Premier League roundup: City make it seven, Liverpool fight back and Fulham finally win

Manchester City opened a six-point lead at the top of the Premier League as Erling Haaland’s double kept their perfect start intact, while Liverpool recovered at Brentford and Fulham finally claimed their first league victory.

Chelsea and Aston Villa also won away from home on Saturday, with Pedro Neto scoring twice at Everton and Johan Manzambi delivering Unai Emery’s 100th Premier League win as a manager.

There were contrasting emotions behind the results. City celebrated a record for Enzo Maresca but finished with concern over Haaland, Liverpool lost two players to injury, and Chelsea’s first league clean sheet since January was overshadowed by Emiliano Martínez being taken to hospital.

Premier League roundup: Saturday’s results

Match	Result	Goalscorers
Everton vs Chelsea	0–2	Neto 46, 90
Brentford vs Liverpool	1–2	Lewis-Potter 44; Muñoz 62, Isak 70
Fulham vs Hull City	1–0	Iwobi 33
Manchester City vs Ipswich Town	3–2	Foden 19, Haaland 34, 69; Maeda 21, Flemming 90 pen
Newcastle United vs Aston Villa	0–1	Manzambi 36

City stay perfect as Maresca makes history

Ipswich made Manchester City work for their seventh successive league victory, but Haaland again supplied the finishing that separated the sides.

Phil Foden opened the scoring after 19 minutes before Daizen Maeda equalised almost immediately. Haaland restored City’s advantage before half-time, heading in Mateo Kovačić’s delivery, and added his second after the break from Iliman Ndiaye’s pass.

A late offside decision denied him a hat-trick, before Zian Flemming’s penalty gave Ipswich hope of an unlikely recovery. City held on to win 3–2 and reach 21 points.

The victory made Maresca the first manager to win his opening seven Premier League matches in charge of a club, surpassing the six-match starts of Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti and Ole Gunnar Solskjær. City confirmed the managerial record after the match.

Haaland limping down the tunnel at full-time provided an unwelcome postscript, although Maresca played down fears of a serious injury. Arsenal can reduce the gap to three points at Nottingham Forest on Sunday, but City have again made their closest challengers play catch-up.

Read more: Manchester City player ratings against Ipswich.

Liverpool recover as Brentford’s discipline proves costly

Brentford were approaching half-time with a lead to protect and an unbeaten record to extend. By the final whistle, both had disappeared.

Keane Lewis-Potter headed the hosts ahead after 44 minutes, but Yehor Yarmoliuk’s dismissal for headbutting Jérémy Jacquet in first-half stoppage time changed the task facing Liverpool.

Andoni Iraola’s side still needed to find a way through. The breakthrough came after 62 minutes, when Florian Wirtz released Víctor Muñoz for the equaliser. Eight minutes later, Bradley Barcola headed the ball into Alexander Isak’s path and the striker completed the turnaround.

Vitaly Janelt’s second yellow card in stoppage time left Brentford with nine men and ended their hopes of salvaging a point. Liverpool climbed to fifth on 12 points, two ahead of their opponents.

It was a valuable response to last weekend’s defeat by City, although injuries to Dominik Szoboszlai and Jeremie Frimpong tempered the satisfaction. Frimpong had only entered at half-time before being forced off himself.

Read more: How Liverpool completed their comeback at Brentford.

Neto delivers as Chelsea finally shut the door

Chelsea’s 2–0 win at Everton combined another decisive attacking contribution from Neto with a defensive achievement that had been overdue.

The Portugal international struck in the opening minute of the second half after Jorrel Hato reached the byline, then scored again in the 90th minute to end Everton’s unbeaten league start.

For Xabi Alonso, the clean sheet carried particular significance. Chelsea had conceded in each of their previous 22 Premier League matches; this was their first shutout in the competition since January.

Everton had reason to question whether Morgan Rogers, already booked, should have received further punishment for his first-half challenge on James Garner. Chelsea subsequently took control, with the hosts managing only one shot on target after the interval.

The principal concern was Martínez, who was stretchered off following a collision with Jarrad Branthwaite and taken to hospital for precautionary tests. Mike Penders replaced him as Chelsea secured the points that moved them into fourth.

Manzambi gives Villa the last word at Newcastle

Newcastle had wanted Johan Manzambi in the summer. On Saturday evening, the midfielder returned as the player who settled the match against them.

His 36th-minute header from João Gomes’ cross secured Villa’s 1–0 victory, with Emiliano Buendía almost extending the advantage when his shot was pushed onto the post.

Newcastle improved after half-time, but their 16 attempts produced just one shot on target. Zion Suzuki saved that effort from Sven Botman, while Yoane Wissa failed to take later opportunities.

Villa’s second league victory brought Emery his 100th Premier League win across his spells with Arsenal and Villa. It also drew the visitors level with Newcastle on eight points.

The clubs finished the day 11th and 12th respectively, with Newcastle ahead on goals scored. For Matthias Jaissle, another defeat after Monday’s loss at Coventry leaves an urgent need for improvement at both ends.

Read more: Newcastle 0–1 Aston Villa: Manzambi seals Emery’s milestone.

Iwobi gives Fulham relief at the bottom

Fulham’s victory may have been the narrowest possible, but the change to their league position was substantial.

Alex Iwobi’s first-half goal earned Álvaro Arbeloa his first Premier League win and lifted the Cottagers from bottom to 16th.

The performance offered encouragement beyond the result. Fulham had 76% possession and outshot Hull 18–5, while Gonzalo García headed against the crossbar as the hosts searched for a second goal.

Ryan Sessegnon’s stoppage-time dismissal for a challenge on Robinio Vaz complicated the ending, but Hull could not capitalise.

Five points from seven games still leaves Fulham with considerable work ahead. Nevertheless, the first win removes one immediate burden from Arbeloa and gives his side a platform for their next fixture. Hull remain on nine points after a second league defeat.

Premier League table after Saturday’s matches

Standings after all five games on 17 October. Ten clubs still have their Matchweek 7 fixture to play.

Pos	Club	Played	GD	Points
1	Manchester City	7	+12	21
2	Arsenal	6	+5	15
3	Brighton	6	+13	13
4	Chelsea	7	+4	13
5	Liverpool	7	+1	12
6	Brentford	7	+5	10
7	Everton	7	+1	10
8	Leeds United	6	+3	9
9	Hull City	7	+1	9
10	Ipswich Town	7	−4	9
11	Newcastle United	7	−4	8
12	Aston Villa	7	−4	8
13	Crystal Palace	6	−3	7
14	Manchester United	6	0	6
15	Coventry City	6	−6	6
16	Fulham	7	−3	5
17	Nottingham Forest	6	−3	5
18	Sunderland	6	−6	4
19	Bournemouth	6	−6	3
20	Tottenham Hotspur	6	−6	3

What comes next?

Arsenal’s visit to Nottingham Forest provides Sunday’s opportunity to answer City, while Brighton can move above the Gunners before that match if they beat Crystal Palace.

At the other end, Bournemouth host Sunderland in a fixture that could quickly alter the picture below Fulham. Tottenham, now bottom, must wait until Monday for their chance to respond.

Date	Fixture	UK kick-off
Sunday 18 October	Bournemouth vs Sunderland	2pm
Sunday 18 October	Brighton vs Crystal Palace	2pm
Sunday 18 October	Leeds United vs Manchester United	2pm
Sunday 18 October	Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal	4.30pm
Monday 19 October	Tottenham Hotspur vs Coventry City	8pm

The remaining fixtures are listed in the Premier League’s revised October schedule.