Liverpool Competes with City for Top Spot with a 3-0 Win Over Manchester United

Liverpool sent a strong message to their rivals with a resounding 3-0 victory over hosts Manchester United in the top match of the third round of the English Premier League. The round also saw an exciting 2-2 draw between Newcastle and visiting Tottenham, and a disappointing 1-1 draw for Chelsea against Crystal Palace.

At Old Trafford, United suffered a heavy defeat in front of their home crowd against arch-rivals Liverpool, exposing the team’s unresolved issues from last season, despite the summer transfers made by Dutch coach Erik ten Hag.

Egyptian international Mohamed Salah scored one goal and assisted two for teammate Luis Diaz, leading Liverpool to their third consecutive win, putting them level with reigning champions Manchester City at the top.

Diaz opened the scoring with a header in the 35th minute following a cross from Salah, and then doubled the lead seven minutes later with another precise pass from Salah, which he shot into the bottom left corner of United’s goal from the middle of the penalty area.

Salah completed the 3-0 win in the 56th minute after receiving a pass from Dominik Szoboszlai, finishing it with a first-time left-footed shot from the edge of the penalty area. Liverpool now has nine points from three games, the same as Manchester City, while United sits in 14th place with three points.

At St. James’ Park, Newcastle secured an exciting 2-1 victory over Tottenham thanks to a late goal from Swedish international Alexander Isak.

Harvey Barnes put Newcastle ahead in the 37th minute, but Tottenham equalized early in the second half when Newcastle defender Dan Burn scored an own goal in the 56th minute. Tottenham continued to press for a winner, but they were denied by Newcastle’s goalkeeper Nick Pope, before Isak secured the win against the run of play in the 78th minute with a perfect cross from Jacob Murphy, ensuring all three points for Eddie Howe’s side, who have been unbeaten at home since last January.

Newcastle’s joy was further heightened by the first league appearance of Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali since his ten-month suspension for violating betting rules, and he received a warm welcome from the home fans.

Newcastle now has seven points from their first three games of the season, while Tottenham remains on four points.

Following the match, Isak said: “Overall, we didn’t expect to dominate possession much. We wanted to be dangerous on the counterattacks. We didn’t play the most beautiful game, but we defended well and scored two goals, which is good.”

Despite the loss, Tottenham dominated the match for long periods.

At home, Chelsea was held to a disappointing 1-1 draw by Crystal Palace.

Chelsea took the lead in the 25th minute when Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi lost the ball poorly, leading to a counter-attack led by Cole Palmer, who passed to Nicolas Jackson, who scored with ease.