Manchester United, West Brom and Huddersfield maintained their perfect starts to the new season as promoted duo Newcastle and Brighton both failed to open their accounts at the second attempt.
Here, Press Association Sport’s Damian Spellman takes a look at what we learned this weekend.
Jose Mourinho knows what he’s doing
"I thank their fantastic attitude, all of them."
Jose Mourinho leads the reaction following yesterday's win: https://t.co/uqQ8GnQDv9 pic.twitter.com/7s2YKywRhM— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 20, 2017
It seems a long time since Manchester United fans were able to watch exciting as well as winning football, but two games into the league campaign, Old Trafford is buzzing once again. The addition of Nemanja Matic and Romelu Lukaku at great expense this summer has helped Jose Mourinho to remove the shackles, and the quality of the four goals which ripped Swansea to shreds on Saturday left the manager purring.
So does Tony Pulis
???? "We're really pleased that we've got the three points"
Full video ➡️ https://t.co/PZieXrElbA#WBA pic.twitter.com/wqzWv8RzE5— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) August 19, 2017
West Brom boss Tony Pulis has his critics and the football his teams have played has not always met the highest aesthetic standards. However, it is effective and back-to-back 1-0 victories over Bournemouth and at Burnley on Saturday have left the Baggies among the early season pacesetters with maximum points.
It could be a long season for Newcastle
???? Rafa Benítez shares his thoughts after today's defeat at @htafcdotcom. #NUFC pic.twitter.com/wEWa7oTCWc
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) August 20, 2017
Two games, two defeats, no goals, manager seemingly at odds with owner – the soap opera at St James’ Park is showing few signs of drawing to a close. Rafael Benitez has spent much of the last few weeks warning anyone who may care to listen that his squad is significantly short of quality, and a failure to address that issue during what remains of the transfer window could have dire consequences.
Riyad Mahrez has not downed tools
2️⃣ goals yields 3️⃣ points as #lcfc record their first win of the season ???? https://t.co/a8fdy2sVWa#LeiBha pic.twitter.com/1B28aL8PFc
— Leicester City (@LCFC) August 19, 2017
Riyad Mahrez’s future may not lie at Leicester after a summer which has seen him linked with moves to Barcelona, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham among others, but that has not stopped him earning his money at the King Power Stadium. Where the likes of Philippe Coutinho, Virgil van Dijk and Gylfi Sigurdsson have been conspicuous by their absence for their respective clubs, he has played the full 90 minutes of the Foxes’ two matches to date and turned in a fine individual display in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Brighton.
Wembley is providing few home comforts for Tottenham
Spurs have won just two of the 11 games they have played at Wembley since it reopened in 2007 (Mike Egerton/PA)
Defeat by reigning champions Chelsea may be no disgrace for Tottenham, but victories over any opposition have been few and far between at their temporary home. Of the 11 games they have played since the new stadium was opened, they have won just two and that run of form will have to improve markedly if they are to stand any chance of fulfilling their dreams this season.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here