MANCHESTER, England (AP) – Southampton crushed Sunderland 8-0 in one of the biggest wins in the Premier League’s 22-year history, overshadowing Sergio Aguero’s four-goal haul in Manchester City’s latest thrashing of Tottenham today.
On an incident-packed day of goals, red cards and drama in England’s top flight, Chelsea preserved their five-point lead – and unbeaten start to the campaign – by beating Crystal Palace 2-1 thanks to a free kick from Oscar and a great team goal finished off by Cesc Fabregas.
Second-placed City are leading the chase, with Aguero grabbing two goals in each half – two coming from penalties – and also missing from the spot in a 4-1 win over ten-man Spurs. The champions have now scored 15 goals in three straight wins over Tottenham.
Southampton stayed a point behind in third after scoring five times in the final 27 minutes against imploding Sunderland, narrowly missing out on equalling the record margin of victory in the Premier League held by Manchester United from their 9-0 win over Ipswich in 1995.
“I’m still a little bit in shock,” Southampton manager Ronald Koeman said. “Sometimes football is strange.”
Danny Welbeck’s stoppage-time strike secured injury-hit Arsenal a 2-2 draw at home with Hull and goals by Phil Jagielka, Romelu Lukaku and Seamus Coleman earned Everton a 3-0 win over Aston Villa.
West Ham’s surprising start to the season continued with a 3-1 win at Burnley, lifting the London team provisionally into fourth place.
Newcastle’s match against Leicester was delayed by an hour after part of a newly erected big screen was dislodged by wind at St James’ Park.
