The Premier League weekend promised plenty and it certainly delivered, with 32 goals across nine matches - and Manchester City still looking down on the rest.
Pep Guardiola’s men made it six wins from six at Swansea, two goals from Sergio Aguero and one from Raheem Sterling seeing off the Welsh side at the Liberty Stadium.
Keeping up the pressure - and their own unbeaten record - are Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham, 2-1 winners at Middlesbrough, thanks to another brace from Heung-min Son.
North London rivals Arsenal sit third, having thoroughly dismantled Chelsea at the Emirates with a blistering first-half display, while Liverpool made it three wins on the spin with their 5-1 victory over Hull.
Manchester United dropped Wayne Rooney on the back of two straight league defeats and looked all the better for it, running out 4-1 winners over champions Leicester.
Elsewhere, Crystal Palace and Southampton both score three on the road in wins, Bournemouth ended Everton’s unbeaten league start and West Brom snatched an injury-time point at Stoke, as Tony Pulis celebrated his 1,000th game in management.
Anyway, which stars on show did the business? Which unheralded figures impressed?
Here’s a look at our team of the week - which curiously does NOT feature any of the league leaders this time around.
Remind yourself: Who made Mirror Football’s starting XI last week?
The Czech goalkeeper will have taken no great pleasure in victory over his former club, but a second Premier League clean sheet of the season will have been more than welcomed.
The Gunners stopper wasn’t overworked in the 3-0 win over his former employers, bar a pair of late saves - most notably from Michy Batshuayi.
But what he did do, he did with a calming assurance, which largely transmitted to those in front of him, while he also made sure that focus wasn’t lost during a second-half when Arsenal coasted to victory.
The young Spaniard has made great strides over the last 12-18 months and he’s well on his way to becoming not just one of the premier right-backs in England, but across Europe.
It’s little wonder that Barcelona - whose academy Bellerin left to join the Gunners in 2011 - want the 21-year-old back at Camp Nou as the long-term heir to Dani Alves, and his showing in the London derby showed exactly why.
From a defensive point of view, Bellerin completely subdued Eden Hazard, dispossessed more opponents than any other Arsenal player (bar Granit Xhaka, who also had three) and made a fantastic last-man tackle to deny Pedro, as his compatriot bore down on goal.
Which Premier League manager is facing the biggest headache? MirrorFootball writers have their say
But it was on the front foot where Bellerin really impressed; his use of the ball was assured, his decision making - when to stay and offer an easy pass, when to run on and exploit space - showed strong game intelligence and he played his part in the Gunners outstanding second goal, timing his run and leaving Hazard in his wake, before confidently squaring for Walcott to tap home. An all-round excellent showing.
The 25-year-old has played a key role in the Cherries rise since joining for £150k from Brighton in January 2012, and up against Everton’s £28million striker Romelu Lukaku on Saturday, Cook rose to the challenge.
A no-nonsense defender, Cook enjoyed the physical battle against the Belgian powerhouse and as Bournemouth held on to their lead, he won a number of key aerial challenges inside his own box to ensure a clean sheet.
Alongside Simon Francis, Cook’s game management was excellent, knowing when the defence could spread, to play and launch attacks, and when to stay tight and compact.
You would have thought that after the umpteenth aimless hoik into the penalty area was met by the forehead of the giant Dutchman, West Ham would have got the message.
Van Dijk has started the season in fine form for the Saints and his development into one the Premier League’s very best centre-backs continued with an outstanding, no-nonsense display against West Ham.
As abject as the Hammers were, the ex-Celtic man was the complete opposite. His positioning was spot on, he read danger early - witness him clearing Simone Zaza’s effort off the line - and he confidently led by example at the heart of the back line.
To Van Dijk’s left, full-back Ryan Bertrand played an integral part to the 3-0 win for Claude Puel’s side.
The England international missed the Saints first three games of the season with a knee problem, and after returning in the last-gasp loss to Arsenal, has played in both victories - Swansea and West Ham - with both featuring clean sheets.
With the ex-Chelsea man back in his slot, the Saints defence just, quite simply, looks an all-round sturdier unit. Bertrand may not be the biggest defending the back post, but he spots danger early, gets his body in the way, and knows when to step across his man. Up against him, Michail Antonio struggled to have an impact, likewise Sofiane Feghouli.
Going forward, he was instrumental to the Saints victory, playing a key role in the Saints opener with some good link play down the left with Dusan Tadic, before finding Charlie Austin to score. Left the field with a pass completions percentage unbeaten by any other starter (95 per cent), with three key passes showing he more than played his part in the final third.
The likes of Roberto Firmino, Adam Lallana and Sadio Mane have been earning rave reviews for their efforts during the early weeks of the season, while Philippe Coutinho’s star has perhaps dulled a little since scoring twice at Arsenal on the opening weekend.
But in the 5-1 rout of Hull, the diminutive Brazilian was back to something like his best. Playing nominally from the left side of the Reds front three, Coutinho was here, there and everywhere, as he tore the Tigers to shreds with his own brand of clever passing, intelligent movement and jinking runs.
Tigers skipper Curtis Davies says his side found the going tough against the relentless pressing of Jurgen Klopp’s side, and while Coutinho played his part in that, it was on the ball where he showed his undoubted class.
A magnificent goal from 25 yards shot Hull back down, just a minute after they themselves had made it 3-1, but Coutinho was the chief supplier of bullets on the day. The 24-year-old was credited with the assist for Adam Lallana’s opener, while he also contrived to make another four goalscoring opportunities for teammates.
In his 74 minutes he made 82 passes (only Jordan Henderson had more) with a success rate of 85 per cent, excellent for someone always eager to play the forward, killer pass. If the Reds are to be title challengers, he’s certainly not a bad PFA Player of the Year shout, if more performances like this follow.
So this is what £89million gets you then!
After a somewhat slow start to his second spell at Manchester United, the big-money Frenchman made a splash with a man-of-the-match display against champions Leicester.
With Wayne Rooney out the side, Jose Mourinho elected for something more akin to a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Ander Herrera the designated holder and both Pogba and Juan Mata given license to dictate the game from the centre of the park, getting forward from midfield.
United played at a higher tempo, collectively covered more ground and quite simply over-powered their opponents - no-one more so than the Frenchman.
The 23-year-old was seemingly at the heart of everything, making more passes than any other player (99 in total, some 31 more than Mata), while his sheer physical presence was too much for his ex-United reserves teammate Danny Drinkwater. There was more of the long-striding runs through midfield, turning defence into attack, and he seemingly played free of inhibitions, safe in the knowledge that Ander Herrera was behind him covering.
His goal, a well-taken header from a Daley Bling corner, was just reward for a display that Gary Neville labelled the best of Pogba’s career.
‘Paul Pogba was the best I’ve EVER seen him’ claims Gary Neville
Bournemouth picked up their second successive home win in the Premier League (both 1-0) and the engine at the heart of the latest success was Harry Arter.
The 26-year-old went head-to-head with Everton’s early-season star man Idrissa Gueye and won his own personal battle, ensuring his side took all three points.
Arter was at his infectious best for Eddie Howe’s men, making challenges deep in his own half (no Bournemouth player made more) before popping up at the other end to have an impact. After hit the post with a left-footed effort that swerved viciously and it was his clever pass that found Junior Stanislas in space, to score the only goal of the game.
Much of the talk pre-match had been of the battle between the England pair, Jack Wilshere and Ross Barkley, but it was Arter who took the game by the scruff of the neck and ran it.
“He asked to leave after the Olympic Games, but we decided he would stay with us. I didn’t want him to go,” said Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino after seeing his side win 2-1 at Middlesbrough, and he must be thankful that Heung-min Son did indeed stay at White Hart Lane this summer.
Signed from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015 for around £17million, Son failed to find his best form during his debut campaign in England. However, since returning to the Spurs lineup this term, the South Korean has been outstanding.
It was he who tore Stoke to pieces two weeks ago, earning him a spot in our team then, and this weekend he made all the difference on the Riverside, scoring both goals for Spurs.
The first, after a clever one-two with Vincent Janssen was good (though Victor Valdes may think he should have done better), but his second was simply outstanding. At one point he looked to have been going nowhere, running out of room and even losing the ball. Yet much like his Spurs career, Son chased it down, took the ball back and bustled his way into a shooting position, from where he fired a howitzer past Valdes, who barely sniffed it.
The 24-year-old adds a touch of extra zest and pace to Spurs’ attack, and his desire to run with the ball straight towards goal adds verticality to a side who can sometimes be a tad guilty of looking to pass their way through massed defences. The variety he is bringing at the moment is making a big difference, particularly on the road.
Make no bones about it, Chelsea’s defence was awful during their first-half collapse at the Emirates. Unfortunately for them, Alexis Sanchez was like a shark smelling blood.
The Chilean was scolded in the week by Arsene Wenger after missing a penalty at Hull (usurping the pecking order by his own means), despite bagging a brace against the Tigers. He more than made up for it in the London derby.
Again lining up as the focal point to the Gunners attack, Alexis was simply too quick, too clever, too good for a miserable Chelsea defence.
He made the first goal for himself, pinching Gary Cahill’s pocket before impudently chipping over Thibaut Courtois, and teed up Mesut Ozil for the second, an inch-perfect clipped pass finding the German who volleyed home.
Throughout Chelsea couldn’t get to grips with Alexis, as he intelligently drifted to the flanks to create overloads and wandered into areas where Blues defenders - and an out-of-sorts N’Golo Kante - simply didn’t want to go.
He’s had to wait patiently and wear down new boss Claude Puel, but Charlie Austin again made his presence felt with a goal and an assist in Southampton’s win at West Ham.
Puel had envisioned a 4-3-1-2 formation with Shane Long and Nathan Redmond as his front two at the start of the campaign, but Austin’s recent form has seen him forced to scrap that idea, with the Saints moving to something more akin to a 4-3-3 formation in the last two weeks.
A pure No.9, Austin scored with a well-taken effort in the first period, and would have had a second had Cedric Soares passed rather than shot.
But in front of David Sullivan, the West Ham co-owner who suggested last year that Austin has no ligaments in his right knee - an ‘outrageous slur’ blasted Austin in reply - showed that he is capable of the technical football Puel wants on the south coast, with a wonderfully-adroit pass to set up Dusan Tadic for the game’s crucial second goal.
It’s now five goals in four games (all competitions) for the poacher, who is making his point that he should play every week in the best possible way.
Winston Reid admitted Southampton worked harder than West Ham during the painful 3-0 defeat at the London Stadium.
The Hammers are enduring their worst start to the season since 2002 - when they were relegated - after slumping to a fifth loss in their opening six matches.
Fingers are being pointed at West Ham’s defending after goals from Charlie Austin, Dusan Tadic and James Ward-Prowse made it 14 conceded in their last four Premier League games.
Defender Reid, who was at fault for Tadic’s goal when he gave the ball away in midfield, told the club website: 'When you lose you, you can always do more.
'We’ve played against good teams so far and we need to work a lot harder to get a bit of luck on our side.
‘You could see out there that they worked harder than us, and they got a good result.’
West Ham host Middlesbrough next weekend and Reid admits they desperately need a victory to kickstart their season.
‘To get our confidence back, we need to work hard,’ added the New Zealander. 'We need to dig deep and work a lot harder.
'We’re six games in and we’ve only got three points, so we need to dig deeper, produce a better performance and get a win.
‘The most important thing for us now is picking up that next three points.’
Saints, by contrast, are buzzing after four straight wins in all competitions and head to Israel to face Hapoel Be’er Sheva in the Europa League on Thursday.
Austin, who took his tally to five goals in his last four outings with the first-half opener, said: 'It’s a massive result to come away to West Ham and win 3-0.
'We’re delighted with the performance and we’ve got to keep this run going.
‘It’s four wins on the bounce and now we’re going into Thursday with all guns blazing.’
The sixth round of Premier League fixtures saw Manchester City continue their sublime form under Pep Guardiola, while Manchester United improved to beat Leicester City at home.
Elsewhere, there were issues for West Ham and Sunderland. Liverpool also dominated Hull while there was good news for Chelsea emanating from the Football League.
Here, Sportsmail’s Ralph Ellis shares 10 things he learned from the top-flight and the Football League.
Raheem Sterling’s early season form has a simple explanation – the England winger is literally working more than twice as hard under Pep Guardiola as he did when Manuel Pellegrini was in charge.
At Swansea on Saturday he ran 530 metres at top pace, and his 82 sprints in total were the most of any player this weekend.
The last time he played 90 minutes during Pellegrini’s reign was in the 4-2 defeat at Southampton on May 1 when he covered a total of 220 metres during the game at sprint speed.
Curious that West Ham boss Slaven Bilic for the third match in a row chose to substitute his captain Mark Noble when his team were chasing the game.
The 29-year-old loyal one-club man got the hook with eight minutes left and the Hammers two down against Southampton – they went on to lose 3-0.
He was taken off at half time at West Brom, and shortly after Watford went 4-2 ahead in the previous game.
Of Noble’s previous 52 appearances under Bilic’s management, he played the whole 90 minutes (or 120 in the case of a couple of cup ties), on all but nine occasions.
Sadio Mane has made a great start in looking value for the £30m Liverpool spent bringing the Senegal international to Anfield. The 24-year-old’s goal in the 5-1 rout of Hull took him to three goals and three assists in six matches so far.
For good measure Mane had six other shots at goal as Jurgen Klopp’s side slipped into gear, and also fought more duels (16) than any other Liverpool player.
West Ham and Liverpool both looked at Arsenal’s Kieran Gibbs during the summer transfer window when they needed a left back, and you wonder if they should have tried harder to get him.
The 26-year-old, a regular in England’s set-up until a year ago, has fallen behind Nacho Monreal in the pecking order under Arsene Wenger and needs to play regular football.
His 21 minute cameo appearance against Chelsea was a reminder of his quality. Asked to help see out the 3-0 win, he gave the ball away only twice and also set up two chances.
In an age when too many professional footballers won’t trust their ‘wrong’ foot, West Brom defender Allan Nyom is a remarkable exception.
The 28-year-old Cameroon international is seriously right-footed, and has spent most of his career first with Grenada in Spain then last season with Watford playing right back.
Albion have asked him to fill in on the opposite flank, though – and three times during the 1-1 draw at Stoke he used his left foot to put in dangerous crosses.
Managers always say they want their substitutes to affect the game, and David Moyes is doing that – but not quite as intended.
The Sunderland manager sent on Paddy McNair as an extra defender in place of Lee Cattermole with four minutes left against Crystal Palace and the score 2-2, only to see Christian Benteke grab a late winner.
Earlier this season he took off Jermain Defoe in the 83rd minute at Manchester City when it was 1-1 and then watched a Paddy McNair own goal give Pep Guardiola’s side all three points.
Several Tottenham fans said I was talking nonsense last week when I suggested Eric Dier was facing a threat to his holding midfield role, but when he recovers from his current injury the England ace won’t find it easy to displace Victor Wanyama.
The 25-year-old who this summer followed Mauricio Pochettino from Southampton for £11m played a key role in Tottenham’s 2-1 win at Middlesbrough.
He fought 17 duels, gave the ball away only seven times, and won all of his five tackles – the most successful number of tackles made by any Premier League player this weekend.
Bristol City must be glad they didn’t allow Chelsea any right to recall Tammy Abraham when the 18-year-old striker joined them on a season-long loan.
Abraham, who scored the winner when Chelsea beat Manchester City in last season’s FA Youth Cup final, scored his tenth goal in 12 appearances as Lee Johnson’s side won 4-0 at Fulham.
One of the most bizarre transfers of the summer had to be the move of goalkeeper Colin Doyle from Blackpool to Bradford.
The Republic of Ireland international who spent 12 years at Birmingham moved after Bantams boss Stuart McCall triggered a release clause in his contract for the princely sum of ONE POUND.
It’s not clear whether Blackpool got the money by bank transfer or just by handing over a coin – but either way it has been well spent. A 0-0 draw at Bolton means Doyle has let in just six goals in ten appearances so far.
Former Chelsea reserve and youth coach Dermot Drummy took on one of League Two’s toughest tasks when he became manager at Crawley in the summer – there were only nine players on the staff when he began.
The 55-year-old recruited 14 new players during the summer and while it has taken time for them to settle there are the first signs of progress. A 3-2 success at Stevenage made it two wins in a row and the club are just one point away from the play-off zone.
Southampton’s players celebrated their thumping win over West Ham with a night out at London’s Libertine nightclub and emerged looking a little worse for wear.
Charlie Austin, Fraser Forster, Jose Fonte and Oriol Romeu were pictured with ex-Saint Nathaniel Clyne, as well as Everton’s Aaron Lennon, leaving the west London haunt after enjoying a Sunday night out.
Southampton, who travel to Israel later this week to play Hapoel Be’er Sheva, have won four games on the bounce and their players clearly felt in the mood to celebrate. The Libertine club is popular with Premier League stars, Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois was spotted trying to sneak out of the venue back in August.
Austin, a goalscorer at the London Stadium, appeared particularly dishevelled as exited the club, with a drink stain clearly visible on the front of his shirt.
Team-mate Forster was struggling to keep his eyes open as he made his way out of the West End haunt. Although Romeu had at least remembered to bring his kit with him, as he sported a black Under Armour holdall to accompany Austin.
Clyne, who left Southampton for Liverpool in 2015, was also snapped leaving Libertine and clambering into a taxi whilst surrounded by minders.
Lennon, who did not feature in the Toffees’ 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth after playing in the shock midweek loss to Norwich, was also spotted making his way out of the club’s back door.
After the win at West Ham Austin, who took his tally to five goals in his last four outings with the first-half opener, declared his delight at the result.
‘It’s a massive result to come away to West Ham and win 3-0,’ he said.
'We’re delighted with the performance and we’ve got to keep this run going.
‘It’s four wins on the bounce and now we’re going into Thursday with all guns blazing.’
| West Ham 0-3 Southampton - Five Talking Points | Southampton continued their superb run of form with a crushing 3-0 victory at West Ham this afternoon, seeing them … 26-09-2016 |
| Twitter reacts: West Ham 0-3 Southampton | Southampton fans were ecstatic following their impressive 3-0 away win at the London Stadium on Sunday. Claude … 26-09-2016 |
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
|