What happened in the Premier League this weekend? Man United bounce back Arsenal still 100%, Spurs' woes go on, and more
Tom Hancock
Here’s your essential recap of what went down across all 10 Premier League games in Matchweek 2…
What happened in the Premier League this weekend?
Friday
New manager, same old Man City as Palace dealt another blow
Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City produced a performance of which Pep Guardiola would have been proud in thrashing Crystal Palace 4-1 on the road – not least Rayan Cherki, who was rewarded with a fine brace for his individual brilliance, moving to four goal involvements (two goals, two assists) for the season already.
As for Palace, who have lost their first two games under Pierre Sage, they looked worryingly short in multiple areas – and, with the transfer deadline looming, it’s just got even worse for the Eagles, the lowest-spending Premier Club this summer: Daniel Munoz has followed fellow key defender Maxence Lacroix out the exit door, linking back up with former boss Oliver Glasner at Nottingham Forest.
Saturday
Munoz makes his mark, but Liverpool still lacking
Victor Munoz opened his Liverpool account a sensational finish on the turn to salvage a point in a 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest, and Alexander Isak got off the mark for the season – but Andoni Iraola’s Reds are still looking for their first win. They’ll aim to get it away to Ipswich on Friday, now with Bradley Barcola finally onboard – though clear deficiencies remain, particularly at full-back.
Forest made their pressure pay as they improved on successive defeats to Leeds in the Premier League and Carabao Cup to pick up their first points with Oliver Glasner at the helm. There’s plenty of reason for optimism, especially with Morgan Gibbs-White – who scored and assisted at Anfield – in full flow.
Bournemouth surrender a point as Everton salvage one
Bournemouth have led for over 107 minutes this season. They’ve taken one point from a possible six. New boss Marco Rose will need to instil a greater sense of solidity into his side, but there was at least the positive of in-demand Alex Scott celebrating his opening goal in the 1-1 draw with Everton by ‘putting the phone down’ in celebration.
For Everton, it must have felt like a win after they salvaged a draw through captain James Tarkowksi’s stoppage-time strike. The Toffees are unbeaten in their opening two Premier League games for the first time since 2021 ahead of next Sunday’s ‘David Moyes derby’ against Manchester United.
New-look Hull show Coventry how it’s done
Both these promoted sides started four summer signings on Saturday, but Hull appear more cohesive than Coventry so far – following their upset of Man United with a 1-0 win at the CBS Arena. Only four promoted teams have won their first two Premier League games – and Hull have now done it twice (though they were relegated last time).
Coventry were on top for long periods but were thwarted by the brilliance of £20m Hull goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis. Still, Frank Lampard will know his side need to put that first point on the board soon – though things don’t get any easier with a trip to Man City next up.
Spurs still aren’t up to scratch – Newcastle are
Two games. Two defeats. Five goals conceded. None scored. Over £200m spent and nothing much to show for it. Yet again, Tottenham let in the first goal; yet again, they lost, this time 2-0 to Newcastle. Granted, Spurs did improve from their dismal 3-0 loss to Brentford in Matchweek 1 (they simply had to), but Roberto De Zerbi needs the pieces – in terms of personnel and mentality – to fit together fast.
The mood in the Newcastle camp could hardly be more contrasting. The Magpies endured a tumultuous summer of player departures, as well as seeing Eddie Howe step down – but in Matthias Jaissle, they might have made an incredibly shrewd appointment; and in goalscorers Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa, they have two of the Premier League’s form attackers.
Sunday
Chelsea’s front three on fire, but Brighton highlight flaws
For the second game running, Chelsea’s scary front three combined for three goal involvements. This time, Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer were on the scoresheet (the former at both ends) and Morgan Rogers registered an assist in a thrilling 4-3 win over Brighton. Xabi Alonso will be delighted that the Blues are averaging three goals per match under him; he’ll be less delighted that they’ve leaked five in two Premier League outings.
That being said, Brighton, in exploiting the hosts’ porousness, showed again while they’ll be a right handful for plenty of teams this season – with Malick Yalcouye among their array of attacking weapons, scoring on his first Seagulls start and completing the joint most dribbles (four) at Stamford Bridge.
Leeds demonstrate resilience as Brentford impress again
Having beaten Nottingham Forest in the 88th minute on the opening weekend, Leeds didn’t leave it quite as late on this occasion – Dominic Calvert-Lewin tapping in his first goal of the campaign with 79 on the clock to clinch a 1-1 draw with Brentford – but once again, they kept on going. And, pleasingly for manager Daniel Farke, they did after being played off the park in the first half at Elland Road.
Kevin Schade’s deft, outside-of-the-foot volley which put the visitors ahead was one of the goals of the season so far – and while the Bees couldn’t build on that lead, they proved yet again why they’re such a dangerous proposition under Keith Andrews, out-shooting Leeds 22-12 in the end.
Sunderland show strength in depth while Fulham frustrate
Sunderland chalked up their first victory of 2026/27 thanks to two super-subs combining. Habib Diarra setup Wilson Isidor for the decisive goal 15 minutes from time as Regis Le Bris’ Black Cats sunk Fulham 1-0 on Wearside. Tougher tests will come, but this was the necessary positive response to the opening-weekend defeat to Ipswich.
In what was a tightly contested encounter on the whole, Alvaro Arbeloa’s Fulham rallied late on – but they ultimately paid the price for a lack of invention at the sharp end of the pitch, tallying just 0.95 Expected Goals (xG) on the day.
Man United off the mark as Ipswich utterly outclassed
Panic? What panic? Well, there was a bit more when Man United went 1-0 down to Ipswich at Old Trafford – but Michael Carrick couldn’t have asked for more by way of response. Bruno Fernandes hit a stylish second Premier League hat-trick as the hosts ran riot in a 5-2 thrashing to put last weekend’s shock defeat to Hull firmly behind them, with Bryan Mbeumo also getting on the act.
Gary O’Neil will have been delighted with the way Abdul Fatawu and Leif Davis combined for the latter’s opener – but that was about as good as it got for Ipswich, who added to United’s tally with a Jacob Greaves own goal. Summer signing Chuba Akpom’s first goal for the club was the only other real positive on an afternoon to forget.
Monday
Arsenal find another way to win against much-improved Villa
Arsenal were never going to sweep aside every opponent like they did Coventry on the opening night of the season – and they did to Aston Villa what they did on numerous occasions en route to the title last term, Bukayo Saka notching the only goal of the game on this occasion at Villa Park as the visitors broke the hosts' resistance just before the hour mark. With Bruno Guimaraes also making his Premier League debut for the Gunners, it will have been a satisfying night for Mikel Arteta overall.
Villa couldn’t have fared much worse than they did in Matchweek 1 – when they were trounced 4-0 by Brighton and finished with 10 men – but Unai Emery had to be pleased with the reaction on a night when he handed debuts to three summer signings: Zion Suzuki and Nicolas Jackson from the start, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka off the bench.
