London: Arsenal underlined their determination to finally win the Premier League title with a gritty victory at Aston Villa.
Manchester United suffered an embarrassing loss against Brighton, while hat-trick hero Noni Madueke inspired Chelsea’s rout of Wolves.
AFP Sport looks at three things we learned from the Premier League this weekend:
New season, same United
Any hope of a new dawn for Manchester United under Erik ten Hag has diminished just two games into the new season.
The Red Devils needed a late goal to beat Fulham on the opening night of the campaign but were undone themselves by a stoppage-time winner against Brighton.
United have now lost more Premier League games to goals scored after the 90th minute (six) than any other side in the past three seasons.
“The game is finished when the referee whistles three times and that is what we didn’t do well. Game management - we should improve that,” said Ten Hag.
“We have good potential but we have to keep going until the end.”
The Dutchman survived an internal review at the end of last season despite finishing eighth thanks to winning the FA Cup final against Manchester City.
However, Ten Hag is already under pressure once more, with unbeaten Liverpool heading to Old Trafford next weekend for a crucial clash.
Arsenal’s statement of intent
Arsenal laid to rest some of the ghosts of their failed bid to dethrone Manchester City last season with a 2-0 win at Aston Villa.
It was two defeats to Unai Emery’s men that effectively cost the Gunners a first league title in 20 years last term.
But Arsenal were not caught out by their former manager this time, registering a win that could be crucial come May.
The visitors needed a stunning save from David Raya to prevent Villa going in front through Ollie Watkins.
That proved to be the turning point as two quickfire goals from substitute Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey got the job done.
A trip to Birmingham was just the beginning of a tricky run for Mikel Arteta’s men, with Tottenham and City away to come in two of their next three league matches.
But Arsenal have started like a side ready to rise to the challenge of ending City’s grip on the title.
Madueke goes from zero to hero
Noni Madueke got himself in hot water before Chelsea’s match at Wolves had even kicked off, but the Blues winger finished the day on a high after a superb hat-trick in his side’s 6-2 victory.
The 22-year-old was jeered throughout the game by angry Wolves fans due to a hastily-deleted Instagram post in the early hours that contained an expletive to describe the industrial city his team were playing in.
“I just want to apologise to anyone that I might have offended,” Madueke said after his treble silenced the boo boys.
“It is just a human mistake, an accident. It wasn’t meant to be out on my socials like that. I’m sure Wolverhampton is a lovely town and I’m sorry.”
Madueke’s impressive display gave new Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca his first league win after last weekend’s loss to Manchester City.
He praised Madueke’s contribution on the pitch and said he was unaware of the social media faux pas.
“To be honest I didn’t know, it’s just been mentioned to me now but I didn’t know during the game about Noni’s social post,” Maresca said.
“I judge Noni’s performance which has been fantastic, not only second half, even in the first half.”
