Dominik Szoboszlai curled dwelling an excellent long-range free kick to earn Liverpool a 1-0 win over Arsenal in an early-season assembly between two of the possible Premier League title contenders on Sunday.
Manchester Metropolis was additionally anticipated to be difficult for the championship this season however collapsing to a 2-1 loss at Brighton — for a second straight loss — was one other signal that Pep Guardiola’s workforce has misplaced its aura of dominance.
Little separated Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield earlier than Szoboszlai stepped as much as an 83rd-minute free kick and whipped it into the highest nook from about 30 yards (meters).
Filling in at full again in an emergency, the Hungary captain — sometimes an attacking midfielder — did his greatest impression of now-departed proper again Trent Alexander with a top-quality strike that was out of protecting with the remainder of the sport.
It’s now three straight wins to open the season for Liverpool, the defending champion.
For Arsenal, it was a primary loss and first objective conceded — extending its winless file at Anfield relationship again to 2012.
New season, identical points for Metropolis
The defeat at Brighton adopted a 2-0 dwelling loss to Tottenham final weekend for Metropolis, which is demonstrating the identical vulnerabilities and brittleness it confirmed final season when surrendering the title to Liverpool after 4 consecutive years as champions.
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“That is the fact — we’re not on the stage from a very long time (in the past),” mentioned Metropolis midfielder Rodri, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner who was beginning within the league for the primary time since September final yr following a severe knee damage.
Brajan Gruda surged by way of an open protection, rounded goalkeeper James Trafford and slotted into an empty web for the 89th-minute winner for Brighton, which trailed to Erling Haaland’s first-half strike — his 88th objective in 100 Premier League appearances since transferring to England in 2022.
Metropolis conceded an equalizer within the 67th minute after Matheus Nunes raised his arm within the space to dam a shot, with James Milner changing the penalty for Brighton to turn into — at age 39 years and 239 days — the second-oldest scorer in Premier League historical past. He’s additionally the second youngest, having netted as a 16-year-old for Leeds.
With Metropolis noticeably fading, Brighton created a succession of possibilities earlier than Gruda transformed one to seal a repeat of his workforce’s come-from-behind 2-1 win over Metropolis final season.
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Metropolis’s solely factors up to now this season have come from a 4-0 opening-round win at Wolverhampton, after which pundits had been saying Guardiola’s workforce was again. Now, it has fewer factors than Manchester United.