Premier League scores, takeaways: Haaland keeps scoring for Man City, Marsch red carded, USMNT injury woes

Saturday gave us another wild day in the Premier League as Erling Haaland scored his 10th goal of the season, but in true fashion, Manchester City drew 1-1 with Aston Villa. City only registered four shots in the first half as they struggled against Steven Gerrard’s Villa. After their rough start to the season, Aston Villa were expected to be easily beaten, especially after losing Matty Cash to injury which caused 37-year-old veteran Ashley Young to play 63 minutes. 

Let’s break down the scores of the day and seven things to know:

Saturday’s scores

Everton 0, Liverpool 0

Tottenham Hotspur 2, Fulham 1

Nottingham Forest 2, Bournemouth 3

Chelsea 2, West Ham United 1

Brentford 5, Leeds United 2

Wolverhampton 1, Southampton 0

Newcastle United 0, Crystal Palace 0

Aston Villa 1, Manchester City 1

1. Not much City could do with Bailey’s equalizer

There’ll be plenty to discuss over Haaland’s goal below, but it’s worth pointing out that Leon Bailey showed why he has to be on the pitch for Aston Villa with a screamer for an equalizer scored in the 74th minute. Outside of closing down more, there wasn’t much that Manchester City could’ve done defensively (unlike some of their goals conceded this season), but it’s clear that the defense will be the only thing that keeps Pep Guardiola’s side from the title with a death star destroyer atop the line like Haaland. And while there will be days he’ll come up against an in-form keeper like Emiliano Martinez, things will level out over the course of the season with Haaland destined for a 30-goal season and City destined to contend for another title.

In any other season, Alexsander Mitrovic being on pace for 38 goals after scoring in his fourth consecutive game — a 2-1 loss to Spurs — would be the biggest story on the docket. But Haaland quickly adjusting to life in the Premier League with back-to-back hat tricks before Saturday’s performance has set the golden boot race on fire in the early going.

2. Way-too-early golden boot standings

Haaland is running circles around the field as we have the pleasure to witness one of the greatest scorers that the Premier League has seen. His pace is likely unsustainable over an entire season, but it won’t matter when his every touch makes teams pay. It’s unfortunate that Rodrigo of Leeds suffered a shoulder injury that will keep him sidelined several weeks. The teams represented here are reaping the rewards as Fulham seem safe and Spurs are pushing for top four and getting ready for Champions League. Ivan Toney is showing that he can perform without Christian Eriksen while Wilfred Zaha is becoming a consistent scorer for Crystal Palace as he’s surrounded by top players.

Lets get to the rest of what went on around the league

3. Moment of worry for Fulham and USMNT

While the Cottagers fought to contain Spurs on Richarlison’s first start, the biggest thing to come out of the match was Antonee Robinson’s withdrawal in the 29th minute with a non-contact ankle injury. Robinson has been ever present defensively behind Fulham’s strong start to the season. If he misses significant time, it will be a blow for club and country. It’s unknown what his outlook is at this time, but Kevin Mbabu came on in relief and Spurs were able to kick the intensity of the match up a notch, which led to Tottenham’s two goals.

Fulham did bring in Layvin Kurzawa from PSG to provide depth on deadline day, but Marco Silva likely didn’t think that he could need that depth as soon as next weekend. USMNT boss Gregg Berhalter will be keeping a close eye on the situation as the lack of depth at left back for the national team could likely see Sergino Dest or Joe Scally — who are natural right backs — get a shot on the left side of the defense if anything happens to Robinson.

4. Game of the Day: Brentford 5, Leeds United 2

After their strong start to the season, Leeds United’s defensive issues cropped up in a big way. Not only did the team concede five thanks to an Ivan Toney hat trick, they also saw Jesse Marsch red carded for dissent during the match.

Toney scored from free-kick range, the penalty spot and from open play in his own version of a perfect hat trick. He was supported by Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa scoring late for the Bees. Luis Sinisterra and Marc Roca found the back of the net for Leeds, but the lack of depth at fullback is hurting Marsch’s squad as they are giving up too many chances. Also, without Rodrigo, the press coming from atop the pitch isn’t enough to unsettle experienced teams like Brentford. Thomas Frank’s 4-3-3 has been strong enough to roll through sides in games where they’re strong and expansive.

5. Let’s break down Haaland’s goal

Most forwards don’t get to this cross let alone turn it into the back of the net. Then again, most forwards are not built quite like Haaland. He rose with Kevin De Bruyne’s cross, but instead of either missing it or blazing his shot over the bar, he gave the ball a perfect touch to send it into the back of the net. Putting that into numerical perspective, Haaland turned a shot with an xG of 0.58 into a goal with an xGOT of 0.7. 

Players always talk about how the game slows down when they are in form. In this case, it feels like Haaland is playing with a pause button to get into the optimal position to score. Either that or he’s a mind reader. Both outcomes equally show how unreal what he is doing to start the season has been.

6. Everton and Liverpool draw in Merseyside Derby

More here: Everton may be searching for their first win of the season, but a draw to Liverpool at this stage feels like a victory and a springboard for the season. Following a strong transfer window, Frank Lampard has a team that can grind out results and it showed as the defense and Jordan Pickford stood tall when called upon. Neal Maupay created chances on his debut as well and he almost scored if not for a good save from Alisson. Jurgen Klopp is still figuring out how to balance his team while dealing with injuries, but they’ll feel lucky that Manchester City also dropped points.

7. Rice rips VAR as Chelsea defeat West Ham

More here: Chelsea won behind a goal and an assist from Ben Chilwell, but they also needed help from VAR to secure three points. Maxwel Cornet’s late equalizer was called back due to a foul from Jarrod Bowen on Edouard Mendy. Mendy dove for the ball while Bowen was tried to score and his trailing leg grazed the Chelsea keeper. Mendy’s slide took him in between Bowen’s legs, so it’s not like he could have gotten out of the way either. Mendy stayed down as if he suffered an injury to make things seem a bit serious than they were when in reality he was beaten for coming out of his net, which has become an issue for him. Keep in mind, he was picked off dribbling by Brenden Aaronson for a goal in Chelsea’s 3-0 loss to Leeds United earlier in the season.

Declan Rice made sure that his feelings were known on the matter.