Premier League Match Week 6 Results: Liverpool Moves To Top Of the Table; Manchester City Drops Points Again; Palmer Lights It Up In Chelsea Win; Gloom Thickens For Manchester United; Gunners Escape Foxes; Bees Blow Another Lead; Everton Wins As Branthwaite Returns

History was made at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea’s Cole Palmer became the first player to score four goals in the first half of a Premier League match. The electric 22-year-old left departed Manchester City in search of more playing time and joined an army of young players marching in the door at Stamford Bridge. Palmer has quickly separated himself from the rest of Chelsea’s acquisitions, however. The England international ran second to Erling Haaland in Premier League goals last season and trails only the Norwegian striker in goals again this season after Saturday’s historic performance. Palmer, however, also racks up assists to lead all Premier League players in goal involvements last year and now. Chelsea’s 4-2 win over Brighton sees the Blues break into the top four with a Palmer led attack which leads the league in scoring.

Liverpool is now top of the table with the top five teams all within two points of each other. The Reds were far from their best when only a 61st minute Mohamed Salah penalty sealed their 2-1 victory over winless Wolves.

Manchester City, meanwhile, felt the loss of midfielder Rodri as the Citizens were bullied by Newcastle’s midfield in a 1-1 draw at St. James’s Park. Anthony Gordon converted the equalizing penalty for the Magpies after being taken down by goalkeeper Ederson. The Magpies’ Bruno Guimaraes threaded the clinical pass through the Manchester City defense that put Gordon through on goal. The dropped points from a second consecutive draw left Manchester City level on points with Arsenal, both clubs sitting a point behind Liverpool.

The Gunners prevailed by a misleading final score of 4-2 over Leicester as the final two goals by the London side came in final stoppage time after the Gunners allowed the Foxes to come back from a two-goal deficit. A Leandro Trossard shot was deflected for a Leicester own goal in the 94th minute and Kai Havertz scored five minutes later to provide the winning margin for Arsenal at the Emirates.

Aston Villa trails fourth place Chelsea on goal differential after a 2-2 draw with Ipswich Town which may have caught the Villans looking ahead to this Wednesday’s Champions League match with Bayern Munich. An entertaining match saw Liam Delap put the Tractor Boys in front with an eighth minute strike at Portman Road. After Aston Villa scored twice to take the lead, Delap added his second of the day to capture a fourth consecutive league draw for newly promoted Ipswich Town. The Tractor Boys have proven competitive but must find a win somewhere on the horizon.

Everton posted its first victory of the season on Saturday to escape the relegation zone and land level on points with Ipswich. The Toffees 2-1 win over Crystal Palace saw the return from injury of Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite. The highly regarded youngster made his season debut and teamed with James Tarkowski to put some steel back in an Everton defense which had held an opponent to less than three goals in only one of its opening five matches. Dwight McNeil scored both goals at the other end for the Evertonians. Crystal Palace replaces Everton in the relegation zone with the Eagles continuing to search for their own first victory of the season.

While five teams remain without a first win this season, Manchester City and Arsenal are the only defeated sides after Cole Palmer’s single-handed destruction of Brighton and Fulham’s 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest. There was little to choose between the Tricky Trees and Cottagers at Craven Cottage before a VAR review spotted Forest defender Murillo scraping his studs across the calf of Fulham’s Andreas Pereira. Pereira would be victimized a second time when teammate Raul Jimenez grabbed the ball from Pereira, Fulham’s designated penalty kicker, to steal the spotlight with his 50th Premier League goal. The Tricky Trees had no answer and fell for the first time this season.

Manchester United and Brentford sit just below Nottingham Forest’s 10th place position in the table. The Red Devils were soundly beaten 3-0 at Old Trafford by Tottenham Hotspur, once again triggering blistering criticism of Manager Eric ten Hag by pundits and supporters. There seems diminishing patience with ten Hag’s repeated calls for patience. The club looks disorganized and the talent on the pitch does not seem worth the club’s transfer spending which is exceeded only by Chelsea since ten Hag has been in Manchester. Sunday’s loss was the eight defeat in the last 20 Premier League matches at Old Trafford for the Red Devils as the iconic venue is no longer a fortress. A red card incurred by Bruno Fernandes certainly did not help matters this weekend, but Tottenham Hotspur were already dominating the proceedings before Fernandes’s 42nd minute exit. The visitors scored inside the three-minute mark of each half. Spurs’ Brennan Johnson and Dominik Solanke each scored for a second consecutive match while Djan Kulusevski pretty much decided the match when his goal widened the lead to two scores in the 47th minute. Spurs defender Mickey Van de Ven set the tone for the match when took the ball from Marcus Rashford and sprinted more than 70 yards, eluding a host of United defenders along the way before finding Johnson for the opening tap in.

Early goals have not been a formula for success for Brentford. The Bees have scored in the opening minute of their last three Premier League matches. None of the three games, however, has resulted in three points. Two losses, which began with encouraging first minute goals by Brentford’s Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo, respectively, were followed by a 1-1 draw this weekend Saturday in the Bees’ London derby with West Ham. Bryan Mbeumo scored in the first minute for a second consecutive match only to see West Ham equalize on a second half goal by Tomas Soucek.

Bournemouth leapfrogged both Brentford and Manchester United with a 3-1 victory over Southampton on Monday. The Saints need a miracle to survive this season though they did manage to score their third goal of the season against the Cherries. The poor souls next have to face Arsenal before the international break. Bournemouth, meanwhile, was happy for the step down in competition in its South Coast derby after suffering back-to-back losses versus Chelsea and Liverpool.