Premier League, Week 5: Chelsea stunned by Frank Lampard in draw with Manchester City

On a day where everything was terrible for Manchester United, it was abundantly clear that all that money they spent on all of those attackers was worth it. They wer deadly, from Robin van Persie, to Falcao, to Di Maria.

Oh, Di Maria, you especially. That chip was so pretty. Oh so pretty.

United led this match 3-1 in the second half. Then they gave up four goals, punctuated by Tyler Blackett’s sending off while giving away a penalty for the Foxes’ fifth. Have fun sorting this out, Louis van Gaal.

Manchester City 1-1 Chelsea / Full match report

Chelsea introduced Didier Drogba after Lampard’s goal and looked the much more likely to find a winner, but both teams defended well in the closing minutes. And ultimately, a 1-1 draw feels like a very fair result.

This should have been a characteristic Mourinho road match - A draw away at the Etihad Stadium is a good result for Chelsea, so Jose Mourinho set up his team to defend and counter. They kept their shape well, denied City chances and were in control of most of the game. Once his team scored against 10-man City, it looked like they’d easily ride out a 1-0 win, and it probably would have finished 0-0 if Pablo Zabaleta never got sent off.

An hour into their match against Manchester United, and Leicester City were 3-1 down, spellbound by the amazing attacking play of Ángel di María and Radamel Falcao. But by full time, the Foxes were celebrating perhaps their most impressive win in Premier League history, hitting their guests for four goals in the final half hour and coming away with an incredible 5-3 victory.

To say the start was frenetic is to stretch understatement to new and untenable heights. While Leciester were marginally the brighter sides in the opening stages, they simply cannot boast the sort of attacking talent that United posses, and a di María through ball to Robin van Persie, well saved by Kasper Schmeichel, marked the start of a five-minute bombardment that gave the visitors a 2-0 lead.

Unsurprisingly, Jose Mourinho has modified his team for this game, going more defensive than usual. Ramires starts in the center of midfield, while Cesc Fabregas has been moved further up the pitch. Willian, whose defensive work rate has been excellent under Mourinho, starts on the wing.

Things are going similarly well for City on the injury front, but they will be missing a couple of players who would have been in contention to start. Both forward Stevan Jovetic and midfielder Fernando will be unavailable. Edin Dzeko is a slight doubt with a back injury, but is expected to at least make the 18-man squad.

UPDATE: Confirmed lineups are out.

Key Matchup: Leicester’s wing players vs. United’s defense

QPR are not a very good team and while United’s win was impressive, it wasn’t a major challenge in the big scheme of things. Leicester are a team the Red Devils should beat (no offense intended to fans of the Foxes) but they’ll certainly give United a better test. The Foxes like to play a high tempo game and their speed on the outside should give the United defense some problems. If Van Gaal’s defense can deal with that speed, they should be fine. If they can’t slow down the Leicester attack, this match could see several goals.

Just seven minutes had passed.

Goals: Reid 2’, Sakho 7’, Amalfitano 88’.

Victor Wanyama snatched a win for Southampton against Swansea City with a goal in the 80th minute, while Burnley played Sunderland to a scoreless draw.

In the late game, Liverpool lost for the second straight week. They conceded twice against West Ham in the opening 10 minutes and the Hammers never looked back.

Say that slowly so you can fully comprehend what happened because otherwise you won’t believe it: “Nikica Jelavic scored a bicycle kick.”

Now when people ask Pardew how he got fired, he’s going to have to tell them, “a Nikica Jelavic bicycle kick.”

There is curl and dip and pace and beauty. It is perfect.

But then again, Chelsea just drew Schalke at home, and Schalke stink.

Saturday, 7:45 a.m. ET/13:45 GMT