In total there were sixteen matchups, however, not every one of those was exciting or contained a widely recognizable team. These two statements contradict each other in many ways, as the lower division sides seemed to play with a burning urgency that larger clubs lacked.
The two easiest results among EPL sides were the defeat of Sheffield Wednesday by Chelsea, 3-0, and the 5-0 Manchester City thrashing of Burnley. There was an assortment of other matches that piqued the interest of many viewers over the weekend.
First Manchester United had little difficulty in defeating Arsenal, extending the unbeaten streak of Ole Gunnar Solskjær since his arrival at the club. A very timidly contested game from the Arsenal perspective in which they trailed from the thirty-first minute.
Ironically enough, the man who did them in was former Gunner, Alexis Sanchez. This was the most notable accomplishment of his tenure in Manchester, of course, excluding his outrageously bloated weekly wage. This was quickly followed by a Jesse Lingard goal and finally an Anthony Martial goal to finalize the game.
On the Arsenal side, the final two goals were interspersed by a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang tally, but it inevitably proved futile. This defeat is sure to sully the joy of defeating London rivals Chelsea over the weekend prior for Gunners’ fans.