Manchester City showed the nerves of Champion as they came from two goals down to salvage a 3-3 draw in an action-packed game at Newcastle.
City had won 27 of their previous 28 games when they scored first but, after Ilkay Gundogan’s early opener, they fell 3-1 a St James’ Park.
Allan Saint-Maximin had a hand in all three of Newcastle’s goals as City found it impossible to deal with the winger’s pace and power, first crossing for Miguel Almiron to level with a diving header which was initially ruled out for offside before a VAR intervention.
After a surging run, forward Saint-Maximin found Callum Wilson for the second, with the striker beating Ruben Dias before firing past Ederson. Kieran Trippier then curled in a third with a stunning free-kick after Saint-Maximin had been fouled by John Stones.
But City, unbeaten in the Premier League since February, would not go down without a fight and were given a lifeline when Erling Haaland rifled home from a corner, before Bernardo Silva finished off a piece of genius playmaking from Kevin De Bruyne to level things up again.
The drama was not limited to the goalmouths with Trippier shown a red card by referee Jarred Gillett for a high challenge on De Bruyne, but VAR stepped in again and the decision was downgraded to a booking, and neither side could then find another breakthrough late on as a pulsating match at St James’ Park ended level.
Meanwhile, Chelsea suffered their first Premier League defeat this season as Edouard Mendy’s embarrassing blunder put Leeds on course for a 3-0 win.
Mendy’s costly mistake was the catalyst for Chelsea’s shocking implosion at Elland Road as Brenden Aaronson netted after catching the goalkeeper taking too long in possession.
Rodrigo’s fourth goal in three games this season doubled Leeds’ advantage before half-time.
Jack Harrison completed Leeds’ first win over Chelsea since 2002 and their biggest against their old rivals since 1995.
Adding to Chelsea’s misery, their Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly was sent off for a second booking after tripping Joe Gelhardt in the 84th minute.
Unbeaten after three games, Leeds sit second in the table as boss Jesse Marsch builds on the momentum established during the club’s successful fight to avoid relegation last season.
In contrast, Chelsea found themselves in the unusual position of sitting below their less glamorous west London neighbours Fulham and Brentford in the table.
Thomas Tuchel’s side have taken four points from their first three games and the German will be concerned at the way his expensively rebuilt team faded after Mendy’s howler.
Marsch had cheekily suggested Tuchel’s one-match touchline ban for his clashes with Tottenham manager Antonio Conte last weekend should have been imposed in time for Chelsea’s trip to Yorkshire.
Tuchel might have wished he could be anywhere but Elland Road as Chelsea collapsed.
Raheem Sterling should have given Chelsea the lead inside the first 60 seconds, but the forward’s penetrating run ended with a shot that curled wide from 12 yards.
Sterling did find the back of the net after 15 minutes, only for an offside flag to correctly rule out what would have been the former Manchester City star’s first goal for Chelsea.
Mason Mount’s low strike forced a save from Illan Meslier as Chelsea looked set to dominate.
But Mendy gifted Leeds the opening goal in the 33rd minute when the Chelsea keeper took too long to clear Thiago Silva’s back pass before attempting a suicidal turn that allowed Aaronson to steal the ball and tap into the empty net.
