Premier League round-up: Southampton's incredible start to the season continued against Stoke as Sadio Mane's strike propelled them back to second in the Premier League on the back of a 1-0 win at St Mary's .
It was never going to be a repeat of the 8-0 annihilation dished out to Sunderland, but another fine team display saw Saints celebrating a fourth consecutive home win.
Mane’s first-half strike proved the difference as Stoke were seen off 1-0, making this a better start than the 1983/84 season when Southampton finished the campaign second.
In truth, had it not been for poor finishing, Ronald Koeman’s men would have won by a much grander scoreline.
Alexis Sanchez made the most of howlers from Wes Brown and Vito Mannone as Arsenal claimed a 2-0 victory at Sunderland.
The Chile international needed no second invitation after Brown scuffed an attempted back-pass straight into his path and looked on in horror as he raced almost half the length of the pitch before beating goalkeeper Mannone with ease.
And there was worse to come for the Italian, who handed Sanchez a second in injury-time as he made a mess of a back-pass.
Once again, the Black Cats, who scored three own goals in last Saturday’s 8-0 horror show at Southampton, were made to pay for self-inflicted wounds despite launching a second-half fightback in front of a crowd of 44,449 at the Stadium of Light.
Wojciech Szczesny very nearly handed Patrick van Aanholt an 81st-minute opportunity to level when, fearing he was about to step outside his area, he headed the ball straight to the full back wide on the left, although the Dutchman's long-range effort sailed wide of the far post with Per Mertesacker racing back to cover for his keeper.
But disaster struck at the death when Mannone failed to control Will Buckley’s back-pass and Sanchez added a second from close range.
Mario Balotelli and Liverpool fired blanks as Hull held on for a 0-0 draw at Anfield.
Much of the focus was on Balotelli after an underwhelming start to his Liverpool career and controversy in midweek after exchanging shirts at half-time in the loss to Real Madrid.
But the Italian and his team-mates could not find a way through as Hull frustrated them to prolong the Reds’ below-par start to the campaign.
Raheem Sterling, Philippe Coutinho and Balotelli all went close in injury time as Liverpool's dominance of the second half almost brought reward in the closing moments.
Steven Gerrard also went close while Balotelli, who forced Eldin Jakupovic to save early on, and Sterling both had good penalty appeals turned down.
Jakupovic, Hull’s third-choice goalkeeper, was Hull’s saviour at the end, tipping over Coutinho’s long-range effort and blocking Balotelli from point-blank range.
Further criticism of Balotelli after this showing would be harsh, given his clear determination to fight for the cause on the occasion.
Bigger questions should perhaps be asked of Liverpool’s fluency and why they only showed urgency in fits and starts.
Saido Berahino's injury-time penalty rescued a point for West Brom as they fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Crystal Palace at The Hawthorns.
The striker slammed in his eighth goal of the season after Mile Jedinak had felled Victor Anichebe, who had started the Baggies comeback when he nodded in early in the second half.
Palace were upset, though, as Craig Dawson fouled Julian Speroni to allow Anichebe to score , forcing the goalkeeper off with a head injury.
Brede Hangeland’s goal and Jedinak’s penalty had fired Palace into a commanding half-time lead.
Palace were also denied what appeared to be a clear first-half spot-kick when referee Mark Clattenburg failed to spot Dawson's foul on Wilfried Zaha.
Wilfried Bony scored both goals as Swansea saw off Leicester 2-0 at the Liberty Stadium in the evening kick-off.
Bony managed 16 goals in his first season in English football but endured a slow start this time around following a summer where he played for Ivory Coast at the World Cup and had to put up with constant speculation over his future.
But the 25-year-old has been back to his best in recent weeks and he ensured Leicester would get nothing from their visit to south Wales by making it four goals in three games with one in each half against the shot-shy Foxes.
Bony’s second made him the joint highest Swansea scorer in Premier League history, equalling Michu’s 20-goal total, and each time Gylfi Sigurdsson pulled the strings as Garry Monk’s men ended a run of five games without a win to climb into the top six.
It was a different story for a Leicester side who showed little invention in attack and have not tasted victory since that remarkable 5-3 win over Manchester United over a month ago.
