Chelsea remained atop the Premier League standings after drawing with Manchester City on Sunday, while Southampton continued its success to move into second place. Manchester United lost again and fell to 12th place.
The matchup between Chelsea and Man City was the clear cut game of the week and it didn't disappoint. It was scoreless for much of the contest, but things got interesting when Man City defender Pablo Zabaleta was given his second yellow card and ejected from the game in the 66th minute. Just five minutes later, substitute midfielder Andre Schurrle netted a goal for Chelsea in what appeared to be the game-winner. But Man City didn't hand it over to the first place squad.
City midfielder Frank Lampard came on in the 78th minute for Aleksandar Kolarov and scored in the 85th to preserve the 1-1 draw. The former Chelsea midfielder and club's all-time leading goalscorer provided a bittersweet ending for the home crowd in London. The sliding Man City club was able to grab the draw and avoid falling in the standings. They still have yet to record a win since defeating Liverpool 3-1 on August 25.
But aside from the matchup of the week, there were a couple of surprises. West Ham defeated Liverpool 3-1 thanks to goals from defender Winston Reid (2') and striker Diafra Sakho (7') at the beginning of the contest. Liverpool striker Raheem Sterling scored in the 26th minute to make it 2-1, but substitute midfielder Morgan Amalfitano scored for West Ham in the 88th minute to shut the door. West Ham moved up to eighth place with the victory and Liverpool dropped from eighth to 11th following the loss.
Southampton, who owns the second-best goal differential in the Premier League, defeated Swansea City 1-0 with Victor Wanyama's first goal (80') for the club. Swansea was playing a man down since the 39th minute after striker Wilfried Bony received his second yellow card of the game. Southampton moved into second place while Swansea dropped to fifth.
Each week Manchester United is highlighted for the wrong reasons, and their woes continued this week. After opening up a 3-1 lead over Leicester City on Sunday, the Red Devils surrendered four straight goals, including two penalty kicks, to lose their second match of the season. Striker Robin van Persie and midfielder Angel Di Maria scored for Man U early on, but Leicester striker Leonardo Ulloa kept it close with a goal in the 17th minute. Man U midfielder Ander Herrera added another in the 57th to make it 3-1 and seemingly out of reach, but five minutes later defender Rafael committed a foul in the box that led to a David Nugent penalty goal. That opened the flood gates for Leicester, who saw goals from Esteban Cambiasso (64'), Jamie Vardy (79') and another from Ulloa (PEN 83'). The Red Devils fell 5-3 and dropped three spots in the standings to 12th place.
As for the other matches, QPR and Stoke ended with a 2-2 draw, as did Newcastle and Hull; Arsenal defeated Aston Villa 3-0; Burnley and Sunderland ended in a scoreless draw; West Brom took down Tottenham 1-0; Crystal Palace beat Everton 3-2.
Take a look at the official Premier League standings here.
