Wolves stretch Burnley’s losing run to four
Relentless Liverpool sweeps Spurs aside as Chelsea stays perfect to go top of Premiership
Wolverhampton Wanderers inflicted a fourth successive defeat on Burnley with a 1-0 victory at Molineux on Sunday, leaving the visiting side second bottom of the Premier League after its worst start to a top-flight season in 89 years.
After Wolves missed several chances in the first half, Raul Jimenez pounced in the 61st minute to break the deadlock with his second goal of the season.
Burnley pressed for a leveler, but lacked any real threat in attack, mustering just two tame shots on target in the entire match.
Wolves continue to look at home in the top flight and sits in the top half of the table with eight points from five games, while Burnley, which finished seventh last season, has a solitary point.
“I am very, very satisfied,” Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo said. “If there is a ‘but’, we could be more clinical. But if we can continue to make this many chances, it makes me very proud.”
Wolves dominated for large swathes of the first half, but were kept at bay by Burnley ’keeper Joe Hart, who made three smart saves in quick succession at the end of the opening period.
After the break, Jimenez should have opened the scoring from just inside the box, but blazed over with the goal at his mercy.
He made amends soon after, however, darting to the near post to meet a low Matt Doherty cross before guiding the ball into the far corner.
Wolves should have made the victory more comfortable, having fired 30 shots at Hart’s goal – the most they have managed in a single match in Premier League history – but had to make do with Jimenez’s solitary strike.
“We took a bit of a battering,” Hart said. “Wolves were really on it. We have a lot more to come and a lot more to do. It is what it is so we need to look at ourselves in the mirror and keep going.”
On Saturday, meanwhile, Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at Wembley Stadium to post a fifth consecutive win at the start of the season for the first time since 1990/91 and banish the memory of last year’s London mauling by Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
Chelsea, though, has also recorded a perfect start after Eden Hazard scored a hattrick in the 4-1 win over Cardiff City, allowing the Blues to edge past Liverpool on goal difference at the top of the Premiership.
It is the first time in 110 years that two top-tier English teams have won their opening five games – and it would have been three had Watford beaten Manchester United, but the Hornets surrendered their 100 percent record after losing 2-1 in Saturday’s late kick-off.
Liverpool’s goals came from Georginio Wijnaldum – his first away from home in the Premier League – and Roberto Firmino, who went off with an eye injury but later confirmed it was not serious.
Such was the Reds’ dominance, they could have scored half a dozen times, with Mo Salah twice going close and Tottenham’s defense always looking vulnerable until Erik Lamela’s late strike gave them hope of an unlikely point.
“We have to show progress,” said Juergen Klopp, who said the performance was Liverpool’s best of the season.
“It was maybe our best against Tottenham in all the years I’ve been here. But only five percent less and we would have lost. I don’t think Tottenham played bad. We were that good it was difficult for Tottenham.”
At Stamford Bridge Chelsea ran out as a comfortable winner despite conceding a 16th-minute Sol Bamba opener.
That was the cue for Hazard to take charge, scoring on 37, 44 and 80 minutes, the last goal coming from the penalty spot. Willian added a fourth late on to ensure Chelsea’s goal difference is marginally better than Liverpool’s at the top. Champion Manchester City remains two points off the pace after a routine 3-0 win over Fulham, which fell behind on two minutes to Leroy Sane and never looked capable of forcing its way back into the game. David Silva and Raheem Sterling also netted. The only worry for City was an ankle injury to Sergio Aguero.
United hit Watford with a one-two halfway through the first half with goals from Romelu Lukaku and Chris Smalling, whose left-foot volley would have done any forward proud.
Although Watford set up a tense finish with a goal from Andre Gray, United held on to allow manager Jose Mourinho another chance to salute the fans.
Bournemouth sprang the surprise of the weekend, beating Leicester City 4-2. It was a performance to back up manager Eddie Howe’s pre-match assertion that his side, which has won three of its first five games, have closed the gap on the division’s top teams.
Arsenal provided further signs that it has put its jittery start in the rearview mirror by winning 2-1 at Newcastle United, which now has just one point from five games.