Premier League leaders Arsenal held on to win at Leeds in a dramatic finish after the match had been delayed by about 40 minutes because of a power outage.
There was drama in stoppage time when referee Chris Kavanagh sent off Arsenal’s Gabriel for kicking out at Leeds striker Patrick Bamford and awarded the hosts a penalty, but both decisions were overturned after Kavanagh reviewed the incident on the pitchside monitor.
Earlier, he halted the match after 23 seconds of play because of a power cut at Elland Road, which meant Kavanagh lost communication with the video assistant referee (VAR) officials, while goal line technology was down too.
Once they got going again, the impressive Bukayo Saka scored the winning goal in the first half by punishing Rodrigo’s loose pass, exchanging passes with Martin Odegaard before smashing in high at the near post.
Bamford was sent on at the start of the second half and the Englishman almost made an immediate impact but his close-range strike was ruled out for a push on Gabriel.
Before the stoppage-time controversy, Leeds were awarded a penalty when William Saliba was adjudged to have handled the ball, but Bamford dragged his effort wide.
Leeds piled on the pressure and Luis Sinisterra’s goal-bound shot was blocked by Gabriel, while Brenden Aaronson’s arrowed strike from long range was pushed away by Aaron Ramsdale.
Mikel Arteta’s side are now four points clear after making a highly impressive start to the campaign which has seen them collect nine victories from 10 Premier League games.
Newcastle frustrate Man United at Old Trafford
Marcus Rashford sent an injury-time header wide as Manchester United were held by Newcastle United and slipped three points off a top-four place.
With virtually the last touch of a disappointing game, Casemiro floated a cross to the far post. Substitute Rashford climbed highest but his effort went wide of the far post.
A goal at that point would have been harsh on Newcastle, who came close to securing only their second victory at Old Trafford since 1972 but after Joelinton’s first-half header had hit the bar, the Brazilian failed to head the rebound into an empty net.
The hosts’ frustrations were summed up by Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese striker, who had two second-half efforts disallowed, shook his head in irritation when he was replaced by Rashford 18 minutes from time.
He carried on chuntering to himself and shaking his head until he reached the dug-out, when he slumped down in simmering discontent.
Sir Alex Ferguson presented David de Gea and Ronaldo with personal awards before kick-off. Before that, he greeted Erik ten Hag warmly.
The Scot did not experience defeat in this particular fixture throughout his 27-year reign as Manchester United manager.
Salah scores to inflict defeat on City
Liverpool put their recent Premier League struggles behind them to end Manchester City’s unbeaten run in an enthralling and hot-tempered encounter at Anfield, which saw Jurgen Klopp sent off.
City, fuelled by the goals of Erling Haaland, were in prime condition but Liverpool finally found the form which has deserted them for much of the season to overcome the reigning champions.
Haaland, for once, was not on the scoresheet and it was Liverpool’s talisman Mohamed Salah who made the vital contribution, racing on to a clearance from keeper Alisson after Joao Cancelo’s slip to beat Ederson with a composed finish with 14 minutes left.
Ederson had produced a brilliant save to deny Salah in a similar one-on-one situation while City manager Pep Guardiola was furious that a Phil Foden goal that would have put his side ahead was ruled out by the video assistant referee for Haaland’s foul on Fabinho.
This was not to be Haaland’s day, although he did bring two saves from Alisson, but Anfield was left exultant as Liverpool at last showed why they have consistently been City’s biggest threat.
In a frantic finale, tempers boiled over and Klopp was sent off by referee Anthony Taylor for his protests after he felt Salah was fouled – but when temperatures cool, he will be overjoyed by a statement win.
Clinical Madrid humble Barca
Clinical Real Madrid beat Barcelona in the 250th El Clasico to go top of La Liga and inflict their rivals’ first league defeat of the season.
Karim Benzema scored Real’s opener after Vinicius Jr’s shot had been saved into his path by Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Federico Valverde doubled the champions’ lead before half-time with a lovely 20-yard drive.
Ferran Torres pulled one back from Robert Lewandowski’s flick-on but Rodrygo settled it with a penalty.
The rivals started the day with seven wins and a draw from their opening eight games – but Real go three points clear now as they remain unbeaten.
This was a first away La Liga defeat in almost a year in charge of Barcelona for Xavi.
Barcelona looked as if they were on their way back to the top of Spanish football towards the end of last season when they beat Real 4-0 at the Bernabeu.
They gambled in the summer by spending a lot of their future earnings on signings. The club hoped it would lead to instant success, which would in turn lead to more earnings.
But they face early elimination from the Champions League – and showed again how they are still behind their old rivals.
This is only their first defeat of the season – and they are still within three points of top spot in La Liga. But this is El Clasico – a game managers dare not lose.
Something for Xavi to think about is how they looked better after bringing on youngsters in Ferran Torres, Gavi and Ansu Fati.
Barca appeared down and out at 2-0 before those introductions. Fati’s cross was flicked into the path of Torres, who scored his second Clasico goal at the Bernabeu of the year.
Fati then hit an acrobatic volley which went just wide during their brief hope of grabbing a point – before Rodrygo settled the game.
