North London Duo Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur Take Pole Positions at the Summit of the Premier League

With just one game left to play in Matchweek Two, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur sit at the top of the Premier League table.

It was a weekend where winners from the opening round looked to build momentum, while their victims aimed to put disappointments behind them with keen eyes on maximum points. But for several teams, things did not go as planned.

From Chelsea’s dismantling of West Ham United in the derby to Manchester United’s frailties laid bare at Craven Cottage, here are the standout highlights from Premier League Week Two.

Highlights of the Premier League Week 2

1. Chelsea Too Good for Hammers

Chelsea made up for their failure to kick off the season with a win, coming from behind to put five past West Ham United in the derby at the London Stadium on Friday night.

The world champions suffered a setback ahead of kickoff when Cole Palmer was withdrawn from the starting XI following a knock during the warm-up. Still, his replacement, 18-year-old Estevão Willian, went on to have a field day and even made history.

Lucas Paquetá opened the scoring six minutes in. Still, the visitors responded through Joao Pedro, Pedro Neto, and Enzo Fernández to lead 3-1 at halftime, with Estevão becoming the youngest player to register a Premier League assist for Chelsea after setting up Fernández for the third.

Moises Caicedo and Trevoh Chalobah added two more after the interval as Chelsea temporarily moved top of the standings with four points from two games, while West Ham remained bottom with a negative goal difference of seven.

2. Spurs Had Pep’s Number, Again

Just as they did last season, Tottenham Hotspur took all three points away from the Etihad thanks to first-half goals from Brennan Johnson and João Palhinha.

But the result was not a shocker. No team has beaten Pep Guardiola more times in the Premier League than Spurs, who extended their tally against the Spaniard to eight wins, two more than any other side.

After opening the scoring, Tottenham also became the first side ever to score the first goal in five consecutive Premier League away games at the Etihad, and only the second to do so away to Manchester City in the competition, after Blackburn between 1993 and 2002.

In leading Spurs to victory, Thomas Frank became the third manager, after José Mourinho and Antonio Conte, to beat Guardiola away from home in the league with two different clubs, having previously done so with Brentford.

Spurs moved up to the summit, becoming the first side to reach six points this season, while also keeping back-to-back clean sheets for the first time at the start of a league campaign since 2021–22.

3. Bournemouth Break Wolves Jinx

Marcus Tavernier scored in the fourth minute to earn Bournemouth their first-ever Premier League home win against Wolves, ending a run of five without victory in the fixture at the Vitality since their first meeting in February 2019.

Wolves, who had won two and drawn three of those games, started the season with a 4-0 home defeat to Manchester City and have clearly been weakened by the departures of key players, including last season’s top scorer, Matheus Cunha.

Antoine Semenyo, star of their opening-day show, won possession on the edge of Wolves’ penalty area and teed up Tavernier, who fired a deflected shot into the roof of the net for the only goal of the game inside four minutes.

Bournemouth, who also won their final home game last season (2-0 vs Leicester City), have now recorded back-to-back Premier League home wins without conceding for the first time since January 2019.

For Wolves, the prospect of relegation is becoming an early concern as they remain the only side to lose both of their opening games without scoring.

4. Ouattara Hurts Villa on Debut

Brentford claimed their first win of the season thanks to a debut goal from record signing Dango Ouattara, who completed a £38 million move from Bournemouth.

The decisive strike came in the 12th minute and added to an already established good omen: the Bees have never lost their first Premier League home game in any season since their promotion in 2021.

Igor Thiago flicked on a Kelleher long pass into Ouattara’s path, and the new signing outmuscled Tyrone Mings before scoring at the second attempt after Emiliano Martínez saved his first effort.

It was a relief for new manager Keith Andrews, who secured his first win after last weekend’s loss at Forest. It was also Brentford’s first victory over Villa since January 2022, ending a run of seven winless games in the fixture.

5. Burnley Beat Sunderland in the Battle of Newcomers

Burnley registered their earliest Premier League win since beating Southampton on the opening day of 2019–20, the last season they survived relegation. It could be a good omen for the Clarets.

The Championship runner-ups were helped by Sunderland’s early misfortune when star defender Dan Ballard was forced off after colliding with a Burnley player inside 10 minutes.

Josh Cullen and Jaidon Anthony struck at the start and end of the second half respectively to seal a 2-0 win, Burnley’s first home success in the league since March 2024.

6. Arsenal & Gyökeres Thrill Eze on Return

Eberechi Eze was presented as a new Arsenal player ahead of their late kickoff against Leeds United at the Emirates, where the Gunners cruised to a 5-0 win that sent them top of the table.

On his first official outing at the Emirates, Viktor Gyökeres scored twice to silence his critics after an impressive debut against Manchester United last week.

After scoring from a set piece in the opener, Arsenal struck again from the same situation, Jurrien Timber heading home Declan Rice’s corner on 34 minutes to break Leeds’ resistance.

Timber then set up Bukayo Saka for the second just before halftime, before Gyökeres made it 3-0 three minutes after the restart. Timber and Gyökeres both completed their braces, the latter from the penalty spot after 15-year-old Max Dowman won the spot kick to become the second-youngest Premier League player in history.

7. CHO Denies Crystal Palace Historic Win

Crystal Palace came close to a first-ever Premier League win over Nottingham Forest, but Callum Hudson-Odoi’s second-half equaliser denied them at Selhurst Park.

Since their first meeting in the top flight, Forest had won four of ten encounters, while Palace are still without victory in the fixture.

Ismaila Sarr gave the hosts the lead via Daniel Muñoz and Adam Wharton’s buildup play, and Palace nearly doubled it when Marc Guéhi’s header hit the woodwork.

But Hudson-Odoi levelled three minutes before the hour mark, superbly set up by Dan Ndoye.

It finished all square in London, with both sides maintaining unbeaten starts to the campaign.

8. Grealish Inspires Everton Win on Full Debut

On his first start for Everton, Jack Grealish delivered two assists, as many as in the previous two Premier League campaigns combined, to inspire his new club’s first win of the season against Brighton.

David Moyes’ side, beaten by newly promoted Leeds on Monday, began brightly at their new Hill Dickinson Stadium as Iliman Ndiaye opened the scoring midway through the first half.

Ndiaye became the first scorer at Everton’s new home ground, flicking in Grealish’s cross at the far post. James Garner doubled the lead after the restart with a 25-yard strike, again teed up by Grealish.

Everton sealed their first back-to-back league wins over Brighton since 2020, kept their first clean sheet of the campaign, and moved up to eighth on goal difference, level on points with fifth-place Liverpool, who visit Newcastle on Monday.

9. Manchester United Fumble at Craven Cottage

Emile Smith Rowe came off the bench to score for Fulham, denying Manchester United their first win of the season after they had earlier gone ahead through a Rodrigo Muniz own goal. Bruno Fernandes missed a first-half penalty to give the visitors the lead.

After showing promise in their opening-day defeat to Arsenal, expectations were high for Rúben Amorim’s side. But they left Craven Cottage second best and fortunate to escape with a point.

With a 24.1% Premier League win rate, seven victories from 29 games, Amorim’s record now mirrors Neil Warnock’s (27 from 112), who twice suffered relegation from the top flight.

United remain winless after two matches, piling early pressure on Amorim, while Fulham have two points from two difficult fixtures ahead of their derby with Chelsea next weekend.

Liverpool and Newcastle United battle at St. James' Park on Monday night in the one remaining fixture of the gameweek.