LONDON – Premier League champions Manchester City fell to their first home defeat of the season as Ivan Toney secured a shock 2-1 win for Brentford while Tottenham Hotspur recovered from going behind three times to beat Leeds United 4-3.
Liverpool defeated Southampton 3-1 as Darwin Nunez scored his first double for the team and Roberto Firmino also got on the scoresheet.
Everton manager Frank Lampard was put under renewed pressure following a 3-0 defeat by Bournemouth while James Maddison scored in a 2-0 win for Leicester City at West Ham United but was then taken off in an injury scare two days after being named in the England squad for the World Cup.
Leicester coach Brendan Rodgers sought to calm fears about the midfielder’s fitness, stating he had taken him off as a precautionary measure. Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest beat Crystal Palace 1-0 to move off the bottom of the standings.
Brentford striker Toney, who on Thursday was left out of England’s squad for the World Cup, gave the west Londoners the lead in the 16th minute at City and then clinched all three points with a 97th-minute winner after Phil Foden had equalised late in the first half.
“Speaking to some people from the club, this is probably the single biggest ever result, against one of the richest clubs in the world and we have one of the lowest budgets in the division,” said Brentford coach Thomas Frank according to Reuters.
City manager Pep Guardiola had no complaints with the result, adding: “The best team won, we struggled from the beginning and we couldn’t deal with their long balls.”
Tottenham again showed their resilience as well as their appetite for late drama by beating Leeds thanks to goals from Uruguay midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur in the 81st and 83rd minute.
Leeds, who had beaten Bournemouth by a 4-3 scoreline the previous week, took the lead through Crysencio Summerville while Rodrigo Moreno scored twice after Harry Kane and then Ben Davies had pulled Spurs level.
Tottenham coach Antonio Conte had been under pressure following the 2-1 home defeat by Liverpool and the elimination from the League Cup by Nottingham Forest but his side prevailed with their latest stirring comeback, also coming from behind to beat Bournemouth and Olympique de Marseille earlier this month.
“My players showed me big character in this period. In a lot of games we were losing and then we come back. For this reason I think we showed great character, great will to not give up and to believe,” said Conte.
Leeds coach Jesse Marsch added: “I’m gutted, I feel like someone has ripped my heart out.”
Nunez’s strikes underlined his growing influence on Liverpool, with seven goals in his last 10 appearances.
It also ensured Jurgen Klopp’s team headed into the Premier League’s break for the World Cup in high spirits after such an uncertain start to the season.
Back-to-back league wins against Tottenham and Southampton will lift the mood around Anfield after losing four times already.
With qualification to the round of 16 of the Champions League also secured, it means Liverpool can look ahead to the resumption of the campaign in December with some optimism.
Discussion about this post