We’re through 45 minutes at the London Stadium, and West Ham United and Liverpool have treated us to a thoroughly thrilling half of soccer.
From the Reds’ opening goal — which was so clearly offside that it’s inexcusable for such a call to be missed — to the Hammers’ equalizer six minutes later, the Premier League title race is looking more and more interesting with every passing minute.
Hit the link above to stream the second half live on NBCSports.com.
Breathe. Take a walk outside. Put your arms above your head and try to drink in what you’ve actually seen today.
It is only Matchweek 2, but few Premier League days will match this.
[ VIDEO: Premier League highlights ]
Saturday’s games delivered high drama with VAR outrage, howlers, stunning goals and intense battles playing out.
Below is what we learned from a wild seven games across the league.
VAR DRAMA MARS MAN CITY, SPURS CLASH
Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur played out a gripping, enthralling 2-2 draw, but it was marred by VAR at the death. Gabriel Jesus‘ late winner for City was ruled out for a handball on Aymeric Laporte, which enraged Pep Guardiola and delighted Mauricio Pochettino. Man City dominated the game and Spurs had two shots on target and scored with both of them. City will have a bitter taste in their mouth, especially after the late VAR drama against Spurs in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal second leg last season. Pochettino said he is “in love with VAR” and Guardiola said it “needs to be fixed” as it is too subjective. The VAR debate will rumble on, as the ball clearly hit Laporte on the arm but many will have a bad taste in their mouths at the way it impacts the outcomes of games.
GUARDIOLA, AGUERO FALL OUT
Man City’s all-time leading goalscorer was not happy, at all, after being subbed out in the second half of their game against Spurs. He and Guardiola went at it, with words being said, fingers pointed and both had to be separated.
With tensions bubbling under the surface for years over Aguero’s playing style in a Pep side, this looked a lot more personal.
In the coming weeks we will find out just how damaging this public spat will be for both Guardiola and Aguero, as City may be starting to feel the pressure.
LIVERPOOL SHAKE OFF RUST
Liverpool edged by Southampton 2-1 at St Mary’s on Saturday and it was a really strange game. Saints started well and given Liverpool’s 120 minutes against Chelsea for the Super Cup final in Istanbul on Wednesday, it was expected that they’d start sluggishly. But when they kicked through the gears around half time they tore Saints apart with Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino leading the charge. Adrian’s late howler gifted Saints a way back into the game and Danny Ings should have scored his and Saints’ second to snatch an unlikely draw. Liverpool held on and after the travel week they’ve had, Jurgen Klopp was a happy man at the final whistle. Two wins from two for the Reds, and they’ve been far from their best as their stars recover from busy summer tournaments.
PUKKI READY TO STAR FOR NORWICH
Teemu Pukki has four goals in his first two games as a Premier League player. Those questioning whether or not the Finnish striker could translate his form from the Championship to the PL are now having a long hard look at themselves in the mirror. Pukki scored a hat trick in Norwich’s 3-1 win against Newcastle and the first was a stunner. After his spells with Sevilla, Schalke and Celtic, Pukki has finally arrived in the big time and his clinical finishing will be a theme of the season. Norwich have been written off by plenty of teams and the way they hammered Newcastle suggests the Canaries will be well clear of the relegation scrap.
ARSENAL, CEBALLOS CLICKING THROUGH THE GEARS
Arsenal’s attacking unit now has a deep playmaker as Dani Ceballos starred in their win over Burnley. Ceballos is the perfect replacement for Aaron Ramsey and he not only created chances but worked back defensively. He is the perfect player for Unai Emery to build his attack around. Of course, Aubameyang and Lacazette (who both scored) are stars who can finish, while Nicolas Pepe looked bright off the bench as Arsenal’s attacking options will feel their rivals with serious envy. At the back they had some issues dealing with Burnley’s direct style as David Luiz took a few unecessary risks and Bernd Leno flapped at a few crosses, but overall two wins from two is a very good start for the Gunners. Now come the real tests as they head to Liverpool and host Tottenham in their next two games. Lets see how good the Gunners really are.
Bonus: Harry Wilson and Douglas Luiz scored screamers in a 2-1 win for Bournemouth at Aston Villa. You need to see them.
Pep Guardiola is absolutely furious.
Whether you think he should be is another story.
Manchester City had its last-gasp winner taken off the board against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday at the Etihad Stadium, when VAR spotted the ball glancing off Aymeric Laporte‘s arm before Gabriel Jesus scored in stoppage time.
[ RECAP: Man City 2-2 Spurs ]
The Man City boss had not cooled down after the match, referencing Fernando Llorente’s uncalled handball in the UEFA Champions League last season.
That’s a different competition, however, and a different set of rules. Maybe that’s Pep’s point. Anyway, let’s let him rage:
“I thought we left that situation in Tottenham in the Champions League last season. But it is the same. The referee and VAR disallow it. It’s the second time – it’s tough. It’s honestly tough but it’s the way it is.
“It happened last week with Wolves and we saw for Chelsea on Wednesday – the keeper wasn’t on his line – Adrian in the penalty shoot-out. They have to fix it. The whistle inside matches now isn’t quite clear. But they believe it’s hands with Llorente in the Champions League and sometimes they don’t.
“It was incredible it wasn’t a penalty in the first half [for the foul on Rodri in the box] but VAR said it wasn’t and then at the end they did. I’m pretty sure people were happy today we just need to work harder at scoring our chances.”
He’s not really on point here, is he? As a neutral I hated the moment, but it follows the letter of the law. The Rodri point is a good one, but doesn’t negate the ball skittering off Laporte’s arm (and it looked to have touched Harry Skipp’s arm, too, but after the fact!).
Mauricio Pochettino‘s heart belongs to a set of TV monitors and a referee sat in an office in the suburbs of London.
In others words, he loves VAR.
After Spurs pegged the reigning champions back to 2-2, there was more late VAR drama between these two teams. Gabriel Jesus‘ strike was ruled out in the 92nd minute after Aymeric Laporte was adjudged to have handle the ball in the box after a VAR review.
Pochettino spoke to our partners Sky Sports in the UK after the crazy ending to the game, and simply said: “I love VAR. I’m not so happy with our performance.”
Spurs rode their luck and had three shots to Man City’s 30 and were dominated. Tottenham scored with their two shots on goal, but Man City were left ruing a number of missed chances as more VAR heartache followed.
Pochettino is off to give his nearest TV screen a few smooches as Spurs, once again, have VAR to thank for leaving the Etihad Stadium with a smile on their face.
A day after Bayern needed Robert Lewandowski heroics to rescue an Opening Day draw, more thrills were on the menu Saturday.
Werder Bremen 1-3 Fortuna Dusseldorf
Zack Steffen was under siege but only beaten once in his Bundesliga debut, as the Man City loanee from these United States helped the visitors to a massive three points on Saturday.
Steffen saw 25 attempts from the hosts, including two from American substitute Josh Sargent, as Fortuna Dusseldorf got into the win column. From Bundesliga.com/En:
“It’s a lot of new challenges for me, and I want to perform and execute my job,” said the former Columbus Crew backstop. “I’ve got a good group of guys around me, a good coaching staff to lift me up and give me confidence, and make me feel at home.”
Borussia Dortmund 5-1 Augsburg
Augsburg’s first minute goal from Florian Niederlechner had some thinking that BVB could join Bayern Munich in an opening weekend stumble, but that was simply a mirage.
Paco Alcacer scored twice, new boy Julian Brandt also scored, and Marco Reus and Jadon Sancho found the score sheet as BVB scorched the visitors at the Westfalenstadion.
Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 Paderborn
It was expected to be a cakewalk for the Champions League outfit, but Bayer had to twice overcome pesky Paderborn equalizers.
Leon Bailey and Kai Havertz had their 10th and 19th minute goals answered before Kevin Volland put it to bed in the 69th.
Elsewhere
Bayern Munich 2-2 Hertha Berlin — Friday
Freiburg 3-0 Mainz
Borussia Monchengladbach 0-0 Schalke
Wolfsburg 2-1 Koln
Eintracht Frankfurt v. Hoffenheim — 9:30 a.m. ET Sunday
Union Berlin v. RB Leipzig — Noon ET Sunday
STANDINGS
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Home | Away | PTS |
| Borussia Dortmund | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 3 |
| SC Freiburg | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 3 |
| Fortuna Düsseldorf | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 3 |
| Bayer Leverkusen | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 3 |
| VfL Wolfsburg | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 3 |
| Hertha BSC Berlin | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 1 |
| Bayern Munich | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 1 |
| FC Schalke 04 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-1-0 | 1 |
| Mönchengladbach | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-1-0 | 0-0-0 | 1 |
| 1. FC Union Berlin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
| 1899 Hoffenheim | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
| Eintracht Frankfurt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
| RB Leipzig | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
| SC Paderborn | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-1 | 0 |
| 1. FC Köln | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-1 | 0 |
| Werder Bremen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0-0-1 | 0-0-0 | 0 |
| FSV Mainz 05 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-1 | 0 |
| FC Augsburg | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | -4 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-1 | 0 |
