London: Chelsea recorded an emphatic 4-0 victory over struggling Burnley to maintain their unbeaten start to the season and move up to second in table while Manchester United after conceding a late penalty but held on to beat Everton 2-1 and move up to eighth place in the Premier League, Sunday.
The Blues with 24 points from 10 matches are two points behind leaders Liverpool and are one point ahead of fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur. Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho’s United rose to eighth place with 17 points in 10 matches.
Belgian international Eden Hazard missed the game due to injury, but his absence was barely noticed as Willian, starting in the Belgian’s normal position on the left, scored once and hit a post.
Alvaro Morata gave Chelsea the lead midway through a first half after being setup by English midfielder Ross Barkley before adding the second from outside the penalty area after 57 minutes.
Brazilian Willian curled the third goal past Burnley goalkeeper Joe Hart five minutes later and substitute Ruben Loftus-Cheek completed the scoring in stoppage time.
Elsewhere, at Old Trafford, United shook off the home Champions League defeat by Juventus midweek with goals in each half from Frenchmen Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial to earn a narrow win over Everton.
In the 27th minute referee Jonathan Moss ruled that Idrissa Gueye had brought down Martial and although Pogba’s kick was superbly saved by Jordan Pickford, the Frenchman slotted home on the rebound.
United doubled their lead four minutes after halftime when Pogba set up Martial, who beat Pickford with a superb low curling shot into the far corner. However, the world champion was at fault later on in giving the ball away in midfield as Everton got back into the game with a Gylfi Sigurdsson penalty.
However, Arsenal started on a brighter note before conceding two penalties in an eventful draw against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park that ended their run of 11 successive victories in all competitions.
Palace captain Luka Milivojevic, who missed a spot kick at Everton last week, converted twice – one in the halftime added-on time and another on 83 minutes – against a fierce Granit Xhaka free-kick and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s controversial goal.
