Premier League: City Grants Marschala Unprecedented Achievement, Liverpool Defeats Brentford

Manchester City put their continental disappointment behind them as their Italian coach, Enzo Maresca, achieved an unprecedented feat by securing his seventh victory from seven matches played so far in the English Premier League. The win came against visitors Ipswich Town 3-2 on Saturday in Matchday 7, which also saw Liverpool come from behind to beat Brentford 2-1.

City, whose future remains uncertain following their conviction for over 100 breaches of financial fair play rules between 2009 and 2018, played the match against the backdrop of a heavy 4-2 home defeat to French side Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League earlier in the week.

However, the team was not emotionally affected by that loss. Thanks to a brace from Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, Saturday marked the first time a Premier League manager has won all seven of his opening matches with a new club, surpassing his predecessor, Spaniard Pep Guardiola, who won six consecutive games at the start of his tenure with the “Citizens” in the 2016-2017 season.

City moved to the top of the table with 21 points, extending their lead over defending champions Arsenal by six points. Arsenal play away at Nottingham Forest on Sunday. Meanwhile, Ipswich Town’s points total remained stuck at nine.

The match saw Moroccan player Ayoub El Kaabi start for the first time for his new club. Commenting on the experience, he said, “I was very happy, of course. I love football and I love playing, and I want to participate in every match. But I realize this is part of the development process, so I was very happy with my performance today.”

Speaking to the Premier League channel after Ipswich Town rallied to narrow the deficit to 3-2, El Kaabi added, “You definitely feel some pressure in moments like these because you don’t want the opponent to score again. But we handled the situation very well, and we were happy with the way we finished the match.”

City dominated the early stages and took the lead in the 19th minute when Belgian forward Jeremy Doku cut inside from the left, delivering a cross that Phil Foden met and turned into the net.

The visitors responded quickly through Japanese forward Daizen Maeda, who won his individual duel against Marc Guehi, opening up a path to Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma’s goal (21).

With his seventh goal in his seventh league match and his eleventh in ten games across all competitions this season, Haaland restored City’s lead with a header from a Mateo Kovačić cross (34).

Haaland sealed the three points with his second goal of the match and his eighth of the season in the 69th minute, capitalizing on a counter-attack and a pass from Senegalese midfielder Iliman Ndiaye. The Norwegian was denied a hat-trick and a brilliant goal by a curling shot in the 87th minute, ruled offside after a pass from Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernández.

Instead of extending their lead to 4-1, the visitors reduced the deficit to one goal following a mistake by Guehi, who fouled Ghanaian forward Fatawu Issahaku inside the penalty area. This awarded Ipswich Town a penalty, which Dutch striker Zian Flemming successfully converted in the 90th minute, but the score remained unchanged until the final whistle.

Brentford paid the price for the red card of Ukrainian midfielder Yehor Yarmolyuk in the final seconds of the first half, which they had ended leading thanks to a goal by Lewis-Potter (44). They suffered their first defeat of the season, losing 2-1 to visitors Liverpool, who scored two second-half goals through Spanish defender Víctor Muñoz (62) and Swedish substitute Alexander Isak, who returned from injury (70).

Brentford finished the match with nine players after German midfielder Vitaly Janelt received his second yellow card in the final moments, confirming their first loss and leaving them stuck on 10 points, while Liverpool moved up to fifth place with 12 points.

Pedro Neto’s brace led Chelsea to continue their return to form as they handed host Everton their first defeat of the season with a 2-0 victory, although they lost their Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who was forced off injured.

The Blues salvaged their slow start with a second consecutive win (having beaten Bournemouth 5-1 in the previous round), after a poor beginning that saw two away defeats against neighbors Arsenal (1-2) and Brentford (0-3).

Chelsea moved up to 13 points in fourth place, keeping a clean sheet for the first time in 23 league matches.

As for Everton, they suffered their first loss after a series of draws, having collected just one point from their previous five matches before Saturday’s encounter.

After few chances for either side in the first half, Neto opened the scoring for Chelsea early in the second half with a low shot past goalkeeper Jordan Pickford following a cross from Dutch defender Jurriën Timber (46).

The visitors’ joy was marred by the departure of their goalkeeper Martinez (75), who was carried off on a stretcher after a lengthy intervention by the medical staff, following a strong collision with Jarrad Branthwaite.

Neto secured Chelsea’s win in the final minute of regular time, capitalizing on a corner that the opposing defense failed to clear.

Aston Villa returned from Newcastle with their second win of the season, courtesy of a single goal scored by Swiss striker Johan Lamazou (36), raising their tally to 8 points in 12th place, directly behind their rivals on goal difference.

Fulham recorded their first win, defeating visitors Hull City with a goal scored by Nigerian striker Alex Iwobi (33).