Premier League, Week 3: Liverpool, Arsenal notch home derby victories

Arsenal defeated a pretty lacklustre Tottenham Hotspur side in a surprisingly tame affair at the Emirates Stadium.

Tottenham improved slightly after the break and began to put Arsenal under some pressure, but were once again lacking for creativity in the final third, not aided by the rather static and disappointing Roberto Soldado.

Considering Wilshere’s luck with injuries, it’s natural to fear the worst, but hopefully this turns out to be more precautionary than anything else.

Update: Apparently he’s just very ill.

Hernandez scored the second goal himself in the 83rd minute, assisted by Michu. West Brom blocked Michu’s first attempt at a pass toward the penalty spot, but he recovered and found Hernandez for an easy finish with his second attempt.

West Brom managed just one shot on target in the match, coming in the 17th minute. Once Swansea scored, they kept the ball and their shape comfortably and never looked like dropping points.

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There were no clear-cut chances for the visitors, and United were eventually forced to turn to Nani -- and more importantly Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez. If anyone was going to be able to haul the champions back into this match, it was going to be the combination of van Persie and Hernandez.

United were still trailing in the final minutes, but Van Persie had an opportunity to close that gap after being slipped in by Chicharito. The striker slashed his effort into the side-netting, however, and that was the visitors’ last serious chance of the game ... and Liverpool had their first major scalp of the year.

Liverpool injuries and suspensions

Manchester United injuries and suspensions

The visitors were even more aggressive in the second half, penning their hosts back in their own territory and limiting them to the occasional counterattack. That’s not to say those weren’t dangerous, but Sunderland would have been feeling pretty confident that an equaliser was coming ... and there was only ever going to be one man who scored it.

Disaster struck soon after for the Black Cats. John O’Shea thought he had an easy clearance on his hands when the ball bounced back to him but, as he turned, he saw Dwight Gayle bearing down on him. Gayle won the ball on the edge of the box and was immediately brought down, winning Palace a penalty and forcing O’Shea’s dismissal. The spot kick was duly swept under Westwood to make the score 2-1.

Manuel Pellegrini still has plenty of tweaking to do before his side come up against the elite of Europe and the Premier League, but he’ll be happy to see them squeak out three points from a less than spectacular performance.

Manchester City: Hart, Zabaleta, Lescott, Nastasic, Kolarov, Toure, Fernandinho, Silva (Nasri 66’), Aguero (Milner 76’), Navas, Dzeko (Negredo 45’)