The Premier League is back after the World Cup break – and the first day of fixtures has delivered in spades.
Antonio Conte hailed Harry Kane’s character after the England captain recovered from his World Cup heartache to help Tottenham rescue a 2-2 draw at Brentford, before a bonkers finish saw Everton stunned by a counter-attack on the final kick of the game.
Meanwhile Newcastle climbed to second place with a 3-0 win at Leicester, before an 18-year-old came off the bench to seal a wild win for Liverpool.
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In the first Premier League fixture since the World Cup break in mid-November, Tottenham were in danger of a damaging defeat after Vitaly Janelt and Ivan Toney put Brentford in command at the Community Stadium.
Janelt fired home after 15 minutes with a close-range finish after Tottenham keeper Fraser Forster spilt Mathias Jensen’s shot.
Toney struck from close-range in the 54th minute from Christian Norgaard’s flick on.
But Kane netted with a 65th minute header to start the Tottenham recovery in his first game since missing a crucial penalty in England’s World Cup quarter-final defeat against France.
Brentford have not beaten Tottenham since 1948 and their long wait for a victory over the north Londoners goes on after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg curled home with 19 minutes left.
Tottenham boss Conte praised England captain Kane for his contribution following his World Cup disappointment.
“When he came back he was good. We know the importance of Harry for us, his personality, his character. He’s the best player we have. I’m happy that he scored today,” Conte said.
“Since last season we have made a good step. Now we have to continue to push ourselves. It is not easy. We have shown big character,” Conte said.
Tottenham stay fourth in the table, four points ahead of fifth-placed Manchester United in the race to qualify for the Champions League.
CRAZY FINISH AT GOODISON
Everton suffered a damaging 2-1 defeat against relegation rivals Wolves as Rayan Ait-Nouri struck in final seconds for the visitors at Goodison Park.
Yerry Mina gave Everton a seventh minute lead when the Colombia defender headed home from Dwight McNeil’s corner.
Wolves levelled midway through the first half as Joao Moutinho’s cross was volleyed in by Daniel Podence.
Ait-Nouri poked home from close range after Everton failed to deal with a counter-attack in the fifth minute of stoppage-time.
Third bottom Wolves now sit only one point behind fourth bottom Everton, whose manager Frank Lampard is under increasing pressure.
Liverpool got off to the flying start they craved on the Premier League’s return from the World Cup as a 3-1 win at Aston Villa on Monday cut the gap on the top four to five points.
Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk put the Reds in a commanding position before half-time.
But Jurgen Klopp’s men had to endure some nervy moments in the second half after Ollie Watkins pulled a goal back for Villa before teenager Stefan Bajcetic came off the bench to secure the three points with his first senior goal.
Liverpool struggled to match their standards of recent seasons during the first part of the season, but looked refreshed to inflict Unai Emery’s first league defeat since taking charge of Villa.
Salah is one of a number of Klopp’s key players who was not involved in Qatar and took just five minutes to net his 15th goal of the season.
The Egyptian swept home Andy Roberson’s pass after Trent Alexander-Arnold’s through ball had opened up the Villa defence.
Emery’s men were left to rue a host of big chances to get immediately back on level terms as Liverpool showed no sign of remedying their defensive issues so far this season.
But Villa refused to accept their fate in a breathless second half.
Watkins made one of his more difficult chances count with a brilliant header back across goal to halve Villa’s arrears.
Liverpool’s relative lack of strength in depth compared to their competitors for a place in the top four was exposed by Klopp needing to turn to two teenagers off the bench as 17-year-old Ben Doak also made his first Premier League appearance.
But 18-year-old Bajcetic showed a maturity beyond his years with a calm finish after Nunez had been denied once more by Olsen.
MAGPIES INTO SECOND
Newcastle are three points ahead of Tottenham as their unexpected push for a top four finish gathers pace.
The Magpies, revitalised by boss Eddie Howe since their Saudi-backed takeover, were ahead with less than three minutes on the clock when Chris Wood converted a penalty awarded for Daniel Amartey’s foul on Joelinton.
Newcastle doubled their lead in sublime fashion in the sixth minute as Miguel Almiron played a one-two with Bruno Guimaraes and slotted past Danny Ward for his eighth goal in his last eight league games.
Joelinton headed home from a corner in the 32nd minute as Newcastle made it six successive league victories — their best run in the competition since 2012.
Newcastle are now just four points behind leaders Arsenal, who host London rivals West Ham later on Monday.
Southampton slipped to the bottom of the table after a 3-1 home defeat against south-coast rivals Brighton.
Adam Lallana headed Brighton in front against his former club in the 14th minute and Romain Perraud’s own goal increased the lead 10 minutes before halftime.
Brighton struck again early in the second half through Solly March’s long-range blast.
James Ward-Prowse reduced the deficit on the rebound after his penalty was saved by Robert Sanchez, but it wasn’t enough to avoid defeat in boss Nathan Jones’ first home league game in charge.
Fulham won 3-0 at nine-man Crystal Palace, who had Tyrick Mitchell and James Tomkins sent off.
Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Tim Ream and Aleksandar Mitrovic scored Fulham’s goals.
