It was certainly a strange weekend in the Premier League. There were late goals, shock results and the biggest surprise of all was José Mourinho becoming involved in an unsightly melee that, for once, was entirely not of his own making. Quite what Chelsea coach Marco Ianni said to the Manchester United manager to garner such a reaction we may never know, but José would have been more than justified in reacting to the Henmanesque *mini-fist-pump* that preceded it. I am, no surprise to readers of this blog, no fan of Mourinho's but credit where it is due. Under the circumstances, he reacted within acceptable limits, especially after a second half in which his team showed that he might not be done at United just yet. If they could somehow bottle that 45-minute display and unleash it every week then who knows where they might end up.
In the three o'clock games City showed that they might be back to their imperious best by sticking five past a sorry looking Burnley. That is twenty-six goals already for the champs, whoever else has designs on their title is not going to do it with a superior goal difference. Tottenham also kept up the pace with a narrow win over West Ham whose own revival has stuttered with two straight defeats.
Sixth best team in the *Greatest League in the World*, Bournemouth, were held at home by Saints in what was hailed by Mark Hughes as a defensive masterclass. Quite how a team that finished 8th, 7th, 6th and 8th in four of the past five seasons has sunk so low as to view a point at Bournemouth as success is beyond my admittedly limited powers of deduction. I will say only this on the matter as I do not wish to go on another rant, HUGHES OUT.
Elsewhere, Wolves were stung by the Hornets in a result I wouldn't have predicted in a gazillion years but the result of the day may have come at the Cardiff City Stadium. A first win of the season against the extraordinarily leaky Fulham will have given Bluebirds fans hope that the inevitable might be avoided. Probably not though, it is unlikely that Neil Warnock's team will come up against quite such generous opponents again in quite a while.
The evening game saw Liverpool squeak past Huddersfield thanks to Mo Salah's first-half goal. It was a victory that the Reds second to City on goal difference alone but a performance more reminiscent of George Graham's Arsenal than Jurgen Klopp's free scorers of last term. Perhaps this is a shrewd tactic given that trying to outscore Pep Guardiola's team is both futile act and one that could leave them vulnerable to dropping points.
Sunday saw Everton take beat Crystal Palace in a game that looked to be heading the other way when the visitors were awarded a penalty. However, Jordan Pickford saved Luka Milivojevic’s spot-kick and the game swung the way of the home team in the final few minutes. That's three on the bounce now for the Toffees ahead of a tasty looking game at Old Trafford next Sunday. A win in that one and Marco Silva's team will be in pole position for this season's *best-of-the-rest* award.
Last night Arsenal did for Leicester despite falling a goal behind in the first half. That's ten wins on the bounce for the Gunners now but to properly see how far they have come we must wait for their game against Liverpool in early November.
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