Week 3 of the Barclays Premier League didn't fail to entertain soccer fans across the world. Chelsea grabbed first place after Manchester City suffered a big upset in a loss to Stoke City while the three newly promoted clubs showed they can compete.
In what was Stoke City's first victory over Manchester City on the road since 1980, striker Mame Biram Diouf scored in the 58th minute to seal the 1-0 victory. It was Stoke's first win of the season and Man City's first loss, as the Sky Blues fell from first place to fourth place after the weekend. Swansea City and Aston Villa moved into second and third place following their victories.
Swansea is off to a fast start this year and is one of two teams to have three wins in the first three weeks. They took down Manchester United and Burnley before defeating West Brom 3-0 on Saturday with goals from midfielders Nathan Dyer (2', 71') and Wayne Routledge (24'). They sit only two goals behind first-place Chelsea. Aston Villa earned their second victory over Hull City on Sunday thanks to two first half goals from strikers Gabriel Agbonlahor (14') and Andreas Weimann (36'). They now have seven points in the standings and own a +2 goal differential.
But a number of teams disappointed this weekend, starting with Manchester United, who again failed to record a victory under new manager Louis van Gaal. The Red Devils completed a 0-0 draw against the newly promoted Burnley, which should have played out as a good bounce-back matchup for them. They sit in 14th place with just two points and a -1 goal differential going into their matchup against Queens Park Rangers on September 14.
Rivals Tottenham and Arsenal disappointed on Sunday as well. The Spurs were shut out 3-0 by Liverpool, who were looking to rebound after a 3-1 loss to Man City last Monday. The Reds, behind goals from Raheem Sterling (8'), Steven Gerrard (PEN 49'), and defenseman Alberto Moreno (60') earned their second victory this season in Mario Balotelli's debut. Arsenal didn't do much to help their positioning in the standings after a 1-1 draw with the newly promoted Leicester City. Alexis Sanchez scored for Arsenal in the 20th minute, but striker Jose Ulloa delivered a header two minutes later and that was all the scoring action for the afternoon. Arsenal dropped to seventh place behind Liverpool (fifth) and Tottenham (sixth).
You can check out the rest of the scores on the ESPNFC website. Week 4 of the Premier League will take place on the weekend of September 13.
