield 2-0 at home, with second-half goals from Joe Allen and Mame Biram Diouf. Leicester beat Watford by the same scoreline at the King Power, with their title-winning catalysts of Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez on the scoresheet. The result sealed Marco Silva’s fate, with the Portuguese being sacked by Watford hours after the defeat. West Brom’s mini revival of sorts continued, with a 1-1 draw away to Everton. Jay Rodriguez had put the Baggies in front early on, and it took the introduction of Oumar Niasse from the bench for Everton to equalize; the Senegalese capitalizing on debutant Theo Walcott’s header to score. The game was marked by a serious injury to James McCarthy, with the Irishman suffering a suspected double fracture to his leg after being caught by Salomon Rondon, who was in visible distress after the incident. West Ham and Bournemouth drew 1-1 at the London Stadium; with Ryan Fraser’s goal being immediately cancelled out by Javier Hernandez. There were 64 seconds between both goals, as the Hammers equalized right from kickoff. Harry Kane’s 99th Premier League goal secured a point for Tottenham away to Southampton, as they drew 1-1; Davinson Sanchez had put the ball into his own net early in the first half, but some poor defending from a corner allowed Kane to level the scores. Liverpool play Swansea at the Liberty Stadium in Monday night’s game.
The top six all won their games (with Liverpool yet to play), meaning that United continue to be 12 points off the top, with Chelsea 3 points behind in third and Liverpool a further 3 points behind in fourth. United’s win was scrappy, but they all count at this point, and the Red Devils cannot afford a slip-up if they are to have any hope of catching City. Tottenham, Huddersfield, Newcastle and Chelsea are United’s next four opponents in the league.