By Lori Ewing
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – Arsenal’s unbeaten start to the Premier League season came to a shuddering halt in a shock 2-0 loss to Bournemouth on Saturday that left them third in the standings with leaders Liverpool and second-placed Manchester City still to play this weekend.
Manchester United eased the pressure on coach Erik ten Hag with their first win in more than a month, a 2-1 victory over Brentford, while Aston Villa climbed to fourth in the standings by beating Fulham 3-1.
Tottenham Hotspur came from behind to thrash West Ham United 4-1 as the league returned from the international break, while Everton made it four games unbeaten with an easy 2-0 away win over Ipswich Town.
Brighton & Hove Albion beat Newcastle United 1-0 and Leicester City beat Southampton 3-2 away with a last-gasp goal, handing the 10-man hosts a club record 21 matches without victory in the English top-flight.
A brilliantly-worked goal by Ryan Christie and a Justin Kluivert penalty gave Bournemouth a home win against 10-man Arsenal, with Gunners defender William Saliba shown a straight red card.
Already missing Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka through injury, Arsenal lost Saliba on the half-hour mark when a yellow card for bringing down Evanilson was upgraded to red after a VAR review, and it turned out to be the pivotal moment of the game.
“I’m proud of us as a group of players, because to keep fighting and believing, that we believe that we can win, even with 10 men. I thought we played really well even with 10 men,” Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice said after his team’s third red card in eight league games.
Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund got on the scoresheet as Manchester United bounced back after conceding a controversial goal at Old Trafford, lifting them to 11th in the table.
“Every game we win is important,” said Ten Hag, whose job has been the subject of speculation. “This team, you see the togetherness, a fighting spirit. Today we had some determination to score goals, and that’s what we need.
“Today we scored two brilliant goals and we are very pleased with it.”
United had 10 men on the pitch when Ethan Pinnock headed in Brentford’s goal from a corner deep in first-half stoppage time after referee Sam Barrott instructed Matthijs de Ligt to go to the touchline to stem the bleeding from a gash on his head.
Aston Villa extended their unbeaten run to six league games with a highly entertaining clash at Craven Cottage in which the home side missed a penalty and both teams had a man sent off.
“Very proud of our mentality here. At the moment we are getting good results,” Villa manager Unai Emery said.
“Even when Fulham had a penalty and scored first, we focused together.”
Fulham were in front after five minutes through Raul Jimenez but Villa were level shortly after when a shot from Morgan Rogers took a wicked deflection.
Ollie Watkins put Villa ahead just before the hour mark and things went from bad to worse for Fulham as first, Joachim Andersen was sent off and then Issa Diop scored an own goal.
SPURS COMEBACK
Tottenham celebrated the return of captain Son Heung-min from injury with their rout of West Ham in an entertaining derby that had Mohammed Kudus sent off late for the visitors.
West Ham went ahead through Kudus after 18 minutes but Spurs equalised in the 36th when Dejan Kulusevski’s shot was tipped on to the woodwork by Alphonse Areola only for the ball to roll along the line and in off the far post.
Yves Bissouma side-footed home after the break before Son’s shot rebounded off Areola and a defender for an own goal by the keeper. Son then got on the scoresheet with a fine solo effort.
The win took Spurs to seventh with 13 points from eight games, while West Ham are 15th with eight points.
“I thought we were good today,” said Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou. “We had to work hard in the first half but we got back into the game after conceding.
“After that it was outstanding from the lads, good energy, some good goals although I thought we could have got a few more. Good day at the office.”
First-half goals by Iliman Ndiaye and Michael Keane were a fair reward for Everton’s dominance at Ipswich and though they failed to convert several good chances in the second half, the hosts never remotely threatened a comeback.
Everton, who lost their first four games of the season, have now won two and drawn two of their last four to chalk up eight points in 16th place. Ipswich, with four points from four draws, are 17th.
Danny Welbeck’s first-half goal against the run of play lifted Brighton past Newcastle, while Facundo Buonanotte, Jamie Vardy and Jordan Ayew scored in Leicester City’s win over Southampton.
Liverpool host Chelsea on Sunday while second-placed Manchester City are at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
(This story has been corrected to fix Manchester United’s position to 11th, not 10th, in paragraph 8)
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
