LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) – Liverpool dropped more points as a feisty Merseyside derby ended 0-0 at winless Everton on Saturday but Tottenham Hotspur maintained their fast start to the Premier League season with Harry Kane sealing a 2-1 victory over Fulham.
Liverpool had 23 goal attempts but could find no way through at Goodison Park where both sides hit the woodwork and Everton were denied a winner by a VAR decision.
Juergen Klopp’s side have nine points from a possible 18 and with champions Manchester City in action later on Saturday against Aston villa they are alarmingly off the pace.
Leaders Arsenal, who have a maximum 15 points from five games, are at resurgent Manchester United on Sunday.
“Rule number one: if you cannot win the derby, don’t lose it. We could have won it today but we could have lost it in a few moments as well,” Klopp said.
Chelsea hit back to beat West Ham United 2-1 at Stamford Bridge with goals from substitutes Ben Chilwell and Kai Havertz cancelling out Michail Antonio’s opener.
But West Ham were left seething when an equaliser by Maxwel Cornet in the dying moments was ruled out after a VAR check ruled that Jarrod Bowen had fouled Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy.
Newcastle United also felt aggrieved as they had a goal chalked off following a VAR decision in a 0-0 home stalemate with Crystal Palace, their fourth draw in six games.
Ivan Toney scored a stunning hat-trick for Brentford in a 5-2 mauling of Leeds United.
Wolverhampton Wanderers claimed their first win of the season as they beat Southampton 1-0 with Daniel Podence on target just before halftime.
Nottingham Forest, who signed 21 new players in the transfer window for a combined 145 million pounds ($167 million), including several on deadline day, squandered a 2-0 lead at home to Bournemouth to eventually lose 3-2 and fall into the bottom three.
CRACKING DERBY
After back-to-back home wins, Liverpool’s season appeared to be back on track and they welcomed back new signing Darwin Nunez on Saturday after his three-game ban.
Nunez was denied by the woodwork in the second half as was Luiz Diaz although Everton’s Tom Davies also struck an upright in the opening half of a derby that somehow remained goalless.
Everton keeper Jordan Pickford made several fine saves to frustrate Liverpool but the hosts thought they had grabbed the lead when Conor Coady tapped in at the far post.
With pandemonium ensuing at Goodison, the goal was ruled out for offside after a long VAR review. A cracking derby then ended with Mohamed Salah firing against the post in stoppage time.
Everton’s 12-year wait for a win over Liverpool at Goodison goes on but manager Frank Lampard took plenty of positives from the draw. “I thought we were brilliant. It’s one of the best 0-0s you’re likely to see,” said the former England midfielder.
Tottenham are enjoying their joint-best start to a Premier League campaign and maintained the pace at home to Fulham.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg gave Tottenham a 40th minute lead after a wave of attacks from the hosts in which Son Heung-min was denied his first goal of the season by the crossbar.
Kane doubled Tottenham’s lead in the 75th minute with a tap-in from Ryan Sessegnon’s pass — his 188th Premier League goal taking him past Andy Cole into third place on the all-time scoring list in the competition.
Aleksandar Mitrovic curled a superb reply for Fulham — his sixth goal of the season — after Richarlison was denied his first for Tottenham by the inside of a post.
“We are going to score many goals with these strikers,” Tottenham manager Antonio Conte, who started with Richarlison, Kane and Son combined for the first time, said.
($1 = 0.8690 pounds)
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Davis)
