The goals came flooding in this weekend, as there were surprise wins and late drama a plenty. The big match was Chelsea-Arsenal but first Manchester United’s response to last week.

Everton 0-1 Manchester United

Clearly the big question going into this one was how United would come back after their embarrassing performance last time out against Man City. They got the win against Everton, but weren’t necessarily convincing in the process. Chicharito got the goal in the same way he gets most of his goals, by just being in the right place at the right time. This game was up for grabs and United’s defense looked rusty still. The most notable chance for Everton was a Leighton Baines free kick that shook the crossbar. The home fans left disappointed as it stayed at 1-0.

Chelsea 3-5 Arsenal

This was the most glamorous match-up of the weekend and it was safe to say it did not disappoint. This was an incredibly open game with both defenses not looking very good. Fernando Torres was coming back from suspension but it was Frank Lampard who got the opening goal of this thriller after a perfect Juan Mata cross. Then the goals started to flow. First Robin van Persie leveled for Arsenal before John Terry made it 2-1 at halftime. Andre Santos made it 2-2 then for the Gunners. Theo Walcott scored a goal to make a running back proud as he trucked on after being knocked over and split the defense before powering in a shot past Petr Cech. Mata came back and tied for Chelsea at 3-3. It was RVP’s day again though as he got two more to win it: the first thanks to a Terry slip and the second on a counter attack with Chelsea pressing forward. Don’t look now, but here comes Arsenal.

Manchester City 3-1 Wolves

This was just another professional win and performance from the City machine. It was 0-0 at halftime but you could feel the home side coming on. They got the first goal thanks to a Wayne Hennessey goalkeeping mistake that saw the ball fall right to Edin Dzeko who tucked it away for the lead. David Silva then had a snap shot saved but it fell right to Alex Kolarov who tapped in for 2-0. Wolves gained a huge boost when City captain Vincent Kompany was sent off and Stephen Hunt scored the ensuing penalty. Adam Johnson made sure that City would take the three points, however, with a blast in stoppage time.

Norwich 3-3 Blackburn

This six-goal thriller saw the two teams split the spoils 3-3. One of my favorite players in the league, David Hoilett, got the only goal of the first half on a great solo effort. Steve Morrison would equalize for Norwich early in the second half, but Yakubu then Chris Samba made it 3-1 to Blackburn. Norwich fought on and got one back in the 81’ through Bradley Johnson via a wicked deflection. The match looked over until a handball on a set piece gave Grant Holt the chance to get a draw from the penalty spot. He took that chance and Carrow Road erupted.

Sunderland 2-2 Aston Villa

Both of these clubs haven’t quite found their identity this season. Stilyian Petrov scored on a sick curler to give Villa the lead but youngster, Connor Wickham, made it one all for Sunderland. A pair of headers, first from Villa’s Richard Dunne, the second from the Black Cat’s Stephane Sessegnon, made this final scoreline 2-2.

Swansea 3-1 Bolton

Swansea picked up a nice home win against the lowly Bolton. Brendan Rodger’s side played good football and it helped when Ricardo Gardner was sent off for a second yellow. Joe Allen scored the first goal and drew a penalty, which Scott Sinclair put away for 2-0. Danny Graham then scored twice, once for Bolton on an own goal and once for his side, to see this one out, 3-1.

Wigan 0-2 Fulham

American Clint Dempsey gave Fulham the lead early on. Roberto Matinez’s Wigan is on a terrible run right now and Moussa Dembele made it worse when he scored for 2-0 to pick up the away win.

West Brom 0-2 Liverpool

Manager Kenny Dalglish decided to try out the Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll combo up front for Liverpool again. It wasn’t necessarily pretty but you could say that it worked. Suarez was central to everything Liverpool did and it was he who drew the penalty that was undoubtedly questionable. Charlie Adam put said penalty away and it was 1-0. Carroll, who has come under some criticism for his play recently, popped up just before halftime and got the second goal on a nice finish after a poor first touch. West Brom threw plenty of men forward in the second half but the Reds held on for a clean sheet and three points.

Tottenham 3-1 QPR

This match felt like one that Gareth Bale would go off in. The winger did just that as Tottenham continually attacked down the left flank, exploiting the QPR defense. The Welshman got the first goal for Spurs while fellow left-footer, Rafael van der Vaart, continued his scoring streak for the second. There were more good passing moves from Spurs but QPR started to play with them in the second half. Eventually a goal came out of QPR’s play, thanks to Jay Bothroyd, on a set piece. Much like Manchester City, though, Spurs would slam any comeback door shut when Bale got his second after some more excellent passing.

Stoke 1-3 Newcastle

The Newcastle revolution just may be for real and Demba Ba may be their leader. Alan Pardew’s men won again, this time at Stoke where nobody has an easy game. It was Ba’s hat trick that sealed the points while Jon Walters got a consolation goal for Stoke.

This week’s team of the week is Arsenal and their captain Robin van Persie was good enough to pick up player of the week.  RVP scored three more goals to bring his tally to 28 in the last 27 Premier League games. He is on fire and Arsenal is starting to look pretty good. So are their North London neighbors, Tottenham, as well as new boys, Swansea and Norwich. This season is starting to shape up and the matches are becoming bigger and bigger.