Fernandes seals comeback win for Man Utd over Forest
Bruno Fernandes completed a 3-2 comeback victory for Manchester United from the penalty spot after the hosts conceded twice inside the opening five minutes against Nottingham Forest in a rip-roaring Premier League clash at Old Trafford on Saturday.
The home crowd were stunned after two minutes when Taiwo Awoniyi ran through to put Forest ahead and in disbelief two minutes later when unmarked Willy Boly headed in a second.
Christian Eriksen began the comeback after 17 minutes when he touched in Marcus Rashford’s cross but for all United’s pressure, Forest still packed a substantial threat.
Casemiro levelled from close range in the 52nd minute and Forest were reduced to 10 men when Joe Worrall was red-carded for hauling down Fernandes outside the area.
Ten minutes later Rashford went down in the area after slight contact from Danilo and Fernandes stepped up to beat American keeper Matt Turner from the penalty spot and seal United’s second win of the season.
Beaten by Tottenham Hotspur the previous weekend having struggled to edge out Wolverhampton Wanderers in their opening game, United were in disarray early on against Forest.
But they responded in determined fashion to win a Premier League game at Old Trafford from two goals down for only the third time. Although it was far from convincing against an enterprising Forest side who deserved more.
Awoniyi’s threat on the counter-attack took only two minutes to manifest itself as, from a United corner, a clearance was seized upon by Awoniyi who knocked the ball past Rashford in the centre circle and raced away to slot past Andre Onana.
In doing so Awoniyi became the first Forest player to score in seven successive Premier League appearances.
United’s defending was equally invisible for Forest’s second goal as Boly was allowed space head into the net.
Stung into action, Fernandes brought a save from Turner but Forest did not clear the ball and Rashford beat Serge Aurier and crossed low for Eriksen to begin the recovery.
Forest could have restored their two-goal lead on the stroke of halftime but the outstanding Morgan Gibbs-White’s goalbound shot struck Awoniyi.
United’s equaliser was well-worked. Rashford dinked in a free kick and Fernandes headed the ball across to Casemiro who made up for missing an earlier sitter.
Almost inevitably, Fernandes supplied the winner, although it was tough on Forest who had chances to grab a point in 13 nervous minutes of stoppage time.
Arsenal held to 2-2 draw as 10-man Fulham grab late equaliser
Arsenal were held to a 2-2 home draw by 10-man Fulham after the visitors grabbed a late goal to deny Mikel Arteta’s side provisional top spot in the Premier League.
The result leaves the Gunners second with seven points, behind north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on goal difference.
Andreas Pereira put Fulham ahead in the first minute but Arsenal eventually bounced back with two goals in two frantic second-half minutes from Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah.
Fulham then had Calvin Bassey sent off for a second yellow card in the 83rd minute but despite going down to 10 men they rescued a point when Joao Palhinha swept home from a corner.
Fulham struck after 57 seconds when Pereira pounced on a loose back pass from Saka and the midfielder saw goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale well off his line, pulling the trigger from almost 30 metres to score and silence the home crowd.
The mistake fired up Saka, who created several chances in the first half, saw a cheeky free kick to the near post deflected for a corner and missed a close-range header, much to the relief of Fulham’s former Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno.
But the home side won a penalty when Kenny Tete tripped Fabio Vieira in the box and Saka redeemed himself with a confident spot kick in the pouring rain, burying his effort into the bottom corner after 70 minutes.
A fired-up Arsenal completed their comeback two minutes later when they won the ball back in Fulham’s half and Vieira whipped in a cross for fellow substitute Nketiah to fire home.
Fulham were reduced to 10 men when Bassey cynically fouled Nketiah to prevent a counter-attack but Marco Silva’s side equalised in the 87th when Palhinha timed his half-volley to precision from a corner to beat Ramsdale and snatch a point.
Maddison opens Tottenham account in win at Bournemouth
James Maddison opened his account for Tottenham Hotspur with the first goal in his side’s impressive 2-0 victory at Bournemouth in the Premier League as the visitors maintained their unbeaten start to the season.
The England midfielder, signed from relegated Leicester City, was in scintillating form again for his new club, scoring from close range in the 17th minute and being at the heart of most of Tottenham’s best work.
Bournemouth threatened to get back in the game in the second half, but Dejan Kulusevski doubled Tottenham’s lead just past the hour with a neat finish following a slick build-up.
After that it was comfortable for new manager Ange Postecoglou’s side, who moved top of the standings ahead of the weekend’s other games with seven points from three matches.
Bournemouth have only one point from their three games.
There was much gnashing of teeth amongst Tottenham followers when all-time record scorer Harry Kane was sold to Bayern Munich on the eve of the new season.
But in Maddison they have found another player to pin their hopes on.
Two assists in Tottenham’s opening day draw at Brentford offered an early glimpse of why Tottenham parted with a reported 40 million pounds for the 26-year-old.
He backed that up with a dazzling display in last week’s home win over Manchester United.
Against Bournemouth his range of passing and quick thinking gave Postecoglou’s side an attacking impetus that the hosts found hard to contain.
Tottenham took the lead when Pape Matar Sarr, another player impressing for a new-look Spurs side, sliced open Bournemouth’s defence in the 17th minute, and though Maddison’s shot was scuffed he got enough on the ball to send it past Neto.
Sarr and Yves Bissouma controlled the midfield battle for Tottenham and they looked in command and should have added to their lead, with Richarlison twice guilty of poor finishing after being set up by Maddison, the second chance headed wide from a wickedly curling delivery.
Bournemouth started the second half on the front foot and Antoine Semenyo curled a shot agonisingly wide.
Three minutes after Postecoglou took off a frustrated Richarlison, Tottenham sealed the points with an intricate move started by substitute Ivan Perisic down the left.
Full-back Destiny Udogie then exchanged passes with captain Son Heung-min before cutting the ball back for Kulusevski to stroke a neat finish into the opposite corner for his first goal of the campaign.
Maddison could have made it 3-0 with a shot wide when a pass to Son would have been a better option, but there were few complaints from the buoyant visiting fans who have taken an instant shine to the classy playmaker.
Andersen goal helps Palace snatch 1-1 draw at Brentford
Crystal Palace’s Joachim Andersen cancelled out Kevin Schade’s first-half opener for Brentford in a 1-1 Premier League draw at a rain-soaked Community Stadium.
Despite dominating in the first half, Brentford were unable to add to Schade’s fine solo effort, as Palace levelled the contest in the 77th through Andersen’s scrappy goal.
There was little between the sides in a frantic opening 15 minutes. Yoane Wissa had an early strike disallowed for offside before Odsonne Edouard was denied by some last-ditch defending from Brentford’s Ethan Pinnock.
It was the hosts who drew first blood in the 18th, as Schade cut in from the left wing and danced past two Palace defenders to fire a curling shot into the far corner for his first goal in a Brentford shirt.
Brentford twice came close to doubling their advantage before the break as Wissa and Nathan Collins both missed headers from set pieces, and Thomas Frank’s side were made to rue their profligacy.
Palace looked much sharper in the second half and created a flurry of chances, with Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken keeping out Edouard’s free kick before denying Jefferson Lerma and Jordan Ayew minutes later with a double save.
The pressure finally paid off for Palace in the 77th minute as Andersen scored following a one-two with Ayew, sliding in to poke a shot under the onrushing Flekken and snatch a share of the spoils as the Brentford players looked on in despair.
Brentford stepped on the gas after the equaliser and had two late penalty claims waved away by referee Peter Bankes, but were unable to find the winner.
The draw was the fifth straight game between the two sides to end level.
Both sides are next in action in the League Cup. Brentford travel to face Newport County, while Palace travel to Plymouth Argyle.
Kalajdzic scores later winner as Wolves beat Everton
Sasa Kalajdzic scored three minutes from the end to hand Wolverhampton Wanderers their first win of the Premier League season with a 1-0 victory over Everton at Goodison Park, piling more misery on their wasteful hosts.
Substitute Kalajdzic steered in a header from Pedro Neto’s cross to earn Wolves their first points of the season, having ridden their luck as Everton spurned numerous opportunities to score first.
Everton looked the more dangerous team but are left waiting for their first point of the campaign in another demoralising defeat that was a carbon copy of their opening day loss to Fulham.
Both teams had goals disallowed earlier but Wolves finally found the breakthrough with their only shot on target in the game. Everton are now without a point or a goal in their first three games for the first time in their history.
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