Premier League

ARSENAL buried their Aston Villa bogey as Mikel Arteta ticked one huge task off his title-winning ‘to do,’ list.Supersub Leandro Trossard came off the bench to score with his first touch and had a hand in the Gunners’ second which was expertly finished by Thomas Partey.Arsenal fired a warning to title rivals with a late win at Aston VillaCredit: GettyThe Gunners are looking to keep pace at the top with Man CityCredit: GettyBut a special mention must go to David Raya who produced a world class save to prevent Ollie Watkins from giving Villa the lead, two minutes before Trossard struck.If the Gunners are to go one better than the previous two seasons and finally topple Manchester City, this was pretty much a must-win match.No team did more harm to Arsenal’s title hopes last season than Unai Emery’s Villa, who plundered six points out of six from the Gunners.That amounted to a whopping 40% of all the points dropped by Arteta’s men last season.READ MORE IN FOOTBALLSo after just two games, Arteta has already nudged one monkey off his back!The Gunners boss strengthened his back four by handing Jurrien Timber his second Premier League start and first since he ruptured his ACL last August.In contrast Emery had to contend with Matty Cash pulling his hamstring while trying to cut out a Gabriel Martinelli cross after 13 minutes.That forced Villa into an early change as 18-year-old Serbian Kosta Nedeljkovic came in for an acid test of his nerve.Most read in FootballFOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALSEmi Martinez had already made one early routine save, gathering a Declan Rice shot after he had pushed a deep Saka cross into the midfielder’s path.But the Argentine World Cup winner showed why Villa fans call him the World’s No.1 after 16 minutes with a world class save.Kai Havertz celebration: Why does Arsenal forward cup his ears after scoring?Saka cut inside Lucas Digne and curled in a low left-footer which was heading for the far corner until Martinez hurled himself to his right to brilliantly palm the ball wide.However the ‘keeper rode his luck moments later when he collapsed in his six yard box as Kai Havertz crashed the ball off the bar following a corner.Referee Michael Oliver blew for a foul – but it certainly wasn’t on Martinez.Ollie Watkins hadn’t managed one touch of the ball in the opening 20 minutes as he was brilliantly policed by William Saliba.But when his first came midway through the first half he fluffed it as Villa blew a golden opportunity.Leon Bailey dispossessed Gabriel and Morgan Rogers slipped a perfect set-up ball to Watkins.But in front of watching England boss Lee Carsley, England’s Euro 24 hero screwed his shot wide from 10 yards with the goal at his mercy.Arsenal ratings vs Aston Villa: Raya and Saliba rock solid at the back but Martinelli toothlessARSENAL made sure to keep pace with Manchester City as they bagged a late 2-0 win against bogey team Aston Villa.Timely goals from Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey helped Mikel Arteta maintain a 100 per cent start to the season.But they owed a lot to keeper David Raya who somehow denied Ollie Watkins at 0-0.Here is how SunSport’s Jordan Davies rated the Gunners stars…DAVID RAYA – 9/10Other than watching Watkins’ shot dribble wide, a fairly quiet first half before a smart save to halt Rogers’ flick across goal.He then pulled off an unbelievable stop on the line to deny a Watkins header, getting up off the floor after a deflected shot smacked the bar and bounced out.JURRIEN TIMBER – 7Showed his quality in the opening few minutes to break Villa’s tricky block before leaving Onana in a heap with a hefty body check.Likely to keep this starting spot ahead of Zinchenko.WILLIAM SALIBA – 9Immense. Watkins barely had a sniff up against him. Arsenal’s difference-maker in these tight, nervy games.In a rare instance, lost his temper with McGinn in the first half, but regained his composure and was a rock at the back.Made a late lung-busting run back to block a late counter and celebrated like it was a goal.GABRIEL – 5Very lucky not to hand Villa the lead. Stripped on the edge of his box claiming a foul but thankful to see Watkins somehow drag his effort wide.Picked up a needless yellow in the second half for wild challenge on Onana. One of his poorer games in an Arsenal shirt with mistakes that should have been punished.BEN WHITE – 7Solid as ever, needing to be alert with Villa lethal on the counter, covering superbly.In pure White fashion, started a melee after smacking a ball into McGinn for doing the same to Saliba, with an expressionless look on his face throughout.THOMAS PARTEY – 8Brilliantly stopped several early Villa counters and showed good physicality in his entertaining battle against McGinn.Looked leggy late on but kept on by Arteta, and rewarded his manager with a rare goal.DECLAN RICE – 7Drove forward more with Partey sitting deeper. Lovely pass in behind for Havertz which should have been finished off.MARTIN ODEGAARD – 7Kept things ticking with some cute passes in the Villa final third and threw around plenty of tackles in the middle of the pitch.Played in Saka in the 64th minute but the winger opted not to shoot, but three minutes later teed up Saka again to provide for Trossard.GABRIEL MARTINELLI – 5Had an early chance to break free down the left but his delivery into Saka was under hit.Was just as lacklustre after the break and lucky to stay on for as long as he did, coming off in the 65th minute.BUKAYO SAKA – 8Looked to have put Arsenal ahead after 15 minutes but for a wonderful Martinez fingertip save.Through on goal in the second half, he wrongly chose to try and round the Villa keeper and made a mess of his finish.But, all that matters are his assists for Trossard and Partey – his persistence paid off.KAI HAVERTZ – 6Unlucky not to find the net from a scrappy corner, hitting the bar with a toe poke. Wasteful in Villa’s box with two great chances squandered.Worked hard, but not as clinical as he has been.SUBS:LEANDRO TROSSARD (MARTINELLI, 65) – 9Almost gave Villa the lead within seconds of coming on, losing Ezri Konsa at a free-kick with a volley looping just wide.But then, he pops up in the other box and instinctively curls in a beautiful finish.Played his part in Partey’s strike too with a perfect run in behind.RICCARDO CALAFIORI (TIMBER, 80) – 6Premier League debut for the Italian. Got in the good books of Arsenal fans by winding up Martinez almost instantly.REISS NELSON (SAKA, 87) – N/ALeandro Trossard came off the bench to put Arsenal ahead in the 67th minuteCredit: ReutersThe Belgian scored with his first touch of the gameCredit: ReutersIt was the kind of finish Watkins would have buried last season but he clearly hasn’t blown away all the cobwebs after his extended summer break.Thomas Partey was similarly wasteful when he launched a 25 yarder well over before the game finally sparked into life – thanks to a feisty Scot!John McGinn took exception to Saliba bundling Watkins over by the corner flag and blasted the loose ball into the Frenchman’s midriff.As Saliba squared up to him, Ben White smashed the ball off McGinn and suddenly there was a melee betweeen at least a dozen quarelling players.Michael Oliver wisely let the perpetrators off with a warning but Villa were on the front foot now and Raya dived to his left to deny Rogers, then grabbed an attempted chip from Bailey just under his bar.Rice was booked for a foul on Rogers and Arteta was given a ticking off for too much backchat before half-time gave everyone the chance to cool down.Villa returned determined to step up the pace and Arsenal had David Raya to thank for keeping them in the game after 54 minutes.Thomas Partey wrapped up the win with 13 minutes leftCredit: ReutersHe let rip with a shot from outside the boxCredit: ReutersAmadou Onana crashed a shot off Gabriel which looped over Raya and bounced back into play off the crossbar.With the keeper grounded Watkins moved in for the kill and sent a diving header hurtling towards the empty net.But somehow Raya scrambled back to his feet to claw the ball away to prevent a certain goal with a world class intervention.It turned out to be the turning point in the game.Emery replaced Watkins and McGinn with Jhon Duran and Jacob Ramsey, while Arteta sent on Leandro Trossard for Martinelli.But it was Arteta’s change which came up trumps!Within two minutes the Belgian had fired Arsenal in front and 10 minutes later he had a hand in their second!Ollie Watkins missed a number of sittersCredit: ReutersHis header was saved imperiously by David RayaCredit: ReutersThe winger made an instant impact as he scored with his first touch.Saka did well to keep the ball in play as he cut it back from the dead ball line and it crashed off Rogers into Trossard’s path.The Belgian didn’t even need a touch as he swept the ball right-footed and buried it low beyond Martinez into the far corner.Ten minutes later he helped put the game beyond Villa.Trossard drilled a low cross which sped across the face of goal to Saka beyond the far post.The winger cut the ball back to Thomas Partey who used Pau Torres as a screen to sweep the ball home.READ MORE SUN STORIESAlthough Martinez got a glove to it the keeper saw it late and for once, his hand simply wasn’t strong enough to keep it out.Like his shot, Arsenal are going to take some stopping on this form.One heated incident saw William Saliba and John McGinn clashMikel Arteta got the better of his predecessor Unai EmeryCredit: Reuters More

ERLING HAALAND demolished Premier League new boys Ipswich with a hat-trick as the champions continued their defence in style.There was early hope for Kieran McKenna’s men when Sammie Szmodics poked the ball under Ederson to put them in front after just seven minutes.Erling Haaland netted a hat-trickCredit: GettyBut there joy was short-lived as Haaland converted a penalty just five minutes later.And then the floodgates opened as Haaland got his second and De Bruyne added a third within the blink of an eye.Ipswich stayed in the game before the Norwegian goal machine completed his hat-trick just before the final whistle. More

IN a window where Crystal Palace stars appear to be fleeing Selhurst Park – a former hero coming back to hurt them was not needed.Aaron Wan-Bissaka was sent on for his West Ham debut five years after leaving Selhurst Park and quickly played a big role in the opening goal.West Ham picked up all three points away at Crystal PalaceCredit: PAJarrod Bowen wrapped up the win with a brilliant finish on the breakCredit: ReutersAfter Soucek scored, he came to the rescue of a ball boy crushed by an advertising board amid the celebrationsIt would hardly have settled the nerves for Palace fans who have already seen Michael Olise and Joachim Andersen depart and fear Marc Guehi and perhaps Eberechi Eze could follow.Boss Oliver Glasner admitted this week that transfer noise was having an influence on some of his players, though there was little sign of that during a fine first half in which it looked like the hosts would be comfortable winners.But West Ham’s improved depth and a half-time rocket in the rain brought about a better second half and their first win under Julen Lopetegui, as Tomas Soucek and Jarrod Bowen grabbed two goals in five minutes to make it two defeats from two for Palace to start the season.In this fixture last season – which effectively put the final nail in the coffin for David Moyes at West Ham – the Hammers were four down after just 31 minutes.That was not the case this time around, but Palace could and probably should have had two inside the opening 20 minutes.Lopetegui’s side underwhelmed against Aston Villa last weekend but he stuck with the same XI in South London. Despite having a couple of early openings, with Mohammed Kudus firing wide from 12 yards, the Hammers looked wide open.Alphonse Areola made a fine one-on-one stop from Eze after Adam Wharton found the midfielder with a defence-splitting pass.Most read in FootballThe England midfielder took just two weeks off in the summer and has continued the superb form which got him a late run into the Euros squad.Moments after finding Eze, he had the Eagles on the front foot in a flash once more with a first time forward pass from his own half.It resulted in Odsonne Edouard getting through but he fluffed the finish and put it wide of the far post.West Ham have a forward line packed with talent, but were struggling to get the ball to any of them in threatening positions.Pinned back by Palace, they were hanging on going into the break as Eze rattled the crossbar with a bending effort from the edge of the box minutes before the interval.Lopetegui gave his players a talking to in the rain outside the away dressing room before sending them back out.And West Ham improved after the break, though they were still lacking a cutting edge, so Lopetegui turned to new boys Niclas Fullkrug and Wan-Bissaka.The Spaniard would certainly have expected the big German striker to have made more of an impact up top, but it was ex-Palace man Wan-Bissaka who sparked this win.The Eagles academy graduate showed plenty of life flying down the right, which was how the first goal came about.After a fine run down the flank, the £15million debutant found Bowen who crossed for Lucas Paqueta. A couple of loose touches and dodgy clearances later the ball fell kindly for Tomas Soucek to ram home.The Czech international then had to rescue a ball boy, who was stuck under the advertising board amid the celebrations in the away end.It may not have been deserved considering the flash football Palace had played in the first half, but suddenly the Hammers had their tails up and the hosts looked shaky.There were gaps opening up in Glasner’s side and another new man – Max Kilman – strode straight into one.The defender charged forward across halfway before picking out a stellar ball for Bowen to run onto. The England man drove inside before placing a superb reverse finish in the near post.READ MORE SUN STORIESPalace had the chance to quickly halve the deficit as new signing Ismaila Sarr picked out Jean-Philippe Mateta just yards out but he somehow failed to finish.All the fine momentum Palace had built across a brilliant end to last season seems to have been lost in the space of just one week.THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY..The Sun is your go to destination for the best football, boxing and MMA news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.Like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheSunFootball and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSunFootball. More

DEJECTED Erik ten Hag’s afternoon went from bad to worse – when a SEAGULL was spotted clapping behind him after the late winner. The Dutchman could not believe his luck as Brighton snatched all three points at the Amex.A seagull was spotted behind Erik ten Hag after the Brighton winnerCredit: X formerly Twitter / @footballontntThe fans revelled in United’s miseryCredit: AFPJoao Pedro headed home in the 95th minute – after Joshua Zirkzee was desperately unfortunate to be caught offside on the goal line to rule out Alejandro Garnacho’s goal.And after being pooped on by the Seagulls, United fans could not help but see the irony of a punter wearing a costume of the coastal bird. The home supporter was picked up by the TNT Sports cameras in the seagull head mask right by the away dugout as Brighton celebrated the Pedro goal.One fan said: “A very powerful image, Manchester United manager looking rather upset on the sidelines as a Brighton supporter wearing a huge seagull mask casually claps on.”READ MORE ON MAN UTDAnother joked: “Imagine wearing a seagull mask and still only being the second silliest person in this picture…”A third added: “The seagull has just made me do a wheeze laugh.”A Red Devils fan admitted: “I’m really upset Man Utd lost BUT that guy with the seagull mask cheered me up.”And a final user joked: “Seagulls getting bigger in Brighton.”Most read in FootballFOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALSThe Seagulls will be partying on the beach tonight following the victory over United to make it two wins from two under new boss Fabian Hurzeler.Danny Welbeck scored his 100th club career goal to open the scoring before Amad Diallo equalised with a deflected strike.Man Utd Player Ratings vs Brighton Garnacho thought he had turned the game on its head when he tapped in Bruno Fernandes’ pass.However, Zirkzee had already slid in and was therefore unable to get out of the way in time as the ball bounced into the unguarded net off his knee on the line.That saw the goal chalked off by VAR – before Pedro had the final word late on when he was given the freedom of the south coast.Ten Hag fumed: “We concede two soft goals where we should act better as a team. You can’t drop points. It is so unnecessary if you protect the goal like we do and then drop points. “It is very disappointing. We conceded two unnecessary goals – very avoidable.”There were some very good parts in the game. We had a lot of control in possession and created some chances, showed resilience and came back and scored what we thought was the winning goal. READ MORE SUN STORIES“We didn’t stop the cross. There were more than one mistake on that occasion and that had a big impact on the score.””[The disallowed goal] is such bad luck that the ball was on the line and it was touched by Zirkzee so that’s a pity.”Ten Hag’s frustration was clear to seeCredit: ReutersThe seagulls will be celebrating into the nightCredit: Rex More