Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s second-half goal handed Arsenal their first points of the season as they completed a 1-0 win over Norwich City.
Arsenal started brightly with Aubameyang shooting over from distance early on.
Norwich showed their threat on the break with Kenny McLean glancing a header wide from a Max Aarons cross, while Aarons also tested goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, making his first league appearance for the Gunners, on 26 minutes.
Arsenal stepped up the pressure in the second half and Brandon Williams made a vital block to deny Nicolas Pepe.
Pepe then had a hand in Arsenal’s first goal of the season, which arrived on 66 minutes. Pepe’s shot came back off the post and Aubameyang tapped in his fifth goal in three appearances against the Canaries.
Arsenal move up to 16th with three points.
Norwich drop to the bottom of the table without a point from four matches.
Bernardo Silva scored the only goal of the game to give Manchester City a deserved, but hard-earned victory against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.
The Portuguese midfielder lashed home from close range in the 62nd minute after Joao Canceloβs strike deflected kindly into his path off Caglar Soyuncu to give Pep Guardiolaβs men a third consecutive victory.
It was just reward for City, who dominated an entertaining contest in which the home side saw a couple of golden opportunities go begging before Bernardo broke the deadlock.
Ederson did brilliantly to keep out an early Harvey Barnes effort and the winger later sent a header against the top of the crossbar before Jamie Vardy saw a goal ruled out for offside after he raced between Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte and rounded the goalkeeper.
However, the Foxes chances were few and far between and they were indebted to the superb Kasper Schmeichel, who made a string of saves to prevent the visitors winning by an even greater margin.
He twice denied Gabriel Jesus from point-blank range, made a smart stop from Ferran Torres and was at full stretch to turn a Bernardo drive round the post as City maintained our recent run of fine form.
Leicester defender Jannik Vestergaard then produced a terrific block to deny Ferran Torres as it remained goalless at half-time.
Harvey Barnes missed a glorious chance after 47 minutes, heading against the top of the crossbar from Jamie Vardy’s cross.
Man City took the lead after 62 minutes when Bernardo Silva tapped in after Joao Cancelo’s shot had been blocked by Caglar Soyuncu.
Ademola Lookman was denied a goal on his Leicester debut as his shot was saved by Ederson and the champions held on to move up to third with nine points.
Romelu Lukaku scored his second, Chelsea have the points, and what a return to Stamford Bridge for the Belgian.
It’s a superb finish with his left-foot from the edge of the area.
A really good finish from the Belgian. He’s had two chances and has taken both of them.
Azpilicueta nutmegged Mings and played the ball across the face of the 18-yard-box, finding Lukaku outside the box who created some space for himself to fire the ball into the top corner with immense power.
Stamford Bridge were loving π₯π’π πππ¨ ππ¨ππππ¨ today and with goals like this, it's easy to see why π pic.twitter.com/NWTbQJk6of
Mateo Kovacic capitalized on a mistake from Tyron Mings at the back to hand Chelsea the hosts’ second goal of the match at Stamford Bridge.
Mings’ backpass to Jed steer did not have enough pace on it and Kovacic was available to punish the England defender’s mistake.
It’s poor from Mings really, who had been having a good game until then.
Kovacic was in the right place at the right time and it’s a real poachers goal. He tucked it right into the bottom corner from a few yards out despite Jed Steer coming out to meet him at pace.
Villa were so close to equalising at the end of the first half but they have it all to do now.
Mateo Kovacic takes full advantage of a Tyrone Mings mistake to put Chelsea two ahead.#CFC 2-0 #AVFC
Cristiano Ronaldo will START for Manchester United on Saturday afternoon 12 years after he left the club.
And manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has named a super-attacking team as the Red Devils face Newcastle at Old Trafford.
The fans’ excitement to see Ronaldo don a Man Utd shirt once again is palpable and the numbers speak for themselves as ‘Ronaldo #7’ shirt sales have reportedly generated a staggering Β£187.1m.
Red Devils fans are already flocking to Old Trafford to show off their new Ronaldo merchandise way ahead of kick-off.
Old Trafford will erupt into absolute delirium when the Portuguese captain emerges from the tunnel.
The Man United boss says Ronaldo still has the same speed but has become a better all round player and one of the best finishers ever.
Solskjaer said: “He has evolved as a player. I donβt think youβll see those 18,19, 20 step-overs before he goes past you but he still has them, the step-over, shift and shoot.
“He has developed into one of the most accurate finishers I have seen.
“What he developed in his years at Real Madrid has impressed us all.
“He is one of the best of course in the air, his timing and desire to get on the end of crosses is second to non.
“He still hits the target 99 times out of 100 when he shoots from outside the box as well.
“He knows the game more, definitely, he knows which positions to drop into and when to run in behind and he is still as quick it looks like from the stats.
“He’s in such good nick still and will be looking in the next few years to play and score as many goals as he can.
“We don’t have his skill set in the team, the mix, no one has really. He is one of the best players that’s ever played the game.”
Former Barcelona star Dani Alves has had his Sao Paulo contract terminated following a wage dispute with the Brazilian club.
The 38-year-old returned to his home country in 2019 after 17 incredibly successful years playing in Europe.
Alves, who still hopes to go to the 2022 Qatar World Cup, played 95 times for Sao Paulo, scoring ten goals for the Brazilian side.
But following a disagreement with the club, he, according to The Sun, has now parted ways just one month after winning Olympic gold with Brazil at the Tokyo Games.
Football director Carlos Belmonte said: “We were told by his representatives that Daniel Alves will not come back to Sao Paulo until there is an adjustment in the financial debt that Sao Paulo has with the player.
“Sao Paulo recognises that debt and last week we made a proposal to try and right it. The proposal was not accepted by the player’s representatives. Negotiations will continue.
“We have taken the decision and told this to coach Hernan Crespo that Dani Alves will no longer be at his disposal to play for Sao Paulo.
“We all work for this institution. Nobody is bigger than Sao Paulo Football Club.”
Meanwhile, Alves’ management say he is owed Β£1.37million in relation to image rights, a sum which accounts for revenue dating back to his arrival two years ago.
Sao Paulo insist they have repaid their debts, though they admit some were transferred late.
Alves is the most successful footballer of all time, with the gold medal at the Tokyo Games taking his tally of major titles to a remarkable 43.
Those include six La Liga titles, five Copa del Reys and five Super Cups during his time in Spain with Sevilla and Barcelona.
He also lifted the Champions League three times with Barca in 2009, 2011 and 2015.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic claims he is “the best player in the world” – insisting Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are ahead of him in terms of silverware but not ability.
Ronaldo will make his hotly-anticipated second debut for Manchester United on Saturday, while Messi also made a huge move this summer when he joined PSG after leaving Barcelona.
The two players widely regarded as the best on the planet have carved up 11 of the last 12 Ballon d’Or awards between them, with Messi leading on six while Ronaldo is one behind him.
Ibrahimovic has never won the prize, despite having been nominated 11 times – but says: “If anything itβs the Ballon dβOr that is missing me.”
Never short on confidence, he believes he is the best in the world, saying he has just as much quality as Ronaldo or Messi.
“When a collective works, the individual inevitably benefits from that. An individual cannot do well if the team isnβt solid.
βDeep down, I do think that I am the best in the world.β
Ibrahimovic is set to make his first appearance of the season for AC Milan against Lazio on Sunday, having recovered from a knee injury which kept him out of Euro 2020.
He turns 40 next month but is still going strong, and signed a new contract earlier this year which will keep him at San Siro until the end of the current season.
Sergio Aguero has insisted that a Lionel Messi-related exit clause in his Barcelona contract does not exist.
The Argentine forward, who joined Barcelona in the summer as a free agent after his deal with Manchester City ended, was said to be attracted to the club to play alongside his good friend Messi.
So when Messi was unable to re-sign with Barcelona and joined PSG on a free transfer, Aguero was said to be disgruntled and there was even whispers of cancelling his contract.
But the 33-year-old striker says there was never any such release clause and he remains fully committed to his new club despite Messi’s departure.
“I don’t understand why there was talk of this. When I signed, Leo had nothing signed. They were coming to an agreement”, he told RAC1.
“It was invented that there was a clause, but there was nothing.”
When asked whether he wants to face Messi in the Champions League, he added: “I’ve already faced Messi, but it would be very nice. Nowβ¦ we know that when Leo turns on the light it’s impossible to stop him.”
