The third week of action saw 9 games, only 13 goals, 4 in the first half, 9 in the second half, 1 in injury time; 208 attempts, 91 on target and 87 corners; 188 fouls, 32 bookings, 1 red card, 1 penalty scored.
Most scored: At Selhurst Park (4 goals), by Crystal Palace (3 goals).
Top creators: Newcastle at St James Park (24 attempts, 9 on target, 13 corners).
Main offenders: Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfield with 30 fouls and 6 bookings between them; Sunderland with the only sending off of the weekend at Selhurst Park (John O'Shea).
Manchester City 2-0 Hull City:
An Alvaro Negredo header and quality Yaya Toure free kick in the last half hour meant heartbreak for Hull City losing 2-0 to Manchester City after a competitive encounter at the Etihad Stadium.
The Tigers were on fire leaving the home side behind and trying to catch up. Joe Hart was beaten by Robert Koren's diagonal smacker before it went just wide. Sone Aluko put a golden chance wide before Danny Graham had a goal correctly ruled out for offside for the visitors. It was painful to watch for Manuel Pellegrini seeing his side creating more misses and conceding more chances to the visitors with David Silva's free kick going just wide before Joleon Lescott pulled a flying save out of Allan McGregor.
The deadlock was finally broken against the run of play when Pablo Zabaleta's replacement Negredo planted a header into the back of the net, heartbreak for Steve Bruce's men. And to add salt to the wound, Toure doubled the score with a smacking free kick from about 18 yards out, off the bar and in, sealing a less-than convincing win for the former champions against the promoted side.
Cardiff 0-0 Everton:
Everton had to settle for a point in a goalless draw at the Cardiff City Stadium, very much contrasting to the win against Manchester City last week.
In a flat and tough encounter, Roberto Martinez's men were held back and frustrated by a defiant and dominant home side. The Bluebirds definitely created more chances and pressure but were lucky not to concede a penalty when Gary Medel brought down Leighton Baines in the box, referee Phil Dowd waving play on. To cap the frustrating afternoon for the Toffees, Kevin Mirallas missed two golden chances, including one easy tap-in late on and Cardiff keeper David Marshall kept out a deflected Nikica Jelavic header.
The result means Martinez remains unbeaten in the Premier League since taking over at Goodison Park, but the Spaniard will not be happy after seeing his side leave Wales with their third-successive draw of the season.
Newcastle 1-0 Fulham:
Hatem Ben Arfa's powerful left-footed strike ended Newcastle's wait for their first Premier League home goal of the season beating Fulham 1-0 at St James' Park and securing their first league win of the campaign.
The home side saw chances deflected and pressure blocked out well by the visitors. Adel Taarabt pulled a great save out of Tim Krul and Papiss Cisse headed against the cross bar for the Cottagers. Yoan Gouffran and Yohan Cabaye missed most chances for the Toons, not lastly thanks to Fulham goalkeeper David Stockdale who was kept busy till the end and produced some top-draw saves.
But in the end, it was all for nothing as Ben Arfa's smacker from the edge of the box four minutes from time sealed a home win, to the relief of boss Alan Pardew.
Norwich 1-0 Southampton:
The Canaries recorded their first Premier League win of the season against Southampton at Carrow Road thanks to teenager Nathan Redmond's first goal of the season.
The 19-year-old scored a low shot from outside the box past Saints goalkeeper Artur Boruc into the near corner after a fine run from the halfway line and cheeky step-overs cutting in from the left.
Mauricio Pochettino felt aggrieved and rightly so after seeing his side fail to score including captain Adam Lallana's hit against the post and a penalty not given for Bradley Johnson's handball in the first half. However, the visitors were lucky to survive an onslaught including a wide hit by Redmond, a Robert Snodgrass free kick flicked on by Ricky van Wolfswinkel causing ping-pong havoc in the box and keeping both Calum Chambers and Boruc busy. The prior was involved in a couple of incidents where the home side appealed for handball, but all penalty appeals were ignored. Norwich keeper John Ruddy was scared a couple of times but denied both Rickie Lambert and Dani Osvaldo before Redmond's strike put the hosts ahead in the 69th minute.
The Saints are used to keeping their goals late this season but were unable to force an equaliser as Chris Hughton's men secured all three points.
West Ham 0-1 Stoke City:
Jermaine Pennant ended his 864-day wait to find his name on the scoreboard for the first time since 2011 after a superb curled free kick gave Stoke the lead and win against a lacklustre West Ham side at Upton Park.
The substitute's curled effort was enough to hand Mark Hughes' s men their second Premier League win on the trot. Hammers goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen had produced a fine double-save in the first half to keep his side in the contest, but the Potters stayed in control for most of the game in a disappointing encounter. Sam Allardyce's side rarely threatened and will be counting down the days until they can welcome injured striker Andy Carroll back onto the pitch.
The defeat was the Hammers' first at home since February and Pennant's effort was their first league goal conceded this season.
Crystal Palace 3-1 Sunderland:
Two late goals by Dwight Gayle and substitute Stuart O'Keefe sealed victory for Crystal Palace as they beat Sunderland 3-1 at Selhurst Park.
The Black Cats poor start to the campaign continued as they saw their side crumble to pieces after John O'Shea saw red for his tackle on Gayle who converted the resulting penalty sending the ball underneath the body of Sunderland goalkeeper Keiren Westwood.
Danny Gabbidon had given Ian Holloway's men the lead from close range off a corner early on in the match, recording his first goal in 116 Premier League appearances, before Steven Fletcher equalised for the visitors with an unmarked diagonal header into the left corner of the net, leaving goalkeeper Julian Speroni stranded just past the hour mark. But it all went downhill from there for Paulo Di Canio's side, losing one man and two goals in the final 12 minutes.
Liverpool 1-0 Manchester United:
Liverpool continued their 100% start to the season with their third 1-0 win on the trot, this time against arch rivals Manchester United at Anfield adding to the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Bill Shankly's birth.
Birthday boy Daniel Sturridge turned in Daniel Agger's header off a corner after just over three minutes, his third consecutive match winner for the Merseysiders, to give the home side a blistering start against David Moyes' men.
United were disjointed without injured Wayne Rooney, controlled and dominated by the home side for most of the first half. The Red Devils came back stronger after the interval, keeping Reds keeper Simon Mignolet busier, Robin van Persie and Ashley Young creating and producing most pressure and pulling save after save from the 25-year-old Belgian keeper. The £9m summer signing from Sunderland has yet to concede a Premier League goal this season and together with man-of-the-match Agger frustrated the hell out of RVP and co.
This result ended United's unbeaten run of 13 Premier League away games, a record Brendan Rodgers' men were more than happy to put a stop to, handing them their best league start for 19 years.
West Brom 0-2 Swansea:
Swansea recorded their first Premier League win of the season against West Brom at the Hawthorns thanks to a goal in each half from Ben Davies and Pablo Hernandez.
Both teams came into the game in poor form, the Baggies having won only one of their last 11 Premier League matches and yet to find the target this season whilst Swansea had just won two of their previous 13.
The returning Nicolas Anelka went closest for Steve Clarke's men before the break, but a smacker from Davies gave the visitors the lead and him his only second-ever goal for the club. Michael Laudrup's men took over the game from there dominating the second half and sealing the win and three points thanks to Hernandez's first goal for the club from close range leaving West Brom rock bottom of the Premier League table.
Arsenal 1-0 Tottenham:
Olivier Giroud's fourth goal of the season handed Arsenal their fourth consecutive win since their opening day defeat to Aston Villa and sealed Tottenham's first defeat of the season at the Emirates.
This absorbing encounter between the North London rivals was not exactly action-and-goal-packed as the last two 5-2 thrashes the Gunners enjoyed for the last couple of seasons. But Arsene Wenger will be more than chuffed to have beaten the (£105m) big spenders after all the criticism and taunts on his lack of activity on the player market.
Andre Villas-Boas men created several good chances, Wojciech Szczesny stopping Jermain Defoe's deflected shot, but the home side were more dominant with more clear-cut attempts, Santi Cazorla coming close twice with clever free kicks whilst Giroud and Theo Walcott were both denied by Hugo Lloris. Both worked well together for the goal, the prior tucking in the latter's low cross at the near post to send Arsenal up to fourth in the Premier League.
Tottenham have only won once at Arsenal since 1993 and this defeat showed what they might miss and have to expect without Gareth Bale, who sealed the deal and has joined Real Madrid for a world record transfer fee of £85.3m.
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