Nottingham Forest 2 Luton Town 2
Substitute Elijah Adebayo struck a stoppage-time equaliser as Luton fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
Chris Wood’s second-half double appeared to have set Forest on their way to a third league win of the season but Ireland’s Chiedozie Ogbene fired Luton a late lifeline and Adebayo rescued them a point in the second minute of added time.
New Zealand striker Wood could have easily ended up with a hat-trick as he went close with two other headers while Luton’s Jacob Brown spurned a golden chance to equalise for the visitors when they trailed 1-0.
Forest forced the early pressure as Wood’s early volley was held by Luton goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski and Ibrahim Sangare headed narrowly over.
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Luton responded through Ogbene’s low cross, which narrowly evaded team-mates Carlton Morris and Brown.
Morris fired a low shot wide as Luton made their intentions clear by committing men forward on the counter before another first-time effort from Wood deflected off Luton defender Teden Mengi for a corner.
Luton’s former Manchester United forward Tahith Chong’s shot from outside the box was comfortably saved by Forest goalkeeper Matt Turner and Wood failed to get his header on target from Serge Aurier’s cross.
Forest went close again on the stroke of half-time when Sangare somehow missed the target from Morgan Gibbs-White’s low ball across the six-yard box.
But the home side broke the deadlock three minutes into the second period. Anthony Elanga threaded a neat through-ball into Wood’s path and the striker provided an emphatic left-footed finish.
Wood should have made it 2-0 moments later when he headed Aurier’s excellent cross inches over before Luton spurned a golden chance to equalise, with Brown heading tamely at Turner from six yards.
Wood appeared to have sealed the points for Steve Cooper’s side with a fine header from Elanga’s pinpoint, inswinging cross with 14 minutes remaining.
But the Hatters refused to lie down. Their appeals for a penalty as Morris went down inside the box were dashed by VAR before Ogbene lashed home a volley from eight yards, which stood after another VAR check.
Still the visitors were not finished.
Tom Lockyer launched a long ball into Forest’s penalty area and Adebayo took it superbly on his chest before firing home to haul his side level in the second minute of added time.
Newcastle 4 Crystal Palace 0
Newcastle warmed up for their Champions League showdown with Borussia Dortmund with a 4-0 Premier League demolition of Crystal Palace as Sandro Tonali returned to action.
The Italy international, who is subject to an investigation into allegations of betting breaches, was introduced as a second-half substitute to warm applause from the locals among a crowd of 52,189 at St James’ Park.
Jacob Murphy’s early strike and further goals from Anthony Gordon and Sean Longstaff before the break put the Magpies in the driving seat and Callum Wilson cemented the points with 24 minutes remaining to send his side into Wednesday night’s clash with Dortmund on Tyneside brimming with confidence.
If Eddie Howe headed home in positive mood, opposite number Roy Hodgson set off on the long journey back to South London reflecting on a bad afternoon for his injury-plagued squad.
Newcastle needed just four minutes to force their way in front, if a little fortuitously, when Kieran Trippier cushioned Fabian Schar’s long pass perfectly into the path of Murphy, who hooked the ball towards Callum Wilson at the far post only to see it loop over keeper Sam Johnstone and into the net – and an offside decision was eventually reversed after a VAR check.
The visitors might have been level almost immediately after Jean-Philippe Mateta got his head to Will Hughes’ corner, but he could not find the target, and Johnstone had to make a solid save to keep out Murphy’s 25th-minute strike from distance.
Gordon went desperately close on the half-hour when he met Murphy’s deflected cross first time and saw his effort come back off the crossbar, and Wilson could not climb high enough at the far post to direct Trippier’s 34th-minute cross at goal three minutes later.
Newcastle were utterly dominant and effectively wrapped up the game with two goals inside three minutes as the first half drew to a close.
First Murphy was allowed to stride forward and cross for Gordon to slide home at the far post with 44 minutes gone and then in stoppage time defender Marc Guehi’s slip served up the ball for Longstaff to steady himself before firing low past the helpless Johnstone.
Palace resumed determined to restore a measure of pride with Jordan Ayew to the fore and they might have reduced the deficit within eight minutes had Schar not thrown himself into the path of Odsonne Edouard’s shot.
Keeper Nick Pope, who had enjoyed a quiet afternoon until that point, had to race from his line to prevent Ayew from running on to Johnstone’s long 61st-minute clearance, and then fielded Cheick Doucoure’s 66th-minute shot comfortably.
Newcastle increased their lead within seconds when Murphy once again found space down the right to cross for the unmarked Wilson, who took a controlling shot before sliding the ball past Johnstone.
That proved to be the striker’s final involvement as he, Kieran Trippier, Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon were replaced by Alexander Isak, Tino Livramento, Tonali and Miguel Almiron, who had a chance to make it 5-0 within five minutes of his arrival, but saw his attempt blocked by Johnstone.
Pope had to claw Edouard’s late free-kick out of his top corner and then blocked substitute Jesurun Rak-Sakyi’s shot at his near post to preserve his clean sheet.
Bournemouth 1 Wolves 2
Sasa Kalajdzic fired a late winner as Wolves completed a 2-1 comeback over 10-man Bournemouth at Vitality Stadium.
Dominic Solanke gave the home support hope of a first win of the season when he handed his side the lead in the first half on ex-Cherries boss Gary O’Neil’s first trip back to his former side.
It was all square two minutes after the break thanks to Matheus Cunha before the afternoon further unravelled for the hosts when Lewis Cook was sent off for a headbutt on Hwang Hee-chan.
Bournemouth had their chances and managed to keep things level until deep into the second period, but the late drama left the Cherries mired in an abysmal start to their campaign.
While O’Neil insisted his first trip back to Bournemouth was strictly business, one could forgive any deja vu he might have experienced standing in the opposite dugout, now managing the team he faced as a first-time Premier League manager last season.
This time it was a Cherries player, not a manager, who marked his Premier League debut with Andoni Iraola handing now-fit summer signing Alex Scott a start.
Both keepers were tested early, the hosts working the ball to David Brooks, who forced Jose Sa into a simple save with a rolling effort from the right.
A flurry of activity at the other end of the pitch soon saw Pedro Neto – making his 100th Premier League appearance – smash an effort off the crossbar, Cunha denied by Cherries keeper Neto, and Hwang – in the hunt for his seventh goal in nine games – nod wide.
With the unrelenting back-and-forth nature of the period still sustained it felt like a goal was imminent, and it soon came via another well-linked sequence beginning with Brooks finding Philip Billing.
The Denmark international slipped the ball to Solanke, who opened the scoring with a backheeled finish from six yards out, the 1-0 advantage standing at the break despite both sides threatening.
Wolves were level less than two minutes after the restart when Cunha fired past a diving Neto and soon it all began to unravel for the hosts, who were down to 10 men after Cook went in for a headbutt on Hwang and was shown a straight red after a VAR review.
The mood in the stadium, bursting with hope after Solanke’s opener, quickly soured as the officials broke up the ensuing fracas, though spirits somewhat lifted when substitute Ryan Christie was able to break loose and force Sa into a low save.
The hosts were given a boost when Neto squandered a late chance by firing his effort over the crossbar.
The Cherries sparked back to life after Dango Ouattara battled to win the ball deep inside Wolves’ half and had chances through Joe Rothwell and Billing, but after deftly defending deep into the second half, saw a potential point slip away when Hwang played through Kalajdzic, who sidefooted in the winner.
Brentford 3 Burnley 0
Ireland’s Nathan Collins kept a clean sheet as Brentford earned a much-needed 3-0 Premier League win over 10-man Burnley.
But there was another VAR issue for Darren England to deal with after Neal Maupay had an early header ruled out.
Goals from Yoane Wissa, Bryan Mbeumo and Saman Ghoddos secured a first home victory of the season for the Bees.
But earlier Brentford striker Maupay saw a first-half goal disallowed after he headed in a cross from Nathan Collins.
Collins was clearly onside when Mbeumo swung in the initial free-kick, while his central-defensive partner Kristoffer Ajer was standing beyond him in an offside position.
But it was Collins who was given offside by VAR Stuart Attwell according to the big screen in the ground, leaving fourth official England – only just returning to Premier League duty after he oversaw the VAR fiasco at Tottenham against Liverpool last month – to face the wrath of Frank.
In fact it was later explained by the PGMOL that Ajer had been given offside, as he was obstructing Lyle Foster.
Luckily there will be no calls to replay this one from Frank, whose side were full value for the win and would have been 4-0 up at half-time were it not for VAR and Clarets goalkeeper James Trafford.
Christian Norgaard saw a shot blocked on the line by Charlie Taylor and Mbeumo’s effort was held by Trafford before Brentford’s pressure told after 25 minutes when Sander Berge lost possession.
Maupay fed the ball out to Mbeumo, whose precise pass across goal was gleefully tapped in at the far post by Wissa.
Maupay’s quest for a goal – he has not scored in the Premier League in more than a year – continued when he found himself one-on-one with Trafford, who got a slight hand to the Frenchman’s shot.
The Brentford fans behind the goal were willing the ball to roll in, but Dara O’Shea got back to hook it off the line.
Trafford then produced a stunning save to deny Wissa from point-blank range before tipping Maupay’s drive over the crossbar.
Brentford have thrown away 11 points from winning positions this season, but there were to be no such jitters this time as they grabbed a second on the hour mark.
Frank Onyeka fed Ajer, who in turn gave Maupay the ball to layback for Mbeumo, who finished superbly into the top corner from the edge of the area.
For Burnley another week in the bottom three beckons, which will come as little surprise if Luca Koleosho’s late miss-of-the-season contender – he somehow sliced wide of an open goal from five yards out – is anything to go by.
Their miserable afternoon was complete when Connor Roberts was sent off late on for bringing down Wissa before Ghaddos put the gloss on Brentford’s win with a long-range volley.
