Arsenal’s Max Dowman celebrates scoring their third goal with Martin Zubimendi and Noni Madueke.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Bruno Guimaraes sent Arsenal three points clear at the top of the Premier League with a moment of brilliance that was doubly painful for Sunderland.

Not only did the Brazil midfielder set up a 2-0 win for defending champion Arsenal at the Stadium of Light on Saturday (September 12, 2026). But as a former Newcastle player, he made the most of his moment, sending a message to the home supporters who booed him by cupping his ears as he ran towards the corner in celebration.

Guimaraes joined Arsenal from Sunderland’s fierce North-East rival, Newcastle, in the summer, so will have been well aware of the significance of his goal. Coming on as a halftime substitute, he curled a long-range shot into the top corner in the 58th minute.

Guimaraes’ goal came two minutes after Arsenal’s David Raya saved a penalty from Sunderland’s Enzo Le Fee.

Bukayo Saka sealed the win with a penalty in the seventh minute of added time after Reinildo Mandava was sent off for bringing down the Arsenal forward in the box.

Manchester City is three points behind Arsenal in second place and plays Manchester United on Sunday (September 13).

Liverpool and Chelsea dropped more points after being held to surprise draws at home.

Liverpool’s big-money forwards Alexander Isak and Bradley Barcola couldn’t find a way past winless Fulham in a goalless contest at Anfield.

Chelsea’s fragile defense was exposed again by newly promoted Hull in a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Aston Villa’s nightmare start to the season continued with a 2-1 loss at home to Nottingham Forest.

Substitute Zian Flemming scored a 90th-minute winner as Ipswich beat Crystal Palace 3-2, while Bournemouth and Brentford drew 2-2.

Tottenham is still without a goal after a 0-0 draw with Everton.

Arteta anger

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was furious about a penalty given against his team when Ezri Konsa was adjudged to have pulled down Dan Ballard in the box.

Referees are clamping down on such incidents from set-pieces but Arteta insisted the decision was wrong.

“It’s a huge win, but it could have been something very different,” he said. “It’s unacceptable at this level. Unacceptable. This changes the course of the season, the championship, and it’s not acceptable. I’ve seen it 10 times to make sure because I watched it live and I said it’s not possible at this level that there’s going to be a penalty.” The Premier League confirmed the penalty was given for holding.

“I’ve been in football for almost 27 years, 28 years. It’s not a penalty in any case, in any game, in any context, in any league,” Arteta said.

Frustration for Liverpool

Liverpool has spent more than half a billion dollars rebuilding its attack over the past two seasons, but was nullified by a Fulham team that had not kept a clean sheet and was pointless going into the game.

In front of a frustrated Anfield crowd, Andoni Iraola’s expensively assembled team was held to a draw for the third time this season, halting the momentum of back-to-back wins, including a midweek victory against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.

British record signing Isak ($170 million) came up short, while Barcola — signed from Paris Saint-Germain for $166 million — failed to produce anything in his first start in the league. It was the same story for Florian Wirtz ($156 million) and the relatively inexpensive Victor Munoz ($46 million).

Iraola is still finding his feet in his first season at Liverpool after previously impressing at Bournemouth. But it has been an unconvincing start that has left his team with ground to make up even this early in the campaign.

Problems mount for Chelsea

Chelsea’s defensive problems are becoming increasingly costly.

Xabi Alonso’s team has conceded at least two goals in each of its league games and 12 goals in six games in all competitions. Its only clean sheet came against third-division Luton in the English League Cup.

It took a goal from Joao Pedro in the 66th to salvage a draw after Mohamed Belloumi’s double saw Hull rally from 1-0 down to lead 2-1.

Morgan Rogers put Chelsea ahead in the seventh minute.

Another blank for Spurs

Tottenham remained goalless and winless in the Premier League on Saturday (September 12) despite a summer of heavy spending, including the arrival of Manchester City forwards Omar Marmoush and Savio.

A 0-0 draw at home to Everton made it more than six hours without a goal for Spurs after spending more than $400 million in the market to overhaul a squad that has flirted with relegation in back-to-back seasons.

A dour match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was short on clearcut chances with neither team looking likely to find a winner.

The point moved Everton level with Merseyside rival Liverpool on six.

Jesus sinks Villa

Villa’s Champions League win midweek proved not to be a turning point in what has been a desperate start for Unai Emery’s much-changed team.

The loss of a slew of star players is taking its toll on a team that won the Europa League last season and finished fourth in the Premier League.

Alysson Edward gave Villa fans hope of a point at home after Liam Delap put Midlands rival Forest ahead just after halftime. But Igor Jesus found a winner in the 88th.

Ipswich picked up its second win on its return to the top flight against 10-man Palace. Flemming’s 90th-minute winner at Selhurst Park settled a game that swung one way and another. The red card was to Axel Disasi.

Published – September 13, 2026 11:09 am IST

The 10 years Pep Guardiola spent at Manchester City represent one of the greatest acts of dynasty-building in the sporting universe.

Not only did the Catalan coach City to six Premier League titles, five League Cups, three FA Cups, one UEFA Champions League crown and one at the FIFA Club World Cup, he did so by assembling multiple great sides, revolutionising tactics, and constantly reinventing himself.

Dominant reign

Guardiola’s six Premier League trophies are second only to Alex Ferguson’s 13 at Manchester United, and even in the four years when City did not win the top prize, it stayed in the top three. No other coach won more than one Premier League title during Guardiola’s time in England.

When such a king abdicates the throne and leaves his kingdom, as Guardiola did at the end of the 2025-26 campaign, there is bound to be an almighty jostle among those below to be the immediate heir. The 2026-27 Premier League season, which got underway late on Friday (August 21), will be the battleground to decide whom the power is transferred to.

The setting is conducive for an intriguing competition. City without Guardiola will be one of nine clubs to have new coaches, and two others in Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur did not have Michael Carrick and Roberto De Zerbi in place at the start of the year.

Mikel Arteta, who secured Arsenal its first English top-flight crown in 22 years, is the most experienced, having been in the job for a little over six years and seven months. Unai Emery, who masterminded Aston Villa’s 2025-26 Europa League triumph, is next, with a stint now at roughly three years and 10 months.

Though Guardiola has exited the scene, his giant shadow still looms. Enzo Maresca, who has replaced the 55-year-old at the Etihad, and Arteta have served as his assistants. Xabi Alonso, installed as Chelsea’s new manager, was once Guardiola’s midfield marshal at Bayern Munich.

The post-Pep Premier League era will not have a clean break in terms of tactics too, for Guardiola has left a deep imprint, both in terms of the first principles he introduced, and how he evolved and shed his orthodoxies to cater to the League’s fast-changing demands.

When he first arrived, Guardiola was a cleric of the possession-heavy school and was canonical in his belief that retaining the ball was the best route to success. So much so that even goalkeepers weren’t spared; one of his first decisions at City was to replace Joe Hart, a top-class shot-stopper, with Claudio Bravo, a ball-playing goalie.

And it felt like the league as a whole — with the glorious exception of Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United — was trying to inculcate parts of it.

Guardiola then changed tack to embrace high-energy players and those with great individual skills in order to adjust to the breathless, end-to-end football that the likes of Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool) and Mauricio Pochettino (Tottenham) introduced. The controlled aggression of the earlier years made way for a more expressive and expansive style.

Philosophical blasphemy

And in his last four seasons in charge, he played with one of world football’s purest strikers in Erling Haaland. For a man who once made Lionel Messi turn out as a False 9, and then won two Premier League trophies in 2020-21 and 2021-22 with midfielders as top-scorers (Ilkay Gundogan with 13 goals and Kevin de Bruyne 15), to have Haaland score 112 times over four campaigns would have been akin to philosophical blasphemy.

However, football is now more direct and physical than in recent times and it is to Guardiola’s credit that he tweaked his methods and put in place a blueprint for success. “You need to adapt, evolve,” City’s Maresca said recently. “Set-pieces, man to man — it’s a little bit the direction where football is going. We managers… it’s our duty to find solutions.”

Who among Arteta, Carrick, Alonso, Andoni Iraola and Maresca will answer the call? For one, the sight of Arteta, Carrick and Alonso walking briskly up and down the touchline is sure to remind fans of their glory days as players for Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool not so long ago. For a certain generation, it will appear like they are reliving a childhood dream.

Arteta has the first-mover advantage, having already won the League and possessing a winning combination. The addition of Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle for GBP 75 million will reduce the inordinate burden on midfielder Declan Rice. But Arsenal’s unsuccessful pursuit of Vinicius Junior suggests that the outfit is mindful of the need of a world-class threat upfront.

Carrick, who took over at Old Trafford after the sacking of Ruben Amorim, had an impressive stint as caretaker manager, winning 12 and drawing three of his 17 matches in 2025-26, and helping United qualify for the Champions League after a two-season hiatus. The question before the astute 45-year-old is whether his United has the quality to sustain simultaneous domestic and continental challenges.

For Alonso, Chelsea is the opportunity to light up an aura that has seemingly dimmed after a failed seven-month stint as Real Madrid’s boss. The 44-year-old is known to possess a shrewd tactical brain, and his role in ending Bayern Munich’s hegemony in Germany — 11 straight Bundesliga titles from 2012-13 to 2022-23 — by leading a young Bayer Leverkusen side to its maiden crown is noteworthy. The addition of 24-year-old English attacking midfielder Morgan Rogers for a whopping GBP 117 million shows that he has Chelsea’s wholehearted trust.

Andoni Iraola’s ascent to the top job at Liverpool after making a mark at Bournemouth is eerily similar to Graham Potter’s entry into Chelsea in 2022 after a stellar show at Brighton & Hove Albion. But Potter was dismissed in less than seven months, a fate Iraola will want to avoid.

The 44-year-old is agnostic to any style of play that is not front-footed, a factor that endeared him to the Liverpool hierarchy after a dreary end to Arne Slot’s time. Can he manage to keep the club faithful happy without the services of Mohamed Salah, who left after nine glorious years?

Tough act to follow

Maresca’s situation at City is comparable to what David Moyes faced at United after the latter succeeded Ferguson in 2013. The Italian’s first test will be to not get crushed under the burden of expectations after Guardiola’s supremely successful tenure. It helps that City is not known to be trigger-happy, for both Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini enjoyed tenures lasting three years or more before Guardiola arrived.

Maresca also comes with a certain pedigree, having led Chelsea to FIFA Club World Cup glory in 2025, and has added England midfielder Elliot Anderson for a hefty GBP 116 million fee. But he will have to compete without the talismanic World Cup winner Rodri, who has shifted to Barcelona, and fellow playmaker Bernardo Silva, who has moved to Real Madrid.

Will he be guided by the spirit of Guardiola or will the ghost of Guardiola haunt him?

Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Manchester City’s players react after the Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Everton in Liverpool, on May 4, 2026
| Photo Credit: AP

Atletico Madrid’s Johnny Cardoso and Ademola Lookman during training.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Arsenal’s manager Mikel Arteta. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Arsenal ignored their injury woes to close the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool as Mikel Merino inspired a 2-0 win against Leicester, while Omar Marmoush’s hat-trick fired Manchester City’s 4-0 rout of top four rivals Newcastle on Saturday. Mikel Arteta‘s side were in danger of wasting a chance to put pressure on Liverpool in the title race as they laboured to make the breakthrough at the King Power Stadium. With his attacking options limited by a host of injuries, Arteta sent on Spain midfielder Merino to act as a makeshift striker in the closing stages.

It proved an inspired move as Merino netted twice in the last nine minutes to extend Arsenal’s unbeaten run in the league to 15 games.

In the 81st minute, Ethan Nwaneri swung a pin-point cross into the Leicester area and Merino found space to thump his header past Mads Hermansen from six yards.

Seven minutes later, Leandro Trossard whipped a cross into the six-yard box and Merino’s well-timed run eluded the Leicester defence as he slotted home to move second-placed Arsenal within four points of Liverpool.

With Kai Havertz ruled out for the season after suffering a hamstring injury blocking a shot during Arsenal’s recent training trip to Dubai, Arteta was left with a threadbare attack.

Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli were already sidelined by injuries.

Having lost 2-0 at Newcastle in the League Cup semi-final second leg before an extended break due to their early FA Cup exit, the Gunners returned to action with a vital victory.

Liverpool can increase the lead back to seven points if they beat lowly Wolves at Anfield on Sunday.

At the Etihad Stadium, Egypt forward Marmoush scored his first City goals since arriving from Eintracht Frankfurt during the January transfer window.

Marmoush ended a run of four games without a goal in the 19th minute as he sprinted onto Ederson‘s long kick and deftly lobbed Newcastle keeper Martin Dubravka.

Just five minutes later, Marmoush found the back of the net again with a powerful blast that took a deflection off Kieran Trippier as it whistled past Dubravka.

City sparkle

The 26-year-old wasn’t done, and he completed his 14-minute hat-trick in the 33rd minute.

Savinho’s pass found Marmoush in the Newcastle area and he was granted time and space to slot home for the first treble of his career.

James McAtee’s 84th minute volley capped a much-needed boost for City after Tuesday’s 3-2 defeat against Real Madrid in the Champions League play-off round first leg.

But there was a scare for City when Norway striker Erling Haaland was forced off with a potential knee injury in the closing stages.

Now fourth in the Premier League, Pep Guardiola’s men head to Madrid on Wednesday needing a second-leg revival to avoid European elimination.

Seventh-placed Newcastle are three points adrift of the top four in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Third-placed Nottingham Forest slumped to a 2-1 defeat Fulham.

Emile Smith Rowe netted in the 15th minute for Fulham and although Chris Wood equalised in the 37th minute, Calvin Bassey’s header sealed the points in the 62nd minute.

Bournemouth are up to fifth as their unlikely bid to qualify for the Champions League gathered pace with a 3-1 win at bottom of the table Southampton.

Dango Ouattara headed home in the 14th minute before Ryan Christie’s fierce finish two minutes later.

Kamaldeen Sulemana got one back in the 72nd minute, but Marcus Tavernier sealed the points in the 83rd minute.

Ten-man Ipswich held on for a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa.

Ipswich defender Axel Tuanzebe was sent off just before half-time after earning a second yellow card for a foul on Jacob Ramsey.

Liam Delap put Ipswich ahead from Omari Hutchinson’s 56th minute cross, but Ollie Watkins tapped in the equaliser after Marcus Rashford‘s free-kick hit the bar in the 69th minute.

Kevin Schade’s fourth-minute goal clinched Brentford’s 1-0 win at West Ham.

Arsenal kept alive their Premier League title challenge with a 5-1 demolition of dismal Manchester City on Sunday as the troubled champions endured another humiliation in their season from hell. Mikel Arteta‘s side had no margin for error in the title race after leaders Liverpool won 2-0 at Bournemouth on Saturday to move nine points clear of the Gunners. They rose to the occasion with a blistering performance inspired by Martin Odegaard‘s opener after 103 seconds at the Emirates Stadium. Erling Haaland hauled City level soon after half-time with his 25th goal in all competitions this season.

But the careless mistakes that have hampered City throughout a dismal campaign proved decisive when Thomas Partey capitalised on Phil Foden‘s poor pass to restore Arsenal’s lead.

Myles Lewis-Skelly’s first Arsenal goal and late strikes from Kai Havertz and Ethan Nwaneri put the seal on a masterful display as the Gunners closed within six points of Liverpool.

Liverpool’s game in hand keeps them firmly in control of the title race, but Arsenal’s vibrant performance extended their unbeaten run to 14 games and underlined their desire to push the Reds to the finish line.

City have now failed to win any of their last four league meetings with Arsenal as their six-game undefeated run in the top-flight came to a brutal end.

With a fifth successive title long erased from City’s ambitions after their wretched season, Pep Guardiola’s fourth placed side are focused on qualifying for the Champions League.

But even that could be beyond them — let alone getting past Real Madrid in this season’s play-off round — unless Guardiola can fix the gaping holes in his defence and the lack of energy in midfield.

Guardiola had opted to bring in John Stones for former Lens defender Abdukodir Khusanov, who endured an error-strewn debut against Chelsea last weekend.

But Stones was involved in the calamitous defending that gifted Arsenal the lead in the second minute.

It was Stones’ pass to the marked Manuel Akanji that put his fellow defender in a difficult situation.

Akanji was immediately robbed by Leandro Trossard before Kai Havertz picked out Odegaard and the Arsenal captain slotted home from 10 yards with City’s defence in disarray.

Shell-shocked City

Already fearing the worst, Guardiola stomped back to the bench with a thunderous expression.

City controlled possession but were toothless for long periods, prompting all manner of agitated gestures from the exasperated Guardiola.

Haaland angered Arsenal after telling Arteta to “stay humble” and throwing the ball at Gunners defender Gabriel Magalhaes during the stormy 2-2 draw earlier this season.

So inevitably, it was Haaland who grabbed City’s 55th minute equaliser.

Savinho’s perfectly weighted cross gave Haaland the chance to get in front of William Saliba and bury his close-range header.

But Arsenal took just two minutes to wipe from smile from Haaland’s face.

Foden’s pass was picked off by Partey and the Ghana midfielder unleashed a powerful long-range drive that went in via a wicked deflection off Stones.

Arsenal scented blood and Lewis-Skelly went for the kill in the 62nd minute.

Cutting inside the City area, the 18-year-old left-back showed poised that belied his lack of experience as he curled a fine finish into the far corner.

In a cheeky jibe at Haaland, Lewis-Skelly marked the goal by sitting down with his legs crossed to mimic the City star’s meditative celebration.

There was more misery for shell-shocked City as the much-maligned Havertz got on the scoresheet in the 76th minute.

Gabriel Martinelli swaggered through City’s leaky defence and teed up Havertz for a clinical finish from 10 yards.

Deep into stoppage-time, teenage forward Nwaneri delivered the final blow, whipping a superb finish into the far corner from an acute angle.

Arsenal fans taunted Guardiola with chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” and, not for the first time in a chastening afternoon, City had no response.

Manchester City face the stiffest test of their recent revival when they travel to Arsenal this weekend as Bournemouth seek to take down Premier League leaders Liverpool. Third-placed Nottingham Forest host Brighton hoping to banish memories of last week’s 5-0 hammering at Bournemouth, while slumping Tottenham aim to stop the rot at Brentford. Let’s take a look at some of the major talking points ahead of the action.

Man City’s litmus test

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have won four of their past five Premier League games to climb back into the top four after a miserable run of results.

In midweek they survived a huge scare against Club Brugge to scrape into the Champions League play-off round, further evidence that they may have turned a corner at last.

So is it back to business as usual for the four-time defending Premier League champions?

The fixture list has been relatively kind in recent weeks but they now have a daunting run, with a trip to Arsenal followed by games against Newcastle, Liverpool, Tottenham and Nottingham Forest.

Their prize for survival in the Champions League is a tough play-off against either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.

Mikel Arteta‘s Gunners are unbeaten in 14 league games at home since a 2-0 defeat by Aston Villa last April and cannot afford to drop points as they hunt down Liverpool.

Second-placed Arsenal have been pipped to the title by City in each of the past two seasons, but will kick off six points above their old rivals, determined to state their credentials as serious challengers.

Tottenham: Too good to go down?

Despite Tottenham’s plunge down the table, relegation talk has appeared fanciful, with an eight-point buffer between themselves and the bottom three.

But when will Ange Postecoglou’s injury-hit team turn their form around?

Fellow strugglers Everton and Leicester both closed the gap on Spurs last weekend.

The slide has been dramatic for Postecoglou’s men. In late November, Tottenham were sixth and just four points off second place. Since then, they have slumped to 15th, 23 points off second.

They have taken just four points from their past 10 games — only Southampton (one) have taken fewer.

It is still difficult to imagine that enough of the teams below Tottenham have the quality to reel them in but they are alarmingly fragile.

On Sunday, they travel across London to face mid-table Brentford, who boast an impressive home record and significant firepower.

If they do not start winning again soon, fans will start to think the unthinkable.

Bournemouth’s push for Europe

At the start of the season, a trip to Bournemouth’s modest Vitality Stadium would not have given Liverpool manager Arne Slot sleepless nights but it is a different story now.

Andoni Iraola‘s team are unbeaten in their past 11 Premier League games, their longest run without defeat in the competition. 

The Spaniard, in his second season at the club, has done a remarkable job despite missing a host of players through injury including Marcos Senesi, Marcus Tavernier, Luis Sinisterra, Evanilson and Enes Unal.

Iraola’s free-scoring side are seventh in the table but are just a single point behind fourth-placed Manchester City as their fans dream of European football next season.

Justin Kluivert, on 11 Premier League goals, is emerging from the shadow of his father, Netherlands star Patrick Kluivert, while Dango Ouattara scored a hat-trick in the 5-0 demolition of Nottingham Forest last weekend.

Bournemouth have already beaten Arsenal and Manchester City this season but Liverpool, who have lost just once in the league, would be their biggest scalp so far.

Fixtures

Saturday (1500 GMT unless stated)

Nottingham Forest v Brighton (1230), Bournemouth v Liverpool, Everton v Leicester, Ipswich v Southampton, Newcastle v Fulham, Wolves v Aston Villa (1730)

Sunday (1400 unless stated)

Brentford v Tottenham, Manchester United v Crystal Palace, Arsenal v Manchester City (1630)

Monday 

Chelsea v West Ham (2000)