Football
ESPN staff 10y

Premier League: Liverpool lose again, Arsenal blow Aston Villa away

Liverpool slipped to a second straight Premier League defeat as West Ham secured their first home points of the new campaign with a 3-1 win at Upton Park.

- Delaney: Liverpool haven't made it just yet

Sam Allardyce's side took the lead inside 90 seconds when Winston Reid guided the ball home from close range after an expert header across the face of goal from James Tomkins.

The home side's fans packed inside Upton Park did not have to wait long for a second, as Diafra Sakho broke free down the right and beat Simon Mignolet with a delicious lob.

Whether he meant it or not, only he will know. But Liverpool were back in it by half-time. Mario Balotelli, who minutes before had been booked for a late challenge on West Ham goalkeeper Adrian, brought the ball down before seeing his shot blocked -- but Raheem Sterling was on hand to rifle home from the edge of the area.

- Toe Poke: Balotelli levitates as Sterling scores

Liverpool continued to press with pace in the second half but the home side dealt with countless pressure, before Morgan Amalfitano toe-poked a late third to secure the club's first home win of the season.

Arsenal recovered from their midweek mauling by Borussia Dortmund to win 3-0 at Aston Villa, thanks to three goals in less than four first-half minutes. 

- Macintosh: Three Points on Villa-Arsenal
- McNicholas: Arsenal player ratings

The Gunners had been embarrassed by the Bundesliga outfit in a one-sided Champions League encounter on Tuesday but reasserted themselves in the Premier League, beating in-form Villa. 

All three goals came in a stunning spell of 3 minutes, 12 seconds. Mesut Ozil opened the scoring after being fed by Danny Welbeck before returning the favour by laying on the second goal for the former Manchester United man, who kept his cool to claim his first for Arsenal.

The Gunners were not done there, as Kieran Gibbs' strike was deflected off Aly Cissokho and past Brad Guzan moments later. Villa, who could have gone top with a victory, were left stunned and although they rallied, Arsene Wenger's team held on for all three points. 

The pressure had been building for Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew ahead of his side's clash with Hull City and amid protests against his continued reign, the Magpies looked set to crash to another defeat. 

- Duffy: Cisse saves his manager

But after going 2-0 down against Hull, Newcastle showed great spirit to battle back and claim a 2-2 draw at St James' Park. 

Nikica Jelavic scored first for the Tigers and Mohamed Diame added a second with a stunning strike -- his second in as many games since moving from West Ham United -- but as Pardew stared a third Premier League defeat of the season in the face, his substitute Papiss Cisse popped up with a late brace to salvage a point. 

Southampton's fine start to the season continued as a strike from Vincent Wanyama gave the Saints their fourth straight victory and took them to second in the league with a 1-0 win at Swansea, who had Wilfried Bony sent off just before half-time after he picked up two yellow cards.

Midfielder Niko Kranjcar curled in a late free kick to earn QPR a 2-2 draw against Stoke City at Loftus Road.

Stoke, managed by former QPR boss Mark Hughes, had taken the lead after 11 minutes through Mame Biram Diouf, only for Peter Crouch to stab a header from QPR defender Steven Caulker into his own net just before the break.

Crouch, who played at QPR as a youngster, looked to have secured victory when he swept home from close range after 51 minutes. However, with two minutes left, Croatian Kranjcar clipped in a fine 20-yard free-kick to earn Harry Redknapp's men a share of the points in the Premier League tussle.

Burnley and Sunderland shared a goalless draw at Turf Moor. 

- Randall: Lack of sharpness denies Sunderland

Ashley Barnes came within a whisker of claiming Burnley's first victory of the season, only to see a late effort deflected against the crossbar.

The substitute saw his shot balloon off the boot of Lee Cattermole in the 87th minute, leaving Vito Mannone beaten, but the ball rattled back off the woodwork to leave both sides winless.

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