KAMPALa: Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal became only the third Gunners side to win eight out of their first nine Premier League matches in a season when they outlasted Jurgen Klopp’s bedraggled Liverpool 3-2 at Emirates Stadium. Victory helped the North Londoners maintain a slender one point advantage over champions Manchester City who brushed aside Southampton 4-0. Erling Braut Haaland’s goal for Pep Guardiola’s trailblazers moved him to 15 league goals in just 9 fixtures.
Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur remain third, four points adrift of the summit courtesy of a 1-0 victory over compatriot Roberto de Zerbi’s battling Brighton Hove at the Ammex Stadium. Chelsea are fourth thanks to a 3-0 whitewash of Wolverhampton Wanderers while Manchester United moved up to fifth after subduing a determined Everton 1-0 via goal number 700 of Cristiano Ronaldo’s glittering club football career.
Jorge Sampaoli begun his Sevilla career by guiding the Andalusians to a one-all draw with Ernesto Valderde’s Athletic Bilbao within hours of replacing Julen Lopetegui in the Ramon Picquan Sanchez Stadium hot seat. Eternal rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid remain joint top following respective similar 1-0 victories over Celta Vigo and Getafe.
Peter Bosz became the latest high profile manager to lose his job when his Olympique Lyon side were held to a one all draw by lowly Toulouse to leave the former champions winless in their last five Ligue One outings. The draw left Lyon are ninth on the standings, prompting Bosz’s replacement by France’s 1998 World Cup winning skipper Laurent Blanc.
Champions Paris Saint Germain extended their lead atop the standings to three points despite being held to a goalless draw at Reims thanks to Olympique Marseille’s upset 1-2 home defeat to relegation threatened Ajaccio. Rank outsiders Lorient are surprise second following a 2-1 victory at bottom placed Brest.
Across the Alps, Napoli took control of the race for Scudetto by overcoming Cremonese 4-1 to open up a two point advantage over Atalanta. Gian Piero Gasperini’s Nerazzuri begun the weekend level on points with Luciano Spalletti’s Partenopei but surrendered a two goal lead to draw 2-2 at Udinese who are joint third with AC Milan. The reigning champions overcame Juventus 2-0 courtesy of strikes from Fikayo Tomori and Brahim Diaz.
In Germany, Urs Fischer’s Union Berlin moved a couple of points clear of the chasing pack by toppling Stuttgart 1-0 less than 72 hours after pipping Swedish champions Malmö by an identical margin in a Europa Conference League rubber. Previous joint leaders Freiburg could only draw 1-1 with Hertha Berlin. Christian Streich’s side retained second place after Anthony Modeste’s late leveller helped Borussia Dortmund to a 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich.