Liverpool and Chelsea maintained their perfect Premier League starts after four games Saturday as champion Manchester City edged past Newcastle United to remain two points behind the early leaders.
A huge error from £65m ($84m) goalkeeper Alisson Becker threatened to halt Liverpool's early season charge, but Jurgen Klopp's men held out for a 2-1 win at the King Power in another demonstration of their new-found defensive solidity to go with the firepower of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah.
Chelsea had to wait until 19 minutes from time to break down Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge before the in-form Pedro Rodriguez opened the scoring and Eden Hazard sealed the points in a 2-0 win.
City bounced back from a rare slip-up at Wolves last weekend thanks to goals from England internationals Raheem Sterling and Kyle Walker in a 2-1 success to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Sheikh Mansour's takeover that has transformed the club.
The top of the #PL table has a @LFC shade of red about it ? pic.twitter.com/bdBeBH0Df6
— Premier League (@premierleague) September 1, 2018
At the other end of the table it was another afternoon to forget for West Ham United, who remain the only Premier League side without a point, as Adama Traore snatched a 1-0 win for Wolverhampton Wanderers in stoppage time at London Stadium.
On a rare off day for Salah, who was substituted 20 minutes from time, Mane and Firmino stepped into the breach to give Liverpool a 2-0 half-time lead at Leicester City.
But that was a more comfortable cushion than they deserved as for the third straight game the Reds failed to produce their free-flowing best.
Alisson more than played his part in registering clean sheets against West Ham, Crystal Palace and Brighton and Hove Albion, but the Brazilian No 1 was caught trying to dribble past Kelechi Iheanacho and the Nigerian squared for Rachid Ghezzal to set up a grandstand finish.
.@ChelseaFC when winning opening 4 @premierleague games of a season
— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) September 1, 2018
2004-05 ?
2005-06 ?
2009-10 ?
2010-11 ?
2014-15 ?
2018-19 ❓ pic.twitter.com/wKf3L95xaO
While Liverpool were expected to challenge City for the title having spent more than any other team in the league over the summer, Maurizio Sarri's perfect start at Chelsea has surprised even the Italian himself.
Sarri's imprint was again clear to see as the blues dominated possession, but were made to work to inflict Bournemouth's first defeat of the campaign.
City also had to be patient as a combination of poor finishing and Martin Dubravka in the Newcastle goal prevented a rout at the Etihad after Sterling fired the host into an eighth-minute lead.
Newcastle enjoyed barely 20% possession, but made it count to level on the half hour mark when DeAndre Yedelin turned home Salomon Rondon's cross.
“I am angry that I made a mistake that put the team in a difficult situation.”https://t.co/GXwZ0t4JUY
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) September 1, 2018
For all the intricate play and chances created by Pep Guardiola's men, it required some force to get the job done eventually as Walker hammered home a strike from 25 yards for the match winner seven minutes into the second-half.
West Ham would love any type of goal at the moment as a near £100m investment in the transfer market is still to yield any return.
Everton's fine start to life under Marco Silva was tempered by a 1-1 draw at home to Huddersfield Town.
The points were also shared in a 2-2 draw between Brighton and Fulham, while Southampton claimed their first victory of the season 2-0 at Crystal Palace.
RESULTS
Leicester 1 (Ghezzal 63) Liverpool 2 (Mane 10, Firmino 45)
Brighton 2 (Murray 67, 84-P) Fulham 2 (Schurrle 43, Mitrovic 62)
Chelsea 2 (Pedro 72, Hazard 85) Bournemouth 0
Palace 0 Southampton 2 (Ings 47, Hojbjerg 90)
Everton 1 (Calvert-Lewin 36) Huddersfield 1 (Billing 34)
West Ham 0 Wolves 1 (Traore 90)
Man City 2 (Sterling 8, Walker 52) 1 Newcastle (Yedlin 30)
