Leeds hold City to entertaining draw, Everton maintain perfect start
LEEDS, England (Reuters) – A second-half equaliser from Rodrigo Moreno earned Leeds United a 1-1 draw with Manchester City while a James Rodriguez double helped Everton beat Brighton & Hove Albion 4-2 and maintain their 100% record at the top of the Premier League on Saturday.
Everton’s fourth win out of four keeps them top on 12 points, three points clear of Leicester City and Liverpool, who each have a game in hand, while Leeds now sit fifth in the table on seven points, with Manchester City an unaccustomed 11th.
In the day’s early kick off, Chelsea settled their stuttering start to the season to move to fourth with debutant Ben Chilwell scoring in a 4-0 win over Crystal Palace, while Newcastle United beat Burnley 3-1 at St James’ Park to go sixth.
All eyes, though were on the match of the day in the pouring Yorkshire rain at Elland Road as Rodrigo’s first goal for Leeds denied visiting Pep Guardiola victory against one of the men who inspired him to be a coach, Marcelo Bielsa.
Guardiola has always lauded Leeds’ Argentine coach, the man he took advice from before going into management at Barcelona, and the first duel in England between the two coaching maestros served up the treat everyone had hoped for.
City were dominant early on as they looked to quickly forget their shock 5-2 home defeat by Leicester City last time out, with Kevin De Bruyne’s clever free kick striking the post in the third minute.
Raheem Sterling then darted inside before firing home his first league goal of the season into the bottom corner in the 17th minute to underline City’s domination.
City had 12 shots at goal in the first half but Leeds improved dramatically after the break, with Rodrigo pouncing on a mistake from City goalkeeper Ederson to equalise in the 59th minute.
Leeds even had chances to win, with Ederson tipping a goal-bound Rodrigo header onto the bar, but City weathered the storm.
“That was good, huh?,” Guardiola said. “When both teams want to attack, it’s a good game. We made an incredible first 30 minutes when we could have scored the goals we needed.
“It’s not easy to play against them. They’ve showed how good they are.”
CLINICAL CALVERT-LEWIN
Earlier, Dominic Calvert-Lewin became the first Everton player to score in the opening four matches of a Premier League season when he headed home a Gylfi Sigurdsson cross in the 16th minute to open the scoring at Goodison.
“I think it’s about self-belief,” Calvert-Lewin told BT Sport. “I always believed that I could get here. Sometimes it’s about age and maturity. I’ve been patient, now I’m reaping my rewards.”
Neil Maupay equalised in the 41st minute only for Yerry Mina to restore the home side’s lead on the stroke of halftime, before good work from substitute Alex Iwobi presented Colombian Rodriguez with a second-half brace.
Midfielder Yves Bissouma then pulled out a dazzling late consolation strike for the visitors.
“The performance was complete and this was the reason we deserved to win,” said Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti, who appears to be fashioning yet another of his excellent teams.
Chelsea’s goals all came in the second half, with summer signing Chilwell impressing on his first league start since joining from Leicester City.
He scored from close range in the 50th minute before Kurt Zouma headed home his cross in the 66th.
Jorginho made sure of the win when he converted two penalties in the space of five minutes late in the game.
“I thought Ben Chilwell was fantastic in his contribution in all senses,” manager Frank Lampard said. “He looked like he’d played for us for a long time.”
A double from Callum Wilson helped Newcastle to their first home league win of the season while Burnley languish without a point after losing their opening three games in the top flight for the first time since 1927-28.
