Matchday 2 of the 2020/21 Premier League campaign has wrapped up and it has offered us more food for thought. Chelsea and Liverpool locked horns in what was the standout game of this round, with the Reds emerging triumphant via a 2-0 score line, a result which has brought the Blues back down to reality after their extravagant spending spree.
Man City and Man Utd began their campaigns this round, taking on Wolves and Crystal Palace respectively. While neither side put in a dazzling display, they reserved opposing results, with Guardiola's men winning their tie 3-1 while Ole's side lost theirs by that same score line.
Elsewhere, Tottenham, Arsenal, and Leicester all enjoyed positive results. Here are the best stats from Matchday 2 of the 2020/21 Premier League campaign.
Man Utd 1-3 Crystal Palace – Red Devils suffer embarrassment in opening game
Man United kicked off their Premier League season with a home clash vs Crystal Palace. Despite their strong finish to the 2019/20 campaign, Solskjaer's men began this term in embarrassing fashion, losing 3-1 at home to the Eagles. It was the first time in 6 years that they began an English top-flight season with a defeat and was also only the third time in 29 years this occurred. Not the greatest of starts for Ole.
Man Utd have lost their opening home league game for the first time in 6 years and for only the third time in 29 seasons since the PL started pic.twitter.com/3TnNVoc3sL
— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) September 19, 2020
Arsenal 2-1 West Ham – Lacazette reaches lovely milestone in hard-fought win
The Gunners made it two wins out of two but their 2-1 triumph over West Ham wasn't pretty. The north London giants found their backs against the ropes for huge portions of the game but came away with all three points thanks to moments of magic and clinicalness – something the Hammers lacked. Alexandre Lacazette broke the deadlock in what was his 50th goal for Arsenal. Nketiah scored the late winner.
Southampton 2-5 Tottenham – Kane enters the record books with performance vs Saints
Spurs did away with their disappointing 1-0 loss at home to Everton on Matchday 1 by dispatching Southampton 5-2 in the second round. Son stole the headlines for his super hat-trick but it was Harry Kane who entered the history books. First of all, the striker assisted four goals, becoming the first English player in history to set up as many strikes in the Premier League. Additionally, all four of his assists were for Son, making it the first time one player has set up another for a super hat-trick.
4 - Harry Kane has assisted all four of Son Heung-Min's goals against Southampton today - the first time in @premierleague history one player has assisted another four times in a single match. Fabulous. pic.twitter.com/EloGFWjEyE
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 20, 2020
Chelsea 0-2 Liverpool – Mane sets impressive feat with two-goal haul
The Chelsea hype train hit a screeching halt, or shall we say setback, in their clash with Liverpool, which they lost 2-0. It should be noted that the Blues were reduced to 10 men after Christensen's sending off, which put Lampard's men at a huge disadvantage. Regardless, the Reds put in a good display, with Sadio Mane scoring a brace. His two-goal haul took his overall tally for Liverpool in the Premier League to 65. He is now level with Fernando Torres and is the joint-sixth highest EPL goalscorer for the Merseyside giants.
Is Sadio Mané a better player for Liverpool than Fernando Torres was? pic.twitter.com/sTO8HTvLpW
— 90min (@90min_Football) September 21, 2020
Leicester 4-2 Burnley – Rodgers joins centurion club
100 - Brendan Rodgers recorded his 100th Premier League victory, becoming the 23rd manager to reach 100 wins in the competition. Rodgers is the fourth-quickest British manager to reach the milestone (210 games), after Ferguson (162 games), Dalglish (197) and Keegan (209). CV. pic.twitter.com/vhHdLYxq5x
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 20, 2020
Wolves 1-3 Man City – The Citizens make EPL history with opening game win
A lot of pressure is on the Citizens this season after collapsing both domestically and in Europe in 2019/20. Their first game was a trip to Wolves and while defensive issues were clear to the naked eye, Guardiola's men came away with a crucial 3-1 win nonetheless. As a result, De Bruyne and Co. made Premier League history, becoming the first club to win 10 consecutive opening games to the Premier League season.
We're the first team to win consecutive season openers in the @premierleague!
— Manchester City (@ManCity) September 22, 2020
#ManCity | https://t.co/axa0klD5re pic.twitter.com/0RPYJXQs4c