Hat-tricks for Haaland and Son, Chelsea still laughable

Manchester City continued their 100% start to the new Premier League season with a convincing 5-1 victory over Fulham, as Pep Guardiola's side made it a club-record 18 home wins in a row.

The Cottagers came into the contest without star player João Palhinha, who dramatically missed out on a move to Bayern Munich at the eleventh hour when the Fulham hierarchy pulled the plug. The gaping hole in the visitors’ midfield faced a stern test against the Premier League champions, with City registering a remarkable 61 shots on goal in the opening three fixtures of the season.

That being said, it wasn’t until the 31st minute when City profited from their first effort as Erling Haaland’s scuffed effort fell into the path of Julián Álvarez, who fired the Cityzens ahead for a third consecutive home match. That goal sparked the match into life, and Fulham’s response was immediate, with Tim Ream tapping home on the goal line after Ederson uncharacteristically fumbled a Raúl Jiménez header.

The game looked to be heading into halftime level, before Nathan Aké converted a Phil Foden corner with a powerful close-range header. Bernd Leno ran to referee Michael Oliver, believing Manuel Akanji was offside blocking his line of sight, but to his and Marco Silva’s disgust, VAR did not concur.

Last season’s 36-goal striker Erling Haaland had gone four home games without a goal prior to the match, however, fresh from being crowned UEFA Men's Player of the Year in midweek, the Norwegian talisman finally found the net. Álvarez turned the provider this time, turning the ball around the corner for his team-mate to slip the ball beyond Leno.

Armed with a comfortable three-goal advantage, there was still time for Haaland to net a late hat-trick, as he slammed home from the spot following a foul on Álvarez, before finishing superbly in stoppage time to complete his treble. That compounded Fulham’s misery who suffered a ninth consecutive defeat against City.

Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham look refreshed after Harry Kane left - they look like a well-oiled machine. Burnley’s 100% losing start to the season continued, as they squandered an early lead in a 5-2 defeat against the Spurs - just the fourth time in history they’ve lost the opening three games of a top-flight campaign.

Slow starts have been the name of the game for Burnley so far this season, who had trailed after 10 minutes in each of their two prior Premier League outings. It was the Clarets’ turn to dish out some of that early misery today though, taking the lead after just five minutes when Lyle Foster turned home Luca Koleosho’s cut-back. Their joy was short-lived however, as a little more than 10 minutes later Spurs drew level with what was their first meaningful attack of the game. A hopeful joist over the top was pounced upon by Heung-min Son, who after a neat exchange of passes with Manor Solomon, dinked the ball over James Trafford.

That equaliser visibly rocked Burnley, and they had Trafford to thank for not falling behind shortly after, as he produced a flying stop to deny James Maddison netting in a second successive Premier League away game. It soon went from bad to worse for the Clarets though, who after a series of defending mishaps, finally succumbed as Cristian Romero fired home in unlikely fashion from the edge of the area, crashing an effort home off the angle of post and bar.

It was much of the same after the break for Burnley, who were again the masters of their own downfall in allowing Spurs to lay the game to rest. Ameen Al-Dakhil was the man caught in possession this time, and he was made to pay by Maddison as he curled home from 25 yards. Spurs were in cruise control and in the mood for goals - Son grabbed his second of the afternoon when he slammed home from Solomon’s inch-perfect cut back.

The South Korean didn’t have to wait much longer for his hat-trick goal to arrive either, latching onto Pedro Porro’s jaw-dropping ball and smashing home past Trafford. Thankfully for Vincent Kompany and his men, that was Spurs’ final goalscoring act, bringing an end to a dismal day, while for Spurs it was a perfect afternoon’s work as their quest to get back in the UEFA Champions League gathers momentum, but Josh Brownhill’s late consolation was a blotch on their record.

Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest put in a resolute display against Chelsea and were rewarded with a 1-0 win, which extends their unbeaten run in head-to-head encounters to three consecutive matches.

Victory over Luton Town and a Carabao Cup win over AFC Wimbledon has lifted the mood at Stamford Bridge, and there could have been more reason for celebration had former Blue Ola Aina not got across magnificently to deny Raheem Sterling a simple finish from Ben Chilwell’s low ball. While the Blues couldn’t keep up their blistering pace from the opening exchanges, they did still have moments of promise with Conor Gallagher sending an ambitious effort marginally off target.

Archer fires devastating arrows, but Everton's goalscorers and Pickford are awake

At the other end, Taiwo Awoniyi troubled Chelsea’s backline, and more specifically Thiago Silva, but couldn’t provide the finishing touch. The striker uncharacteristically blazed his shot harmlessly over the crossbar with Joe Worrall getting in the way after the Blues had failed to convincingly clear Morgan Gibbs-White’s free-kick, before he held off the Brazilian and sent an acrobatic effort wide. The game descended into a scrappy affair towards the end of the first half, although there were still opportunities with Worrall blocking attempts from Nicolas Jackson and Sterling.

The Reds suffered a blow when Danilo was forced off moments before halftime but his replacement, Anthony Elanga, soon improved the mood in the away end. He punished the mix-up between Gallagher and Moisés Caicedo by racing onto Awoniyi’s through ball before applying a cool finish for his first club goal since February 2022. Chelsea immediately pushed for an equaliser, but Willy Boly made a brilliant block to deny Jackson.

Even with Mauricio Pochettino bringing a whole host of attacking talent off the bench and the Blues applying constant waves of pressure, Forest valiantly stood firm and benefited from a shocking Jackson miss to secure a memorable away victory, having won on the road just once in the Premier League last term. Chelsea, meanwhile, suffered their first home defeat and failed to score in a match for the first time this term.

West Ham victorious at Kenilworth Road's Premier League debut

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 4

Friday

Luton - West Ham 1-2 (0-1)

/Andersen 90+2 - Bowen 37, Zouma 85/

Saturday

Sheffield United - Everton 2-2 (2-1)

/Archer 33, Pickford 45+3 og - Doucoure 14, Danjuma 55/

Burnley - Tottenham 2-5 (1-2)

/Foster 4, Brownhill 90+4 - Son 16, 63, 66, Romero 45+2, Maddison54/

Brentford - Bournemouth 2-2 (1-1)

/Jensen 7, Mbeumo 90+3 - Solanke 30, Brooks 77/

Chelsea - Nott.Forest 0-1 (0-0)

/Elanga 48/

Man.City - Fulham 5-1 (2-1)

/Alvarez 31, Ake 45+5, Haaland 59, 70 p, 90+6 - Ream 33/

19.30: (2.70) Brighton (3.40) Newcastle (2.60)

Sunday

16.00: (1.70) Liverpool (3.90) Aston Villa (4.80)

16.00: (2.00) Crystal Palace (3.50) Wolverhampton (4.20)

18.30: (1.85) Arsenal (3.70) Man.Utd. (4.70)

***odds are subject to change