So, that’s all from Saturday football. It started with a Manchester City beating United at Old Trafford in their local derby. There was a quiet handshake between the victor and vanquished in Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho. Later in the day, Arsenal scrapped to a hard-fought win over Southampton, while champions Leicester suffered humiliation at Anfield.


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And here’s the one who plotted Liecester’s defeat




Liverpool (Firmino 13′, 88′; Mane 31′; Lallana 57′) 4 – 1 (38’Vardy) Leicester: Champions routed at Anfield. Roberto Firmino slotted home the fourth goal after a very open, open game with Foxes goalkeeper Kasper missing…



Liverpool (Firmino 13′; Mane 31′; Lallana 57′) 3 – 1 (38’Vardy) Leicester: Adam Lallana beauty from outside the box reinstated Liverpool’s two goal lead.



Liverpool (Firmino 13′; Mane 31′) 2 – 1 (38’Vardy) Leicester: Lukas Leiva gifted a goal to Jamie Vardy. Horrible defensive work from the Liverpool player, and Foxes are back.


Liverpool (Firmino 13′; Mane 31′) 2 – 0 Leicester: A deserved goal for Liverpool’s hard work. Sadio Mane  doubled the lead with a good team goal.


Liverpool (Firmino 13′) 1 – 0 Leicester: Roberto Firmino gave Anfield a rapturous opening salvo against the champions. And Jurgen Klopp’s touchline gig is some sight.


Team news





These left us with only one match today, between Liverpool and Leicester. Kick off time is 10 PM IST.


FULL-TIME Updates


West Ham 2 – 4 Watford
Arsenal 1 – 2 Southampton 
Middlesbrough 1 – 2 Crystal Palace
Stoke 0 – 4 Tottenham
Burnley 1 – 1 Hull
Bournemouth 1 – 0 West Brom


Arsenal (Koscielny 29′) 1 – 2 (18′ (OG) Cech; 90+2’Cazorla) Southampton: PENALTY. Huge decision. At stoppage time, ref Robert Madley pointed at the dreaded spot. Harsh decision; going Olivier Giroud’s way. Gunners are happy. Laurent Koscielny, on his birthday, needed medical attention.


Then, Santi Cazorla scored from the spot, after minutes of waiting.


Bournemouth (Wilson 79′) 1 – 0 West Brom: Callum Wilson broke the silence at Dean Court, scoring the first goal of the match.


Stoke 0 – 4 (41′, 56′ Heung-Min; 60′ Alli; 70′ Kane) Tottenham: Harry Kane scored the fourth goal, from a Heung-Min Son set up.


Burnley (Defour 73′) 1 – 0 Hull: At last a goal at Turf Moor. Belgian Steven Defour produced a brilliant long ranger to score for the home side.


West Ham (Anotonio 5′, 33′) 2 – 4 (41′ Ighalo; 45+2′ Deeney; 53′ Capoue; 63′ Holebas) Watford: Watford have tighten the screw with the fourth goal, this time, scored by Jose Holebas.


Stoke 0 – 3 (41′, 56′ Heung-Min; 60′ Alli) Tottenham: Then, Dele Alli joined the fun, scoring the third goal for Spurs.


Stoke 0 – 2 (41′, 56′ Heung-Min) Tottenham: Heung-Min Son scored his second to double the lead.


West Ham (Anotonio 5′, 33′) 2 – 3 (41′ Ighalo; 45+2′ Deeney; 53′ Capoue) Watford: Etienne Capoue found one for himself, and Watford have taken the lead.


Middlesbrough (Ayala 39′) 1 – 2 (17′ Benteke, 48′ Zaha) Crystal Palace: Good start after the break for the visiting team. Wilfried Zaha scored to take the lead.



West Ham (Anotonio 5′, 33′) 2 – 2 (41′ Ighalo, 45+2′ Deeney) Watford: Impressive! Watford fought back from 0-2 down to level 2-2 at HT. Troy Deeney, the scorer.


Stoke 0 – 1 (41′ Heung-Min) Tottenham: South Korean Heung-Min Son scored the opener at Stoke on Trent. Christian Eriksen the assist provider.


West Ham (Anotonio 5′, 33′) 2 – 1 (41′ Ighalo) Watford: Odion Ighalo pulled one back for Watford, thanks to a nice set up from Etienne Capoue.


Middlesbrough (Ayala 39′) 1 – 1 (17′ Benteke) Crystal Palace: Daniel Ayala restored parity at Middlersborough.


West Ham (Anotonio 5′, 33′) 2 – 0 Watford: Michail Antonio double the lead with second, and once again Dimitri Payet, the mastermind.


Arsenal (Koscielny 29′) 1 – 1 (18′ (OG) Cech) Southampton: Brilliant finish from Laurent Koscielny, an overhead cycle kick, to help Gunners level score. The first goal of the match has been updated as an own goal to Peter Cech.


Arsenal 0 – 1 (18′ Tedic) Southampton: Unlucky Petr Cech. Despite producing a brilliant dive and getting a good touch, ended up collecting the ball from the back of net. Ferocious drive from Dusan Tadic.


Middlesbrough 0 – 1 (17′ Benteke) Crystal Palace: Christian Benteke scored the opener at Riverside Stadium.


West Ham (Anotonio 5′) 1 – 0 Watford: Michail Antonio scored to give Hammers early lead at Olympic Stadium. Dimitri Payet’s corner kick was sublime, which set up the goal.


By virtue of today’s win, City have climbed at the top of league table with 12 points from four wins in four games. And only Chelsea, who travel to Swansea tomorrow, can rob them of top spot in gameweek 4.


Line-ups out for the next lot of fixtures:


Arsenal vs Southampton




Bournemouth vs West Brom




Burnley vs Hull




Middlesbrough vs Crystal Palace




Stoke vs Tottenham




West Ham vs Watford




Up next is six simultaneous kick-offs:


Arsenal vs Southampton, Bournemouth vs West Brom, Burnley vs Hull, Middlesbrough vs Crystal Palace, Stoke vs Tottenham, West Ham vs Watford


Full-time: Man United 1-2 Man City



Hosts United improved their game, evidently with the arrival of Marcus Rashford. But another disallowed goal and near misses meant they lost the derby 1-2.


City, on the other hand, put men behind the ball even though they survived some anxious moments. Debutant Claudio Bravo could have easily spoilt the day had his tackle on Wayne Rooney gone bad.



City had 61% possession and 18 attempts of which 6 were on target. For United, 3 were on target from 14 attempts.


Second-half: Manchester United (Ibra 42′) 1 – 2 (15′ De Bruyne, 36′ Iheanacho) Manchester City


90+5′ – Sane tried running down the clock on the left flank, but lost ball to Marouane​ Fellaini. Then, a move for United.


Rooney’s long ball find Fellaini, But a good clearance, which was spoilt by a bad challenge Fernandinho.


Another free-kick from Rooney, and it found Pogba in front. But some brave defending from City. And the FINAL WHISTLE.


On the sidelines, two managers shook hands and embrace each other. Certainly a tone-down version of their intense rivalry. But it all can change withe comment or two, post match.


90+3′ – Good move from United, from a concerted effort involving Wayne Rooney and Marouane​ Fellaini. Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s final touch however failed.


Then, quickly, United got the ball back, and from a Ibra attempt they got a corner. Wayne Rooney took the corner, and wasted.


90′- SUB for City, as expected. Some confusion whom to call off. Nolito, no. It’s Vevin De Bruyne, and on Pablo Zabaleta.


Five minutes added. And talks of Fergie time already started, some even suggesting Mourinho time.


88′- Mighty clearance, inches away from the goal mouth by David Silva to deny Paul Pogba a header.


Anotonio Valencia committed a foul in the centre, and City quickly took the kick Barca-style, and Kevin De Bruyne managed to enter United box. Only a wasted chance.


85′- After the restart, Wayne Rooney produced a good run giving United a good chance to look at the goal. But on the counter, Fernandinho found himself alone with the ball on the counter.


His attempt from the top of the box was only too feeble to test David de Gea.


83′-  Wayne Rooney chased down on the ball Caludio Bravo and committed a late tackle. Yellow Card for United legend.


Meanwhile, brief stoppage. Nicolas Otamendi got himself bandied in the head.


81′- This period of play certainly belonged to City. They just managed to penetrate inside the United box, with David Silva and Sane leading the charge.


Nicolas Otamendi running free joined the attack, and he found Duran Nolito to link up. Nolito’s curling effort from the right missed the target.


Meanwhile, United brought in Anthony Martial for invisible Luke Shaw.


78′- Then, City launched another swift counter attack, with David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne linking well, even though Sane was another option on the left.


The Spaniard’s curler just missed the top corner by a whisker.


Then, Wayne Rooney booked for a foul on Fernandinho. Free kick to City. And De Bruyne overshot. Over the wall and bar.


75′- From the following play, City won three corners, back-to-back. The chain of corners ended with a great save off a header. On the counter Abder Herrera, alone, missed a golden chance to equalise.


But still a corner though for United. Wayne Rooney’s delivery failed to make an impact. Then, Sane’s run found De Bruyne and the Belgian’s shot hit the near post, before rolling to hit the far one. No goal.


70′- City did enough to win back the ball, and won a free kick inside the United half. Kevin De Bruyne’s free-kick however failed to find it’s intended target.


Pace of the game slowed down considerably, and City have gained lose grounds. So to say, denying United possession.


Then, a break from Marcus Rashford gave a goal, freak one, in the 69th minute. But it was deflected from Ibra’s shin, and offside.


66′- Marcus Rashford earned free-kick in the centre, then from the following play, United pressed in front, only to see Wayne Rooney tumbling down in front of the box.


Moments later, a long ball missed Marouane​ Fellaini in front of the box, but failed to control, instead his miscued shot allowed Zlatan Ibrahimovic to take a acrobatic shot. The former PSG player, in the process, tangled with a defender.


64′- Wayne Rooney tried finding his teammates inside the City box with a curling delivery, but to no avail. On the counter, City got their own move, testing united defenders in the process.


63′- Nolito fouled Wayne Rooney on the left flank, and the England captain released a long ball from the free-kick. But Marcus Rashford found himself manhandled trying to reach the ball from the cross-field delivery.


60′- At the hour mark, Leroy Sane came in for Raheem Sterling. Surprised, initially, it looked like Nolito was coming off.


57′- Bravo, overconfident, or out of sync. He brought down Wayne Rooney on a one on one situation inside the box. Both feet on air, but luckily got the ball, and benefit of doubt to a goalie. Could have easily a send off and a penalty. Rooney was furious.


54′- Nicolas Otamendi lucky not to have given the ball away to Wayne Rooney just outside the box. Then, after cool down, City got their first probing move inside the United half in the second half.


53′- BOOKING for Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Clumsy from the superstar. Nicolas Otamendi played it or rather delayed the play to force the foul.


Then, another yellow card for United. This time, Marouane​ Fellaini’s flailing got the blame.


50′- Introspection time for City, and they have taken good time rolling the ball around inside their own half. And United continued to probe.


46′- Good start for United, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic testing City defence twice in the first minute of the second half. And both came from Marcus Rashford’s supply.


He was one of the two subs for United, on for Jesse Lingard. Henrikh Mkhitaryan, as expected, got rested. In his place came Ander Herrera.


Manchester City dominated the first half, with two goals to one, and 65% possession. But their goalie. Claudio Bravo seemed to have taken the derby too much into the heart, and was in foul to concede the goal, and was lucky enough to avoid one. He looked tense.


But still, the former Barcelona keeper was instrumental in the first goal. A perfect long ball to find Kevin De Bruyne. It gave City extra impetus to press hard, and it yielded good results. Kelechi ​Iheanacho was lucky to be there to slot home the second goal.


Overall, City played usual Guardiola play. Keeping possession, neat and tidy. 


For United, Ibra once again proved the savior or sort of. He did squandered another chance though. Wayne Rooney started sprightly, but seemed to have lost steam in the later part, or out os position, doing the mopping up behind.


And what about Paul Pogba. The money man. He had a couple of runs, otherwise invisible, just like Henrikh Mkhitaryan.


First-half: Manchester United (Ibra 42′) 1 – 2 (15′ De Bruyne, 36′ Iheanacho) Manchester City


45+2′- Suddenly, the match has come alive after that Ibra goal. End to end football from both sides, and Ibra got a high header collected by Bravo.


Then, from yet another counter, United got themselves into a goal scoring position. But Jesse Lingard attempt on the vacant goal was meek, and cleared by a defender.


Moments ago, Eric Bailly got a booking.


That’s the end of first half.


43′- GOAL!!! One back for United, thanks to Zlatan Ibrahimovic brilliance, and of course defensive mistake from City defence, including Claudio Bravo. He dropped a simple free-kick from Wayne Rooney, and the opportunistic Ibra made him pay.


Moments ago, David Silva was booked and it allowed United to press inside the City half.


40′- It seemed Mourinho’s United have crumbled. Beaten in every aspect of the game. But it’s only 40 minutes into the game.


37′- A defensive lapse forced David de Gea to produce a brilliant save. But the trouble was to come. Nolito got himself to prime space, but his link up with Raheem Sterling failed, but there was kevin De Bruyne was in the back-up.


The Belgian took a shot, and it hit the far post. There Kelechi ​Iheanacho pounced on the rebound, And it’s City 2 against United. GOAL!!!


33′- United seemed to have found some ground, and made some inroads in the last couple of minutes, including an Ibra move which was thwarted early.


30′- Seconds before the half-hour mark, Raheem Sterling had a go at United goal. Just missed the the target by a whisker. Then in the following play, Marouane​ Fellaini and Nolito found themselves involved in a tussle, and referee Mark Clattenburg summoned both.


23′- David Silva and Raheem Sterling teamed up to tease and test United defence, but after few passing around Marouane​ Fellaini forced put a foul on Sterling.


From the following play, Henrikh Mkhitaryan got a long ball, and seemed to have got the penalty with Claudio Bravo producing a desperate defensive lunge. But the flag was already up. Offside.


26′- Henrikh Mkhitaryan had a good run inside the City half, then won a throw-in. Antonio valencia produced a long throw, allowing Ibra to go for the goal. But he was once again blocked.


24′- Pep Guaridola, who was seated at the start of the match, is now on the touchlines, and he even got to play handshake with Wayne Rooney. Then, from a throw-in, the visiting team managed to once again probe the United defence.


22′- United wasted the corner kick, and from the following play, Antonio Valencia won a throw in inside the City  half, but alert defenders cleared the ball away.


After few exchanges in the middle, City won a free kick some 25 yards inside the United half.


18′- Paul Pogba had a brilliant run, before linking up with Ibra. Then, the big Swede won a corner for United. Good defence from City defenders to keep Ibra out of reach.


15′- Throw-in for City on the right after Bacary​ Sagna won a hard-fought battle over Daley Blind.


GOAL!!! Then, from a long long from Claudio Bravo, Kevin De Bruyne beat two defenders and slotted home the first goal.


12′- No signs of Zlatan Ibrahimovic yet, so thus Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba.


No, after a messed up midfield play, Ibra got hold of the ball and tried a kick… to no avail.


10′- Aleksandar​ Kolarov had a go at the goal. No power, no zing. From the following play, after a brief spell, United lost the possession.


9′- Kevin De Bruyne earned a free-kick just outside the United box, thanks to a late tackle from Bertrand Bailly. Easy call for Mark Clattenburg.


7′- Still City enjoying majority of the possession, and Silva is operating upfront with full control, then out of nowhere, Wayne Rooney had a brilliant run inside the City half and got a good attempt on the goal. But missed the target.


4′- First corner of the match to City, with Kevin De Bruyne earning the flag-kick on the left flank. David Silva delivered from the corner, but nothing came off it.


1′ – So thus started yet another edition of Manchester derby, with both teams in their traditional colours — United in Reds, and City in Blues. Despite a depleted looking attacking line-up, Citizens have shown enough attacking intent in these first minutes.


And once more, here are the teams:


Man Utd: David de Gea, Antonio Valencia, Bertrand Bailly, Daley Blind, Luke Shaw, paul Pogba, Marouane​’Fellaini, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Wayne Rooney, Jesse Lingard, Zlatan Ibrahimovic.


Subs: Juan Mata, Anthony Martial, Chris Smalling, Marcus Rashford, Sergio Romero, Ander Herrera, Morgan ​Schneiderlin.


Man City: Claudio Bravo, Bacary​ Sagna, John Stones, Nicolas Otamendi, Aleksandar​ Kolarov, Kevin De Bruyne, Fernandinho, David Silva, Raheem Sterling, Kelechi ​Iheanacho, Nolito.


Subs: Pablo ​Zabaleta, Fernando, Willy Caballero, Jesus Navas, Leroy Sane, Gael Clichy, Manu Garcia. 


And conducting this highly combustible match is Mark Clattenburg.



Minutes into kick-off…


On the players’ front, a certain Zlatan Ibrahimovic will try to enhance reputation as a global superstar, yea, all that in the presence of Wayne Rooney. Both the seasoned pros starts today, and they will have company of a brooding stars like Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan.


Surprisingly, Mourinho has Marcus Rashford on the bench.


That’s about the home side.


For the visiting Blues, Claudio Bravo starts his first match. And for the Chilean custodian, this is a perfect debut match after helping his national and club teams to titles last season.


With Sergio Aguero suspended for three matches, Guardiola will rely on the ‘Promises’ of young Kelechi Iheanacho, Kevin de Bruyne and tireless work-horse Raheem Sterling.


Despite a line-up of expensinve superstars on either side, focus is surely on the two managers — Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola. Both have had a trouble relationship during their stay in Spain, but England becoming their new battleground is indeed one of the surprises that the new season has brought about.


We will have the first glimpse of their renewed rivarly today, and so thus the famed Manchester derby.


Other fixtures today:


7:30 PM IST Kick-off: Arsenal vs Southampton, Bournemouth vs West Brom, Burnley vs Hull, Middlesbrough vs Crystal Palace, Stoke vs Tottenham, West Ham vs Watford


10:00 PM IST Kick-off: Liverpool vs Leicester




Here are the line-ups for today’s early kick-off at Old Trafford:





PREVIEW


The eyes of the world will be on Manchester this weekend as Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola bring their bitter feud to the Premier League for the first time.


Any derby between Manchester United and Manchester City is guaranteed to be an explosive affair, but the presence of sworn enemies Mourinho and Guardiola should ensure the animosity levels are higher than usual.


READ FULL PREVIEW


With City top of the table and United just behind them in third after both won their first three league games, there was already more than local bragging rights at stake in a showdown between two sure-fire title contenders.