Liverpool’s Perfect Start Halted by Crystal Palace, Manchester United Fall at Brentford

Liverpool’s flawless start to the Premier League campaign came to a sudden halt on Saturday, as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace. Meanwhile, Manchester United suffered yet another setback, falling 3-1 away at Brentford.

Crystal Palace: Still Unbeaten

With the victory, Crystal Palace are now the only undefeated team in the Premier League, extending their club-record run to 18 matches unbeaten across all competitions — including three against Liverpool.

Palace manager Oliver Glasner was full of praise for his team: “These are the moments why we love football. The fans will have a great Saturday evening now. We deserved it — great performance, great game, great win.”

Liverpool, the reigning English champions, were punished for yet another disjointed display after scraping through their opening five matches with the aid of late goals.

• Key Match Events:

Nketiah’s composed strike deep into stoppage time sealed the famous victory.

• Table Impact: Palace rose to second place, just three points adrift of Liverpool.
• Upcoming: Arsenal could reclaim second and reduce the gap further if they beat Newcastle on Sunday.

United’s struggles under manager Ruben Amorim continued, with his side again failing to secure back-to-back league wins, nearly a year into his tenure.

Defensive calamities handed Brentford a 2-0 lead inside 20 minutes, with Igor Thiago capitalising on errors from Harry Maguire and goalkeeper Altay Bayindir.

United briefly rallied when Benjamin Šeško scored his first goal for the club before half-time. However, the turning point came when captain Bruno Fernandes missed a penalty — his second failure from the spot this season.

• Key Moments at Brentford Community Stadium:

Manager Ruben Amorim admitted: “We didn’t control the game. We played Brentford’s game. All the crucial moments went against us — we must do better.”

Elsewhere in the Premier League

• Manchester City 5-1 Burnley
  • City relied on two own goals from Burnley defender Maxime Esteve, alongside strikes from Matheus Nunes and a late Erling Haaland brace (taking his season tally to 15 goals in 9 matches).
  • Jadon Anthony scored Burnley’s only goal.
• Brighton 3-1 Chelsea
  • Chelsea led at half-time through Enzo Fernández, but were undone after Trevoh Chalobah’s red card (53’).
  • Brighton capitalised with goals from Danny Welbeck and Maxim De Cuyper in stoppage time.
• Tottenham 1-1 Wolves
  • Spurs needed a 94th-minute equaliser from João Palhinha to rescue a point against bottom-of-the-table Wolves.
• Nottingham Forest 0-1 Sunderland
  • Newly-promoted Sunderland climbed to fourth place, thanks to Omar Alderete’s solitary goal, leaving manager Ange Postecoglou still winless at Forest.
• Leeds United 2-2 Bournemouth
  • Drama at Elland Road as Eli Kroupi struck late to earn Bournemouth a point.