In a crucial opening game between two of the likely Premier League title contenders, Liverpool defeated Arsenal 1-0 thanks to Dominik Szoboszlai’s superb long-range free kick.
Manchester City’s 2-1 defeat at Brighton, for a second straight loss, was another indication that Pep Guardiola’s team has lost its sense of dominance, which was expected to challenge them for the championship this year.
Before Szoboszlai stepped up an 83rd-minute free kick and whipped it into the top corner from about 30 yards, little could have separated Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield.
Szoboszlai told Sky Sports, “I thought I would take a chance.” I finally tried it because I was confident, so I did! When you practice constantly and Trent [Alexander-Arnold] was doing the free kicks, it’s been a while, but I finally had a chance, and I did it.
Because we were shooting from closer, I didn’t practice this particular shot in the previous few weeks, but I had to take a chance and shoot it a little harder.
The Hungary captain, who is typically an attacking midfielder, made his best impression of Alexander-Arnold with a top-notch strike that was out of step with the rest of the game when he was needed to play full back in an emergency.
Liverpool, the defending champion, has now won three straight games to begin the season.
It was Arsenal’s first loss and first goal conceded, extending its unbeaten run at Anfield since 2012 with a winless record.
“Arsenal had a fantastic season last year,” Szoboszlai continued.
It’s a compliment to keep going with City and Chelsea, “because it’s always really difficult,” to be honest. They both have incredible coaches and incredible teams.
Former Liverpool midfielder Milner scores an EPL record for Man City, who lost once more.
Tottenham, which showed the same vulnerabilities and brittleness last season when it lost the title to Liverpool for the fourth consecutive year, suffered a 2-0 home loss to City at the same time last weekend.
Rodri, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner, said: “This is the reality: we are not at the level we have been doing for a while.
The 89th minute winner for Brighton, which had already trailed to Erling Haaland’s first-half goal, his 88th Premier League goal since moving to England in 2022, came from Brajan Gruda, who surged through an open defense, round goalkeeper James Trafford, and slotted into an empty net.
After Matheus Nunes raised his arm in the area to block a shot, City gave up the equalizer in the 67th minute, and Brighton went on to become the second-oldest scorer in Premier League history at 39 years and 239 days. He also scored for Leeds when he was 16 years old, making him the second-youngest.
Before Gruda’s one, Brighton had a succession of chances as City slowly faded, before capturing the result of his team’s come-from-behind 2-1 victory over City last year.
The only points for City so far this season came from a 4-0 win over Wolverhampton, which caused pundits to declare Guardiola’s side was back. It currently trails Manchester United in points.
With a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest, West Ham relieved manager Graham Potter of the pressure of late goals from Callum Wilson, Lucas Paqueta, and Jarrod Bowen.
West Ham was also eliminated from the English League Cup in midweek, losing its first two league games, scoring eight goals in the process.
The Brazil midfielder gave a fake answer to a call and put away a phone before kissing the badge on his jersey as a nod to being linked with a move to Aston Villa in the past 24 hours.
On Sunday, Crystal Palace travels to Villa to wrap up the third-round of the Premier League.
Source: Aljazeera
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