Sports

City, Arsenal roll on; Manchester United implode

Sports Desk, Aug 13 (EFE).- Manchester City and Arsenal each put up four goals Saturday to stay perfect two weeks into the Premier League season, while troubled Manchester United shipped four goals and find themselves at the bottom of the table.

Yet to concede a goal, the defending champions won comfortably over promoted Bournemouth and Arsenal were more dominant against Leicester City than the 4-2 score line would indicate.

After starting the campaign with a loss at Old Trafford to Brighton & Hove Albion, a United side under pressure to show improvement endured a 4-0 thrashing by modest Brentford.

City had 68 percent possession and outshot the Cherries 19-3 at the Etihad, where the first half ended with the hosts up 3-0 on goals by Ilkay Gündogan, Kevin de Bruyne and Phil Foden.

The fourth goal came with 11 minutes left as a Joao Cancelo strike deflected off Bournemouth defender Jefferson Lerma into the net.

New arrival Erling Haaland, who made his official City debut last week with a brace, picked up an assist on Gündogan’s goal.

In London, former City man Gabriel Jesus scored twice to put Arsenal ahead 2-0 at the break and assisted on both of the goals in the second half.

The Foxes narrowed the deficit in the 53rd minute courtesy of an own goal by the Gunners’ William Saliba, but Granit Xhaka made it 3-1 two minutes later.

James Maddison pulled back a goal for the visitors in the 74th minute only to see Gabriel Martinelli restore Arsenal’s two-goal lead for good in the 75th.

The day’s final contest was also in London and featured Brentford, playing only their second season in the Premier League, against Man United, the team that virtually ruled the league for the first two decades of its existence.

A reaction was expected from United after the disappointment on opening day, but all of the intensity came from Brentford, who led 3-0 after 30 minutes on goals by Josh Dasilva, Mathias Jensen and Ben Mee.

While United keeper David de Gea was at fault in the first goal and the second was the result of a giveaway at the back, Brentford’s quality was evident in Mee’s effort and in the strike by Bryan Mbuemo to make it 4-0 in the 37th minute.

It was the Bees’s first victory over Manchester United since an FA Cup tie in 1938. EFE rmm-id/dr

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