An exquisite lob from Diafra Sakho earned West Ham just a second Premier League win of the season as Liverpool were outplayed in a 3-1 result at Upton Park.
West Ham were 2-0 up after seven minutes as Winston Reid headed in before Diafra Sakho exposed the Reds’ defensive inadequacies once more with a stunning chip.
Mario Balotelli and Adrian were booked following an altercation after the Liverpool striker’s late tackle on the West Ham goalkeeper, who reacted angrily.
Blotelli showed his better side when bringing down the cross which led to Raheem Sterling pulling a goal back for the visitors, but West Ham were by far superior throughout.
Lverpool improved in the second half but, in pressing for an equaliser, were vulnerable at the back and Morgan Amalfitano struck a late third.
Alexandre Song, on his first start following his loan move from Barcelona, Cheikhou Kouyate, striker Enner Valencia and goalscorer Diafra Sakho were influential for Sam Allardyce’s men, who inflicted Liverpool’s second away loss this calendar year.
ASTON VILLA 0 ARSENAL 3
Danny Welbeck opened his Arsenal account as the visitors blew Aston Villa away with an astonishing triple blast at Villa Park in the English Premier League.
A brilliant first-half spell from the visitors saw Mesut Ozil open the scoring and Aly Cissokho net an own goal either side of Welbeck’s strike.
The goals came in three minutes and 15 seconds to end Villa’s promising early threat.
The hosts would have gone top of the league with a win but despite a bright start they were carved apart as they slipped to their first defeat of the season.
Ron Vlaar failed to shrug off a calf injury which kept him out of the Anfield victory, with Jores Okore included on the bench.
Arsenal made three changes from their 2-0 Uefa Champions League defeat to Borussia Dortmund as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Santi Cazorla and Calum Chambers came in.
Out went Jack Wilshere, Hector Bellerin and Alexis Sanchez – despite the Chilean initially being named on the team sheet.
And Villa took advantage of Arsenal’s overall indecisiveness as they made a strong start. Fabian Delph forced Wojciech Szczesny into a low save after just two minutes following the goalkeeper’s poor clearance.
Welbeck fired over in response but Arsenal were given little time to settle by a vibrant Villa side.
Alan Hutton nodded over on 17 minutes as Villa continued to carve out the best chances - and they should have taken the lead five minutes later.
Chambers was booked for bringing down Gabby Agbonlahor and Clark met Tom Cleverley’s delivery at the far post, only to be denied by a point-blank save from Szczesny.
But the Gunners stunned Villa with three quickfire goals to win the game.
QPR 2 STOKE CITY 2
QPR manager Harry Redknapp felt Niko Kranjcar more than earned his money with a superb late free-kick which secured a 2-2 draw against Stoke at Loftus Road.
Stoke, managed by former Rangers coach Mark Hughes, had taken the lead in the first half through Mame Biram Diouf, only for Peter Crouch to stab a header from Steven Caulker into his own net just before the break.
Crouch, who played at QPR as a youngster, looked to have secured victory when he swept home from close range on 51 minutes.
But with two minutes left, Croatian Kranjcar, signed on loan from Dynamo Kiev, swept in a fine 20-yard free-kick having been upended by Stoke substitute Steve Sidwell.
Kranjcar, 30, helped QPR win promotion back to the Barclays Premier League last season before agreeing another loan spell for 2014-15.
NEWCASTLE UNITED 2 HULL CITY 2
Papiss Cisse returned from injury in the nick of time to hand Newcastle manager Alan Pardew a lifeline with a double which denied Hull victory.
The Senegal international was introduced as a 69th-minute substitute on his return from a knee injury with Newcastle trailing 2-0 to superb strikes from Nikica Jelavic and Mohamed Diame, and with Pardew firmly in the firing line.
Within five minutes, he had dragged them back into the game with his first goal since March, and he struck again with just three minutes remaining to claim a 2-2 draw which nevertheless leaves Pardew still waiting for a first win of the season.
Cisse belatedly gave Newcastle the cutting edge they had been missing before his introduction in a game they dominated for long periods, but failed to take by the scruff of the neck, and his intervention could hardly have been more timely, with the locals among a crowd of 49,199 turning after muted protests earlier in the game.
BURNLEY 0 SUNDERLAND 0
Ashley Barnes came within a whisker of claiming Burnley’s first victory of the season against Sunderland, only to see a late effort deflected against the crossbar.
The substitute saw his shot balloon off the boot of Lee Cattermole in the 87th minute, leaving Vito Mannone beaten, but the ball rattled back off the woodwork to leave the game goalless and both sides winless in the league.
The game ended with the hosts camped in the Sunderland box during five minutes of injury time but, late drama aside, it was a forgettable outing at Turf Moor.
SWANSEA 0 SOUTHAMPTON 1
Victor Wanyama’s first Southampton goal finally ended the resistance of 10-man Swansea at the Liberty Stadium.
Wanyama struck with an excellent angled finish just as Swansea - who had Wilfried Bony sent off six minutes before half-time for two bookable offences - looked like withstanding intense second-half pressure.
Bony saw red for the first time in English football after felling Saints defender Maya Yoshida with a needless tackle from behind on the halfway line.
The Ivorian had already been booked for catching Jose Fonte in mid-air after 20 minutes, and, while that decision might have been slightly harsh with the striker’s focus firmly on the ball, there was no disputing the second caution.
Swansea had dominated proceedings until Bony’s dismissal, but the red card proved the game’s turning point as Southampton took total command in the second period.
They had to wait until the 80th minute for their winner, though, when Graziano Pelle fed Wanyama and his unerring finish gave Southampton their third consecutive victory and moved them above Swansea in the table.
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