Liverpool stunned by Forest, Haaland hits another two as Man City stay perfect
Liverpool's perfect start under Arne
Slot came to a stunning end as Nottingham Forest won 1-0 at Anfield on
Saturday, while Erling Haaland's double sent Manchester City three points clear
at the top of the Premier League in a 2-1 win over Brentford.
Earlier, Manchester United eased the
pressure on Erik ten Hag with a comfortable 3-0 win at Southampton.
Forest had not won at Anfield in the top
flight for 55 years but the home faithful were stunned when Callum Hudson-Odoi
fired in the winner 18 minutes from time.
Liverpool had won all three of their
opening games under Slot without conceding, including a 3-0 win away at
Manchester United two weeks ago.
But the Reds were sloppy and sluggish
after the international break and made to pay.
Luis Diaz hit the post and Diogo Jota
wasted a big chance to put Liverpool ahead before half-time.
And they were punished when Hudson-Odoi
latched onto Anthony Elanga's pass, cut inside and unleashed an accurate strike
low beyond Alisson Becker.
Victory lifts Forest into fourth with
eight points from their opening four games.
Haaland
denied hat-trick history
City took full advantage of Liverpool's
defeat to move clear at the top by stretching their 100 percent record to four
games despite a disastrous start.
John Stones was recalled by Pep
Guardiola for his first club start of the season but the England
international's poor clearance teed up Yoane Wissa to open the scoring after
just 22 seconds at the Etihad.
However, Haaland's form at the start of
the season remains unstoppable, even if the Norwegian just missed out on a
record third consecutive hat-trick in the Premier League.
The 24-year-old's powerful deflected
effort brought City level before he showed a combination of strength and skill
to shrug off Ethan Pinnock and dink the ball over the onrushing Mark Flekken.
Only the post denied Haaland another
hat-trick after half-time but he now has nine goals in four games this season.
United had been left to fester on their
humbling by Liverpool for two weeks over the international break, but bounced
back after a slow start at Southampton.
The Red Devils needed a penalty save
from Andre Onana to deny Cameron Archer before two goals in five minutes just
before half-time swung the game decisively in the visitors' favour.
Matthijs de Ligt nodded in his first
United goal before Marcus Rashford ended his six-month drought by finding the
bottom corner with a curling effort.
Southampton are yet to register a point
in four games since their return to the top flight and inflicted more damage on
themselves when captain Jack Stephens saw red for a wild lunge on Alejandro
Garnacho.
The Argentine dusted himself off to then
round off the scoring with a thumping finish into the roof of the net in
stoppage time.
“Once Andre stopped the penalty,
straight after, we scored a goal with Matthijs de Ligt, the game was all ours
and we dominate the game from that point," said Ten Hag.
Third-placed Brighton remain unbeaten
but were unable to break down Ipswich in a 0-0 draw at the Amex.
Crystal Palace came from 2-0 down to
salvage a 2-2 draw against Leicester thanks to Jean-Philippe Mateta's double.
West Ham also struck late through Danny
Ings to snatch a 1-1 draw at Fulham.
Arsenal face Tottenham in the north
London derby in the pick of Sunday's action.
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