Arsenal's Flawless Start Continues with 2-0 Win at Sunderland

Arsenal’s perfect title defence rolled on with a ruthless 2-0 win at Sunderland, lit up by a thunderbolt from Bruno Guimaraes and sealed by Bukayo Saka’s ice-cold penalty. Around them, the supposed challengers stumbled.

Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham all failed to win at home on a day that already hinted at a gap forming at the top.

Guimaraes stunner keeps Arsenal flawless

Four games, four wins, four statements from Mikel Arteta’s side. This one came with a scare.

Arsenal owed much to David Raya, who guessed right and denied Enzo Le Fee from the spot to keep the game level and Sunderland believing. The Stadium of Light roared. Arsenal held their nerve.

Just over two minutes later, Guimaraes silenced the place.

Collecting the ball from distance, the Brazilian unleashed his first Arsenal goal, a vicious drive that flew into the top corner and underlined exactly why the champions prised him away in the summer. One moment of brilliance, and Sunderland’s resistance cracked.

Arsenal managed the game from there, and with the final kick, Saka stepped up from the spot to bury a second and make the scoreline match their control. The champions sit three points clear of Manchester City, perfect from four, already dictating the early pace.

City can haul themselves level if they win the Manchester derby at Old Trafford on Sunday. But the table already carries a familiar warning: lose touch with Arsenal early, and chasing them becomes a season-long problem.

Alonso wants ‘boring’ Chelsea as Hull party on

At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea were thrilling again. And flawed again.

Morgan Rogers, Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer buzzed around Hull’s back line, combining with the kind of fluid movement that gets highlight reels clipped before full-time. The numbers under Xabi Alonso tell the story: 16 goals scored, 12 conceded in five games against top-flight opposition.

“(It’s) maybe entertaining, but I hope one day you’ll say it was a boring game and we win and we don’t give these entertaining moments,” Alonso admitted, his side now five points off the top.

Hull arrived as the last team in the Premier League yet to concede and left still unbeaten. Their defensive record finally cracked on seven minutes when Rogers drilled in at the near post to put Chelsea ahead.

The response was ruthless. Chelsea’s slackness at the back gave Mohamed Belloumi all the invitation he needed, and he struck twice before the break to flip the game on its head and expose the same old soft centre.

The pressure eventually told. Just after the hour, Joao Pedro met a Palmer cross and lashed it into the top corner for 2-2, a finish worthy of the build-up. Chelsea poured forward, chances came and went, but Hull dug in and took their point.

For the newly-promoted side, the honeymoon in the top flight continues. For Chelsea, the search goes on for a day when the scoreboard reflects the sparkle.

Liverpool stall as Fulham dig in for Arbeloa

Anfield stayed unbeaten under Andoni Iraola. It did not stay happy.

A goalless draw with a struggling Fulham side brought boos at full-time, as Alvaro Arbeloa collected his first point in charge of the Cottagers and walked away the more satisfied coach.

Liverpool’s frontline carried an eye-watering price tag. Bradley Barcola, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak – three £100 million men – never quite found the rhythm or incision expected against a defence that has leaked goals.

“When you draw, especially at home, you can’t be happy,” Iraola said, pointing to fatigue after Wednesday’s Champions League test against Atletico Madrid. “Today we lacked a bit of freshness and we did not do enough offensively to make the difference.”

The table backs him into a corner. Liverpool sit sixth, already six points behind Arsenal. The margin is not fatal in September, but it is not the platform a title charge usually rests on.

Goal-shy Spurs sink towards danger

Tottenham spent around £300 million on new players to ensure the misery of back-to-back 17th-place finishes would not be repeated. On this evidence, the anxiety will not fade quickly.

Another game, another blank. A stalemate with Everton extended their wait for a first league goal of the season and left them just inside the relegation zone. The money has been spent, the squad revamped, but the net still refuses to ripple.

The tension is no longer about ambition. It is about survival maths starting far earlier than anyone around the club would have dared to contemplate.

Delap answers the doubts as Forest hit Villa late

Aston Villa are stuck alongside Spurs in the bottom three, undone late on by a Nottingham Forest side still feeding off last season’s Europa League sting.

Forest had been beaten by Villa in the semi-finals of that competition. This time they struck back, and the man at the centre of it carried his own narrative.

Eyebrows went up when Forest reportedly paid a club-record £45 million to take Liam Delap from Chelsea, a striker who never quite broke through at Stamford Bridge. At Villa Park, he justified the gamble, stepping up from range and drilling a low strike into the bottom corner to open the scoring.

Villa finally found their first league goal of the season through Alysson, who levelled and briefly hinted at a change in fortunes. Forest had other ideas. Igor Jesus pounced to restore the lead and hand Oliver Glasner his first win as Forest boss.

Glasner’s old club, Crystal Palace, endured another bruising afternoon.

Palace pain, Ipswich drama, Brentford steady

At Selhurst Park, Palace’s poor start continued in a 3-2 defeat to Ipswich. The visitors were handed a major advantage when Axel Disasi saw red in the first half, and they made it count deep into stoppage time.

Zian Flemming, still waiting for his moment in Ipswich colours, chose it perfectly. His first goal for the Tractor Boys snatched all three points and left Palace staring at a table that already looks uncomfortable.

Further along the south coast, Brentford kept their unbeaten run intact with a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth, Kevin Schade striking twice to secure the point. It was calm, efficient, and exactly the kind of early-season platform others are searching for.

Arsenal already have theirs. The question now is who can keep up.