Soccer / f1

Source by............ Eden Hazard scored a hat-trick as Chelsea continued their perfect start to Premier League 2018-19 with a 4-1 win over Cardiff City and went on top of the points table on Saturday. On the other hand, Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspir 2-1 at Wembley to continue their own brilliant start to the season and notched up their fifth consecutive win. For the first time since 1990-91, Liverpool have won five games in a row at the start of a Premier League season. Champions Manchester City remain just two points adrift of Liverpool after a routine 3-0 win over Fulham. AFC Bournemouth pulled off the surprise of the day as they beat Leicester City 4-2. Arsenal beat Newcastle United 2-1 to take the seventh place on the points table with nine points. Wilfried Zaha made a marvellous comeback from the injury as he helped Crystal Palace win 1-0 against Huddersfield Town. Manchester United defeated Watford 2-1 to take the eighth spot on the table. Romelu Lukaku and Chris Smalling scored for United in the first half while Andre Gray scored for Watford. Nemanja Matic also got a red card in the third minute of the stoppage time. Liverpool banished the memory of last year's London mauling by Mauricio Pochettino's side as they dominated the match right from the beginning. Liverpool's goals came from Georginio Wijnaldum -- his first away from home in the Premier League -- and Roberto Firmino, who later went off with an eye injury. Such was the visitors' dominance, they could have had six with Mo Salah twice going close and Tottenham's defence always looking vulnerable until Erik Lamela's late strike gave hope of an unlikely point. But Liverpool held their nerve and look nothing like the team who Spurs ripped apart 4-1 last season. "We have to show progress," said Juergen Klopp, who said the performance was Liverpool's best of the season. "It was maybe our best against Tottenham in all the years I've been here. But only five per cent less and we would have lost. I don't think Tottenham played bad. We were that good it was difficult for Tottenham." At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea ran out comfortable winners despite conceding a 16th-minute Sol Bamba opener. That was the cue for Hazard to take charge, scoring on 37, 44 and 80 minutes, the last goal coming from the penalty spot. Willian added their fourth late on to ensure Chelsea's goal difference is marginally better than Liverpool's at the top. For Manchester City, they stayed in touch with the table toppers with a win over Fulham, who fell behind on two minutes to Leroy Sane and never looked capable of forcing their way back into the game. David Silva and Raheem Sterling were the other two scorers for the champions. Bournemouth sprang the surprise of the day with a performance to back up manager Eddie Howe's pre-match assertion that his side, who have won three of their first five games, have closed the gap on the division's top teams. The match was effectively over before the break, with Ryan Fraser scoring twice and Josh King adding a third from the penalty spot. Adam Smith made it 4-0 before James Maddison and Marc Albrighton replied late on. Leicester's miserable afternoon was compounded by Wes Morgan's 69th-minute dismissal -- his first in four years -- for a second yellow card offence. Arsenal provided further signs that they have put their jittery start behind them by the win at Newcastle United, who now have just one point from five games. Granit Xhaka's excellent free kick opened the scoring with Mesut Ozil ensuring Arsenal won consecutive away league games for the first time since May 2017. In the day's other game, Roy Hodgson celebrated the first anniversary of his appointment as Crystal Palace manager with the win at Huddersfield Town. The scorer, predictably enough, was Wilfried Zaha, who marked his return from injury with a marvellous solo effort. News source