With the end of matchday eight of the English Premier League season, the table is beginning to take shape as teams start to find form.
As the league prepares to take a break for the second International break of the season, we take a look back at four things we learned from last weekend’s round of fixtures.
McTominay Man United’s saviour
Manchester United have found themselves in a bit of a mini-crisis in recent games, with them going into their game against Brentford having lost four and won three of their opening seven league games. It looked as if the pressure was set to rise even higher on Erik ten Hag and his players though, as they were 1-0 down going into the final minutes.
In a last ditch attempt to change Man United’s fortunes, Scott McTominay was brought onto the pitch. Minutes later it looked like McTominay had already equalised, only for it to be chalked off after an offside call on Anthony Martial. But McTominay still had time to change the game, and he did just that.
Scoring once in the 93rd minute to equalise, and then again in the 97th minute to send Old Trafford into pandemonium as they somehow won 2-1.
Spurs go top
Tottenham Hotspur continued their fantastic start to the season with a 1-0 win over Luton Town on Saturday, which leaves them joint top of the table with rivals Arsenal.
Spurs exploded out of the blocks in this game having a lot of chances early on, with the best of these falling to Richarlison who was unable to convert. The day was then made trickier by Yves Bissouma being sent off just before half time with a second yellow for simulation. However, Micky van de Ven scored his first Tottenham goal to eventually win the game for Spurs.
Chelsea finally hit a streak
Chelsea look like they may have finally hit some form, as they have now won three in a row for the first time since March. Scoring seven and conceding once in these games, the performances may finally be starting to match the price tag that this team comes with.
They found themselves 1-0 down early on in the game when Wilson Odobert scored to put Burnley ahead, but goals from Cole Palmer, Raheem Sterling, Nicolas Jackson and an own goal from Ameen Al-Dakhil meant Chelsea ran out 4-1 winners.
Arsenal win despite controversy
Arsenal and Manchester City met this weekend in a highly anticipated game between last season’s first and second placed sides. Despite the game failing to impress with it ending up being a rather cagey affair between the two sides, there was no lack of drama and controversy.
The biggest talking point of the game was Mateo Kovacic’s involvement, as many felt the midfielder was extremely lucky to not be sent off. A first half foul on Martin Odegaard went to VAR but the original yellow card decision was upheld, with a majority of people thinking this could’ve been a straight red. The Croatian then flew into a similar tackle on Declan Rice, and somehow got away without a booking much to the anger of the home fans.
This didn’t matter in the end though, as Gabriel Martinelli’s deflected effort found it’s way into the back of the net in the 86th minute to give Arsenal the win. This being the Gunners’ first Premier League win over Manchester City since December 2015 and a big statement in the title race.
