Premier League Saturday: Manchester City emerge victors at Old Trafford, Liverpool pummel Leicester

The Premier League finally sprung to life on Super Saturday, as 27 goals were scored over eight matches. It was not too super for Manchester United though as the Red Devils lost to their fiercest rivals Manchester City at home who were untroubled by the absence of their ace striker, Sergio Aguero.

Elsewhere, Arsene Wenger will count his stars after a last-minute penalty by Santi Cazorla saw his team snatch all three points at the death while Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool made easy work of opponents Stoke City and Leicester City.

The focus was obviously on the two Manchester clubs in the early kick-off as the home team went limp for large periods of the opening half, and clawed their way back into the game but not enough to force a draw with Guardiola’s men, who sit on top of the Premier League table with four wins from four games.

Otamendi proves quietly effective

Kevin De Bruyne rightly took the plaudits as the 25-year-old Belgian was by and far, City’s most influential players for the 89 minutes that he was present on the pitch. His one goal and assist rightly earned him the man of the match but Nicolas Otamendi put in a superb shift at the other end of the pitch.

Otamendi, so often vilified last season, was the standout performer for the City in defence, and even boasted the highest passing accuracy of any player on the pitch, completing 90.9% of his passes, completing 55 in all, including four of his five attempted long balls.

His other stats made for exciting reading, as the Argentine won four aerial duels, second only behind Marouanne Fellaini. He also made five successful tackles, six interceptions, eight clearances and had 81 touches, joint-second of any outfielder on the pitch. The media may be going gaga over partner John Stones and his improvement under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola, but Otamendi was the true recipient of the Catalan philosophy on Saturday.

Benteke strikes gold for Palace upon arrival

Crystal Palace, with a run of two wins in their last 24 Premier League appearances, have gone through the motions for the majority of 2016. Alan Pardew’s seven forwards had scored a total of nine goals in a combined 78 league appearances last season, desperately leaving his side short of goals last season.

Christian Benteke, signed from Liverpool for £27 million, could be the 55-year-old manager's last chance at saving his job before Palace head for another survival scrap. On Saturday, Benteke was everywhere, heading Wilfred Zaha’s cross in for the first goal and was unbeatable in the air, winning nine aerial duels, more than double of any other Palace player. His presence up front makes it simpler for Palace to play the long ball up front, while the Belgian is also good at holding up the play and bringing others into attack.

Pochettino’s pleasant headache

As Stoke conceded four at the Britannia for the second year running, Spurs made merry at the expense of Mark Hughes’ men in what was a sobering afternoon for the Welsh manager. Spurs' front six dominated the battle in the middle, and promptly pumped four goals past Stoke keeper Shay Given.

Mauricio Pochettino will be licking his lips at the thought that he has potential starters who did not start at the Britannia as the integration of Erik Lamela, Moussa Sissoko, Vincent Janssen and Mousa Dembele will only add to the Spurs manager’s dilemma about the identify of his best front six.

Son-Heung Min in his first start of the season, scored two – including a peach for the second, and set up another one as Harry Kane and Dele Alli scored their first goals of the season. Pochettino’s headache is a pleasant one and this Spurs squad has the potential to push both the Manchester clubs and Chelsea all the way.

Arsenal register unconvincing win

The 60,000-odd spectators present inside the Emirates breathed a sigh of relief when referee Bobby Madley pointed to the spot in the injury time, insinuating that Jose Fonte had brought Olivier Giroud down in the box when the reality is that both had a hand wrapped around each other. Santi Cazorla stepped up and dispatched it confidently to give the Gunners the three points but not being dominated for long stretches of the game.

Southampton had come with a game plan and their players, especially the defence had followed the plan to the letter to keep the home team out. They had pressed harder, closed down faster, won a lot of second balls but had been undone by a bicycle kick from birthday boy and captain Laurent Koscielny which keeper Fraser Forster could do nothing about.

Arsenal had been sluggish before and after Koscielny’s equaliser and Theo Walcott, in particular, struggled. With Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud left out of the starting line-up, manager Arsene Wenger will hope that his team can step up their game when they travel across the border to face French champions Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday in the Champions League.

Liverpool pummel Leicester

Barring Lucas Leiva's comical ball for Jamie Vardy to slot into a gaping net, Liverpool never looked at losing anything apart from Jurgen Klopp’s glasses in the late kick-off on Saturday evening. The manager will be grateful that Liverpool’s Dr. Jekyll came out to play at Anfield, the Reds sharp in possession and piecing together lightning-quick counter-attacks in an attempt to close out the match early.

The home team were pacy and direct on the day, and incisive when needed as they gave the centre-back pairing of Wes Morgan and Robert Huth a torrid time. Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane scored two goals within the first half an hour.

Leicester did sniff their chance due to Lucas’ blunder but Liverpool started the second half in the same fashion that they had started the first, with Adam Lallana adding a superb third smashing it high into the roof of the net. Firmino added the fourth soon after, to add some gloss to the scoreline as the home team ran out comfortable winners.

The Results

• Manchester United 1 (Zlatan Ibrahimovic) lose to Manchester City 2 (Kevin De Bruyne, Kelechi Iheanacho)
• Arsenal 2 (Laurent Koscielny, Santi Cazorla penalty) beat Southampton 1 (Petr Cech own goal)
• Bournemouth 1 (Callum Wilson) beat West Bromwich Albion 0
• Burnley 1 (Steven Defour) draw with Hull City 1 (Robert Snodgrass)
• Middlesbrough 1 (Daniel Ayala) lose to Crystal Palace 2 (Christian Benteke, Wilfried Zaha)
• Stoke City 0 lose to Tottenham Hotspur 4 (Son Heung-Min X 2, Dele Alli, Harry Kane)
• West Ham United 2 (Michail Antonio X 2) lose to Watford 4 (Odion Ighalo, Troy Deeney, Etienne Capoue, Jose Holebas)
• Liverpool 4 (Roberto Firmino X 2, Sadio Mane, Adam Lallana) beat Leicester City 1 (Jamie Vardy)