England Roundup: Aston Villa routs Brighton; bad day for Manchester

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — Ollie Watkins scored a hat trick as Aston Villa routed Brighton 6-1 in the Premier League on Saturday.

It was Watkins’ second hat trick of the season, having also netted three against Hibernian in the Europa Conference League in August.

An own goal by Pervis Estupinan and strikes from Jacob Ramsey and Douglas Luiz completed Villa’s win, while on-loan Barcelona forward Ansu Fati scored a consolation goal for Brighton.

Both teams had enjoyed impressive starts to the season, with Brighton going into the game at Villa Park third in the standings. But Villa, which started the game in sixth, came out on top to inflict a third loss in four games in all competitions for Brighton.

Watkins scored his first in the 14th minute and added a second in the 21st.

Estupinan’s own goal in the 26th gave Villa 3-0 lead going in at halftime.

Fati pulled one back for Brighton five minutes after the break, but it didn’t spark a comeback.

Watkins completed his hat trick in the 65th, with Ramsey making it 5-1 in the 85th.

Luiz piled on the misery for Brighton with a goal in the seventh minute of stoppage time.

WOLVES 2, MANCHESTER CITY 1

In Wolverhampton, Manchester City’s winning start to the Premier League season ended in a 2-1 loss on Saturday.

An own goal from Ruben Dias and a goal from Wolves’ Hwang Hee-chan snapped City’s run of winning its opening six Premier League games of the season, despite a free-kick goal from Julian Alvarez.

Three days after City’s first loss of the season to Newcastle in the League Cup, the defeat to Wolves meant back-to-back losses for City for the first time since January.

Mateo Kovacic started for City in the absence of the suspended Rodri. Josko Gvardiol was replaced by Nathan Ake in the City defense with Jack Grealish and Kalvin Phillips on the bench.

Wolves took the lead in the 13th minute when City gave away the ball, with Pedro Neto picking up possession and advancing from his own half to the visitors’ box, where his cross was diverted by Dias past Ederson and into his own goal.

City conceded the opening goal for the fourth time in its last five games in all competitions.

City drew level in the 58th minute when Alvarez curled a fine free-kick into the top corner of the net.

Eight minutes later, Hwang restored Wolves’ lead. The South Korea international saw his first shot blocked but teammate Matheus Cunha reacted quickly to pass the rebound back to Hwang to score with his second attempt.

CRYSTAL PALACE 1, MANCHESTER UNITED 0

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — After back-to-back wins, it’s back to the drawing board for Manchester United.

Erik ten Hag’s struggling team suffered a fifth defeat in nine games as Joachim Andersen fired Crystal Palace to a 1-0 win at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Saturday.

So much for the optimistic words from the Dutch coach in his pre-game program notes when he spoke of his team taking “another step forward” following the midweek win against Palace in the English League Cup.

That victory came after United had also beaten Burnley in the league. But Andersen’s first-half strike, when lashing Eberechi Eze’s free kick past Andre Onana, put a halt to United’s recent revival and raised fresh questions its prospects this season.

This latest loss typified United’s fragility after going behind for the fourth time in six league games this term. It is also successive defeats at home in the league, following the 3-1 loss to Brighton earlier this month.

Confidence was high after United had comfortably beaten Palace on Tuesday when the Londoners’ manager Roy Hodgson had benched a number of regular starters.

Marc Guehi, Eze and Anderson were among the players back in the team that included six changes. And it was Andersen who fired Palace in front in the 25th.

Before that United had come close to taking the lead in the 12th when Hojlund flicked a shot past onrushing goalkeeper Sam Johnstone. But as he waited to see the ball cross the line, Tyrick Mitchell raced back to clear and deny the Danish striker his first goal at Old Trafford.

LUTON 2, EVERTON 1

In Liverpool, Luton earned its first Premier League win after scoring two first-half goals and hanging on for a 2-1 victory at Everton on Saturday.

Tom Lockyer and Carlton Morris scored seven minutes apart at Goodison Park before Dominic Calvert-Lewin cut the lead in half shortly before the break.

Beto missed two chances to equalize for Everton by sending headers over the crossbar — first in the 75th and again in the 86th.

A week ago, Luton secured its first point in a 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton after having lost its first four games of the season — its first-ever in the Premier League.

Luton last played in England’s top division in 1991-92 — the season before it was rebranded as the Premier League.

The visitors outhustled Toffee defenders on both goals. Lockyer was first to a rebound off the crossbar to poke home in the 24th. Morris then got clear of a defender and volleyed in Alfie Doughty’s free kick in the 31st.

Calvert-Lewin netted from close range in the 41st. He’s now scored in three straight games.

ARSENAL 4, BOURNEMOUTH 0

In Bournemouth, Kai Havertz scored his first goal for Arsenal as his new club cruised to a 4-0 win over the home team.

As title rival Manchester City struggled in a 2-1 loss at Wolverhampton, Arsenal eased to victory with goals from Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Havertz and Ben White. The Germany forward had not scored since joining Arsenal from Chelsea this summer.

Arsenal made just one change from the team that drew 2-2 with Tottenham last weekend as several players overcame injury doubts. Saka, William Saliba, and Declan Rice all retained their places despite unspecified knocks. Havertz came in for Fabio Vieira in Mikel Arteta’s only alteration.

Saka put Arsenal ahead in the 17th minute, nodding into an empty goal after Gabriel Jesus’ header came back off the post.

Arsenal was awarded a penalty late in the first half as Max Aarons felled Eddie Nketiah in the box. Odegaard sent Neto the wrong way to double the lead.

Bournemouth continued to cause its own problems as a poor challenge from Ryan Christie on Odegaard allowed Havertz to convert the spot-kick in the 53rd for his first Arsenal goal. White added a goal in stoppage time with an assist by Odegaard.

NEWCASTLE 2, BURNLEY 0

In Newcastle, Miguel Almiron and Alexander Isak scored as the hosts secured their third straight Premier League win by beating Burnley 2-0 on Saturday.

The win extended Newcastle’s unbeaten run to five games in all competitions as Eddie Howe’s team appears to have put its difficult start to the season behind it.

Burnley, meanwhile, is still waiting for its first win in the Premier League after earning promotion back to the top flight last season.

Almiron’s second goal in a week set Newcastle up for a third-successive win in the league — including an 8-0 rout at Sheffield United — after losing three of its first four games at the start of the campaign.

His 14th-minute strike was followed by Isak’s penalty in the 76th at St. James’ Park.

But for the efforts of Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford and some sub-standard finishing, the margin of Newcastle’s victory might have been even bigger.

Trafford was beaten after Kieran Trippier dispossessed Aaron Ramsey and Almiron cut inside to curl a shot across the ‘keeper.

Newcastle was given the chance to double its lead when Anthony Gordon was brought down by Ameed Al-Dakhil.

Isak sent Trafford the wrong way from the penalty spot to seal the win.