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SOTON 2-0 NEWCASTLE: SAINTS GO TOP OF THE PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 32 YEARS.

Southampton moved top of the Premier League for the first time in their history after beating Newcastle 2-0 at St Mary’s.

A seventh-minute strike from Che Adams gave the home side an early lead and they wrapped up victory in the 82nd minute through Stuart Armstrong.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men dominated possession and chances as they sealed a comfortable win that saw them replace Liverpool at the top of the table ahead of this weekend’s fixtures.

The Saints last stood at the summit of English football 32 years ago under the management of Chris Nicholl and it marks a remarkable 12 months for the Austrian manager since their 9-0 thrashing by Leicester last October.

Newcastle, who had yet to be beaten away from home in the Premier League this season and headed into the game on the south coast in good form, having beaten Everton 2-1 in their previous fixture, but often lacked control and managed just four shots during the game.

Southampton moved level on 16 points with defending champions Liverpool, but could be overtaken by the Reds, Leicester, Tottenham or Everton if they win at the weekend.

The Saints took the lead with the first real chance of the game.

Karl Darlow was forced into a diving save to deny Adams with a curled strike from the edge of the area, but Newcastle were unable to clear the danger.

Theo Walcott won the ball back on the right after Miguel Almiron failed to clear his lines before playing in Adams, who fired it past the Newcastle goalkeeper to give his side the advantage.

Adams had another chance five minutes later when he controlled the ball in the box before taking a shot, but his effort lacked power and Darlow was able to gather.

After the goal, Newcastle tried to get a foothold in the game. Their first real chance came in the 22nd minute, but Sean Longstaff’s header from Jamal Lewis’ cross was straight at goalkeeper Alex McCarthy.

Walcott had an opportunity to double his side’s lead just before the half-time break but his curled shot was just wide of the target.

At the start of the second half, Jamaal Lascelles denied Southampton a second with a clearance off the line from Jan Bednarek’s effort, before Darlow was forced into a fingertip save to force Oriol Romeu’s drive from distance onto the woodwork and over.

Southampton had a penalty shout after Walcott was brought down by Lascelles in the area, but the challenge was not reviewed by VAR.

The home side were eventually rewarded for their dominance in the 82nd minute when they made it 2-0. Armstrong capitalised on a mis-timed pass from Sean Longstaff before cutting in and driving the ball past Darlow.

Joelinton almost pulled one back for the visitors, forcing McCarthy into a diving save to push the substitute’s header over the bar, but Southampton held on to secure all three points and move to the top of the league.

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BRIGHTON 0-0 BURNLEY: POPE STANDS TALL TO DENY BRIGHTON FIRST HOME WIN.

Brighton & Hove Albion’s search for a first home win of the season goes on after an entertaining goalless draw against Burnley.

In an incident-packed first half, Tariq Lamptey blazed a shot over the crossbar early on after Danny Welbeck had set him up.

Dan Burn fired into the side-netting and Pascal Gross headed straight at Nick Pope as Brighton pushed forward, before Matt Lowton hit the crossbar for Burnley at the other end.

Before half-time Pope made an excellent save to deny Welbeck, making his first Seagulls start, while the striker then smashed a shot straight at the Burnley goalkeeper after the break.

Neal Maupay twice went close for the hosts, with James Tarkowski pulling off a superb block to deny him the second time, but neither side could find a way to break the deadlock.

Brighton stay 16th, now with six points, while Burnley remain 19th with two.

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SCOTT PARKER NOT INTERESTED IN LEAGUE POSITION AFTER FULHAM WIN AGAINST WESTBROM.

Fulham manager Scott Parker played down the importance of moving clear of the Premier League relegation zone following his side’s dominant 2-0 win over West Brom.

Goals from Bobby Decordova-Reid and Ola Aina secured a first league win back in the top tier for the Cottagers and left the visitors still waiting to break their duck.

The result saw Fulham leapfrog their opponents and out of the bottom three, but Parker believes league position is not especially important at this stage of the season.

When asked what it meant psychologically to be out of the drop zone, he said: “Nothing really to be honest. It’s really irrelevant at this moment for me.

“What is relevant to me is the team moving in the right direction and improving and us moving in the right way and I see that and I have seen that in the weeks before this.

“OK the results haven’t been there and I understand when the result’s not there the noise is ‘can’t win’ but I have seen massive improvements.

“But in terms of the table and where we sit on that, to me that’s irrelevant. Let’s see where we are at the end, but what is important to me is that the team are going in the right direction and I am seeing that.”

On the game, Parker added: “I think overall, all round a very good performance. Obviously the result was important. We all understood that because we started this season and I’ve sat here and said that performance-wise I think we were progressing in the right way, but I think for everyone – the team, the club – we needed the win and we’ve got that.”

The one downside was the injury to Mario Lemina, with Parker confirming the midfielder was brought off at half-time as a precaution after he felt his hamstring in the opening 45 minutes.

West Brom manager Slaven Bilic conceded his side did not play well enough at Craven Cottage, as they continue their search for a first win back in the top tier.

“I’m very disappointed obviously,” he said. “We were looking forward for this game because the last couple of games we looked really good, we played really good in training, lot of intensity, lot of quality to be fair. But when we need to produce it on the pitch we simply didn’t do it.

“We were good for 25 minutes but after that they were stronger than us, they were sharper, quicker, better passing, better one-against-one, better in that area where it matters to make a difference.

“That’s when it really hurts when you find out that you didn’t deserve a thing from this game, you can’t say that you were unlucky, you can’t say that you missed some chances or whatever, no, they were much better than us.”

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LEEDS UTD 1-4 LEICESTER: FOXES THRASH IN-FORM WHITES TO GO SECOND ON THE EPL TABLE.

Leicester moved up to second in the Premier League table with a 4-1 win at in-form Leeds on Monday evening.

The humbling of Leeds means the Foxes have won five out of their opening seven top-flight matches for the first time in their history.

Harvey Barnes opened the scoring in the second minute following a sloppy back-pass by Robin Koch in just the second minute.

Jamie Vardy capitalised on Koch’s mistake to unselfishly square to Barnes in a counter-attack which happened just seconds after Leeds striker Patrick Bamford headed straight at Kaspar Schmeichel.

Leeds, who won 3-0 at Aston Villa last time out, were undone once more when Youri Tielemans tapped in from close-range after Illan Meslier parried a Vardy shot in the 21st minute.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side were given hope three minutes after the restart as Stuart Dallas’ inviting cross found its way past everyone and into the back of the net.

Veteran midfielder Pablo Hernandez almost drew Leeds level when his 20-yard strike hit the crossbar.

And the three points were sealed for Leicester when Cengiz Under squared for Vardy to score his eighth goal of the season with 14 minutes remaining.

Leicester rubbed salt in the wound when Tielemans converted an injury-time penalty after Andre Marriner used his pitchside monitor to determine Mateusz Klich fouled James Maddison in the box.

Brendan Rodgers’ side are now just one point from leaders Liverpool, while Leeds drop to 12th place.

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TOTTENHAM 2-1 BRIGHTON: SUPER SUB BALE RESCUES SPURS FROM STUBBORN BRIGHTON.

Substitute Gareth Bale scored his first goal since rejoining Tottenham Hotspur to give his side a 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion and lift them to second place in the table.

Bale had only been on the pitch for three minutes when he met Sergio Reguilon’s cross with a firm header in the 73rd minute to clinch his side’s first home Premier League victory of the season.

Harry Kane had put Spurs ahead with a 13th-minute penalty after he had been fouled on the edge of the area by Adam Lallana.

It was his 149th Premier League goal, placing him joint-10th in the all-time scorers’ standings.

But Tariq Lamptey equalised with his first top-flight strike on 56 minutes.

Erik Lamela and Kane then each hit the post before Bale struck.

Spurs have 14 points, two behind leaders Liverpool.

Brighton, without a win in five league matches, remain 16th in the table with five points.

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MAN UTD 0-1 ARSENAL: GUNNERS FINALLY WIN AT OLD TRAFFORD.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot as Arsenal beat hosts Manchester United 1-0 on Sunday to secure its first win for 14 years in a Premier League match at Old Trafford.

With both teams playing a cautious game, a foul by United midfielder Paul Pogba turned out to be decisive when he kicked Hector Bellerin’s foot in the United penalty area. Aubameyang sent goalkeeper David De Gea the wrong way with his 69th-minute spot-kick to give Arsenal the lead.

Arsenal hadn’t beaten United away since an FA Cup game in 2015, part of a longstanding run of poor form for the Gunners when facing England’s biggest clubs on the road. Arsenal’s last win at Old Trafford in an EPL game was in 2006, when Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger were the managers and current United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was still playing for the club.

Arsenal had the better chances in a quiet first half Sunday, with Aubameyang narrowly missing a cross at the far post after a mistimed lunge, and Willian brushing the crossbar with a lob. Harry Maguire could have given United the lead in the 55th but his header at a corner went just wide of the left post.

Arsenal needed a slice of luck to cling on to its lead when a mistimed block from Mohamed Elneny bounced off goalkeeper Bernd Leno’s head and onto the post before being cleared.

The defeat leaves United with only seven points from its first six games of the season with fatigue from the extended 2019-20 campaign appearing to play a role.

Arsenal moved closer to the Champions League spots following its first victory in three league games after losses to Manchester City and Leicester.

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NEWCASTLE 2-1 EVERTON: CALLUM WILSON DOWNS THE TOFFEES AT ST. JAMES’S PARK.

A second half brace from Callum Wilson helped Newcastle United to all three points against Everton.

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford found himself taken out of the firing line as Toffees boss Carlo Ancelotti handed Robin Olsen a debut.

The Swede made a decent block from Allan Saint-Maximin to help keep the game goalless at half-time.

But Newcastle broke the deadlock in the 56th minute when Callum Wilson converted a penalty after being fouled by Andre Gomes at a corner.

Everton, missing the likes of playmaker James Rodriguez and suspended Brazilian frontman Richarlison, could not find a way back into the match.

Wilson wrapped up victory with a second goal five minutes from time when he slotted in after Ryan Fraser’s cross had deflected up off Everton defender Yerry Mina.

Despite a stoppage-time goal from Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Newcastle saw out the closing stages as goalkeeper Karl Darlow tipped a late effort over.

The Toffees remain second, three points behind Merseyside rivals Liverpool, while Newcastle move into the top 10.

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A.VILLA 3-4 SOTON: JAMES WARD-PROWSE SHINES ON BIRTHDAY AS SAINTS CLIMB TO THIRD ON THE LOG

James Ward-Prowse scored two free-kicks and got an assist as Southampton held off a late Aston Villa fightback for a 4-3 away win that sends them third.

Southampton had an early goal overturned for offside following a VAR review but went ahead on 20 minutes when Ward-Prowse’s cross was headed in by Jannik Vestergaard.

Ward-Prowse then netted from two superb set-pieces on a 26th birthday to remember for the Southampton captain.

In the second half Danny Ings crashed in a fourth Saints goal off the crossbar before the striker was forced off injured.

Tyrone Mings pulled one back for Villa from Jack Grealish’s cross and the hosts set up a nervy finish with two goals in stoppage time.

Ollie Watkins converted a penalty won by Grealish who then caught Alex McCarthy unsighted from long range.

But Southampton held on to make their best start after seven matches since 2014/15. Villa drop to sixth after back-to-back defeats.

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LIVERPOOL 2-1 WESTHAM: JOTA SCORES WINNER SECOND TIME IN A ROW

Diogo Jota came off the bench to earn Liverpool a 2-1 win over West Ham United, which helped the champions equal an Anfield record.

Pablo Fornals had put West Ham in front on 10 minutes, when he collected a Joe Gomez clearance and struck in a low shot.

Liverpool’s increasing pressure paid off three minutes before half-time thanks to Mohamed Salah’s penalty after the Egyptian had been fouled by Arthur Masuaku.

After the break, Fornals had one shot saved and another blocked by Andrew Robertson.

Shortly after having a goal overturned on 77 minutes after the Video Assistant Referee had spotted a foul in the build-up, Jota scored the winner.

Fellow substitute Xherdan Shaqiri played him in with an exquisite pass to finish and send Liverpool top on 16 points, as they equalled their longest unbeaten home run of 63 league matches.

West Ham are 13th on eight points as their four-match unbeaten run was ended.

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KYLE WALKER SCORES TO GIVE CITY VICTORY OVER SHEFFIELD UTD.

Kyle Walker’s first Premier League away goal handed Manchester City a 1-0 win over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.

Ferran Torres twice went close for City early on, heading wide before testing Aaron Ramsdale from close range.

City took the lead on 28 minutes with a goal from Walker, a former Sheff Utd player. On his 100th Premier League appearance for City, Walker received Kevin De Bruyne’s pass and shot in low from outside the area.

Sheff Utd’s best spell came around the 70-minute mark as substitute John Lundstram fired over from a well-worked opening.

Ramsdale again denied Bernardo Silva from doubling City’s lead late on, one of seven saves the goalkeeper made.

City are four matches unbeaten and rise to seventh with 11 points. Sheffield United remain on one point in 19th.