Premier League Roundup: Man City Maintain Perfect Start, Liverpool Win Again and Man United Held by Fulham

 

Manchester City maintained their perfect start, while Liverpool continued their winning run and Manchester United rescued a point at Fulham.

Manchester City 5-3 Sunderland: Brobbey Hat-Trick Not Enough

Manchester City survived an eight-goal thriller at the Etihad to stay top of the table with a perfect record, despite a hat-trick from Sunderland's Brian Brobbey.

Enzo Fernández opened the scoring after nine minutes with a clever free-kick, his first goal since his £125m move from Chelsea. Sunderland hit back almost immediately through Brobbey, who finished off a brilliant pass from Enzo le Fée. The game then turned into end-to-end chaos. Rayan Cherki restored City's lead after Sunderland were caught playing out from the back, only for Brobbey to level again moments later, tapping in after Thomas Meunier squared the ball to him.

City finally pulled clear right before halftime through Antoine Semenyo, who curled home after Sunderland failed to deal with a cross. Haaland then somehow skewed a golden chance wide in stoppage time with the goal gaping.

The second half brought more drama. Semenyo made it 4-2 with a slightly fortunate finish after a deflection fell kindly, but Sunderland responded within two minutes as Brobbey completed his first senior hat-trick, bundling home from close range. Donnarumma then nearly gifted Sunderland an equalizer, failing to claim a high ball that bounced dangerously in the box, but City captain Rubén Días hooked it off the line just in time.

Haaland finally put the game to bed nine minutes from time, sliding in to convert a Joško Gvardiol cross. The goal was initially ruled offside but overturned on review. It means Haaland has now scored against every side he's faced in the Premier League.

City move three points clear at the top with a perfect five wins from five, while Sunderland can take plenty of positives from a gutsy performance despite the loss.

Fulham 1-1 Manchester United: Late Cunha Strike Denies Hosts

Manchester United snatched a point at Craven Cottage thanks to a fortunate late equalizer from Matheus Cunha, denying Fulham what would have been their first league win of the season.

Fulham had taken a bizarre lead in the second half when United keeper Senne Lammens fumbled Calvin Bassey's low shot, and Lisandro Martínez turned the loose ball into his own net while scrambling to clear it. From there Fulham looked set to hold on, with Bernd Leno making several big saves as United pushed for an equalizer.

But with just a minute of normal time left, Cunha's strike from 20 yards took a heavy deflection off Fulham defender David Affengruber, wrongfooted Leno, and crept into the corner.

United dominated the shot count, firing 29 attempts to Fulham's 12, and hit the woodwork twice, but Fulham's defending, including a remarkable 13 blocks, kept the scoreline close. Lammens was excellent between the sticks for United, making six saves to keep his side in the game before Cunha's goal bailed him out.

The result leaves United in 12th place with just five points from five games heading into the international break, while Fulham remain winless in 19th, though they'll take confidence from a battling display.

[Premier League Saturday Roundup: Arsenal's Perfect Run Ends, Coventry Finally Break Their Duck]

Leeds 0-0 Crystal Palace: Stalemate at Elland Road

Leeds United and Crystal Palace played out a goalless draw at Elland Road, with Leeds extending their unbeaten start to the season.

The game came alive just after halftime as Palace pushed for a breakthrough. Yeremy Pino's clever free-kick was pushed away by keeper James Trafford, and Jefferson Lerma fired the resulting corner over the bar. Palace then had what looked like a goal ruled out when Tyrick Mitchell put the ball in the net, but teammate Anan Khalaili was flagged offside in the buildup.

Leeds' best chance of the match fell to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, fresh off an England recall, but his well-struck effort from close range was superbly saved by Walter Benítez.

Trafford was the standout performer of the match, making five saves to preserve the clean sheet, while Leeds' defense held firm despite Palace edging the better chances for large parts of the second half.

The point moves Leeds up to fifth in the table with two wins and three draws from five games, having conceded just three goals all season, the joint-fewest in the league. Palace sit 15th with four points from five matches.

Bournemouth 0-1 Liverpool: Iraola Returns to Haunt Former Club

Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola made a winning return to Bournemouth as his new side edged out his old one 1-0 at the Vitality Stadium heading into the international break.

It was a scrappy game for long spells, but Liverpool broke the deadlock in the 57th minute when Cody Gakpo drove into the box and squared the ball across goal. Bournemouth failed to deal with it, and Alexander Isak was on hand to tuck home from close range, his fourth Premier League goal of the season. Isak ran to celebrate with the traveling fans and picked up a booking for his troubles.

Before the goal, Bournemouth had the better of the early chances. Evanilson's flick in the 18th minute forced a smart save from Alisson, who turned it behind for a corner. Liverpool also had a let-off when Florian Wirtz saw an effort ruled out for offside, though replays later showed he had actually been onside.

Liverpool were far from fluent, taking 33 minutes to register their first shot on target, but they held on comfortably enough, helped by a string of near misses from Bradley Barcola and Dominik Szoboszlai in the second half.

Iraola received a warm reception from the Bournemouth fans on his return, having left the club for Liverpool over the summer after securing European qualification for the Cherries. It's now back-to-back away wins in the league for Liverpool under their new boss, and three straight clean sheets, something they haven't managed since their title-winning 2024-25 season.

Liverpool climb to sixth with nine points from five games. Bournemouth, still searching for their first top-flight win of the season despite a midweek Europa League victory over Real Sociedad, drop to 17th with three points. They'll be glad of the international break before hosting AC Milan in Europe on 22 October.