Manchester City missed the chance to go top of the Premier League after Leon Bailey rescued a point for Aston Villa in a 1-1 home draw after Erling Haaland scored his 10th goal in six games.
Haaland followed up back-to-back hat-tricks against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest with a second-half goal at Villa Park (50) as he nudged home Kevin De Bruyne’s superb cross to move four goals clear at the top of the Premier League goalscoring chart.
Haaland and De Bruyne came close to adding a second as the Norwegian striker saw Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez deny him twice, while the Belgian struck the bar from a free-kick.
But the home side grabbed an equaliser in the 74th minute when Bailey thumped home a first-time finish from Jacob Ramsey’s low cross.
Villa substitute Philippe Coutinho thought he had given them a shock lead but he was ruled offside before his shot from outside the box went in off the underside of the bar, despite replays later showing he was onside.
City pushed for a winner late on with Rodri lashing wide while Martinez kept out Phil Foden’s close-range shot, but Villa held on to avoid a fourth consecutive league defeat and secure a much-needed point for boss Steven Gerrard.
Pep Guardiola’s side are now a point behind leaders Arsenal, who face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
At Stamford Bridge, a controversial Video Assistant Referee (VAR) decision came to Chelsea’s rescue as Kai Havertz scored the late winner as big-spending Chelsea fought back for a controversial 2-1 win against West Ham.
Having embarked on a £250 million ($280 million) spending spree in the summer transfer window, Chelsea are expected to deliver on their new owners’ eye-watering investment.
The early returns had been mixed as Chelsea crashed to defeats against Leeds and Southampton.
So, when Michail Antonio gave West Ham a shock 62nd-minute lead with a close-range finish, the critics were sharpening their knives at Stamford Bridge.
But Ben Chilwell equalised in the 76th minute, just three minutes after the England left-back replaced Marc Cucurella.
Chilwell headed Thiago Silva’s lofted ball past his marker, spun around and poked his shot through Lukasz Fabianski’s legs from a tight angle.
Kai Havertz cleverly finished off Chilwell’s cross to complete Chelsea’s escape in the 88th minute of a thrilling finale.
There was still more drama as Maxwell Cornet appeared to equalise in stoppage-time, only for the goal to be controversially disallowed by VAR for Jarrod Bowen’s foul on Mendy.
Thomas Tuchel’s side remains unconvincing but they are up to fifth place after their third win in six games, while West Ham boss David Moyes was livid with the officials for denying his team a point.
Unbeaten Tottenham made it four wins from six games with a 2-1 victory against Fulham in north London.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg broke the deadlock for Tottenham in the 40th minute, sweeping home from Richarlison’s pass.
Harry Kane increased Tottenham’s lead in the 74th minute from Ryan Sessegnon’s cross to become the third highest goal-scorer in the Premier League history, with 188 goals taking him past Andy Cole.
Only Alan Shearer (260) and Wayne Rooney (208) are now above Kane in the scoring chart.
Kane’s goal also moved him level with Thierry Henry’s tally of 43 in Premier League London derbies.
Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic curled home in the 82nd minute, but Tottenham held firm.
At Goodison Park, there was more VAR intrigue as Conor Coady thought he had put Everton ahead with a close-range finish from Neal Maupay’s shot in the second half.
But Coady’s goal was correctly disallowed for offside after a VAR check.
There could easily have been goals aplenty but for a man of the match display from Pickford and some fine stops from his Liverpool counterpart Alisson Becker.
“Wow, what can you do? It was a great derby, super intense, with a lot of really spectacular saves,” Klopp said.
“We hit the post three times and Pickford made so many saves. I don’t know how many derbies I’ve been in, but it’s quite a few and they’re always difficult here.”
Everton are now without a victory in their first six games this term, while Liverpool’s momentum was checked after winning their previous two matches.
