In complete contrast to the previous week, the weekend saw a ton of action in the Premiership.

The game of the week, perhaps the season so far, was the late game on Saturday when Chelsea and Everton put up nine goals in a fantastic contest. Of course, you can be sure that while it was enjoyable for fans and supporters, managers including those of the two following clubs were definitely not amused.

Chelsea got off to a great start against Everton, scoring with almost comical ease to go up 2-0 after three minutes. One almost feared the game was over at that point but Everton were having none of that, scoring before halftime to trail only 2-1. Everton continued to fight back, scoring two more goals in the second half. Unfortunately Chelsea scored four more as both sides simply refused to stop scoring. Add in a confrontation between players as Everton keeper Tim Howard took issue with Chelsea striker Diego Costa taunting a defender after scoring, and it was as action-packed as you could get.

Incredibly, two fortuitous deflections led to two of Chelsea's second-half goals - one off an Everton defender that was almost parallel with the goal, and the other a curved shot that squeezed in between defenders and off the post into the net.

Crystal Palace and Newcastle played out a six-goal thriller themselves. The scoring started right from the start as Crystal Palace scored in the first minute and went on until the very end when Newcastle equalized in the fifth minute of added time to end it 3-3.

Manchester City did an about-turn in their Saturday game. After looking frightening in a rampant 3-1 victory over Liverpool five days ago, City then went down 1-0 to modest Stoke. The game-winner was a magnificent effort from Stoke player Mame Biram Diouf, who collected the ball in his own half and raced all the way to the opposite end, eluding two defenders and hitting it past City keeper Joe Hart.

However, there was disappointment for Arsenal and Manchester United which both seemed like they didn't get the script about thrilling games. Both of these illustrious sides picked up a point in their respective games, against sides both were expected to beat.

Manchester United had a 0-0 draw with Premiership newcomers Burnley, even with record 59.7 million pound ­signing Angel di Maria making his debut for the Red ­Devils. United have yet to register a win this season, this being their successive second Premiership draw, having started their ­season with defeat.

Meanwhile Arsenal have got to be angry with themselves after letting Leicester, another just-promoted side, come back in a 1-1 tie. Arsenal went ahead with a goal from Alexis Sanchez, their big signing this summer, only for Leicester to equalize in minutes. This continues a worrying trend for the Gunners this season of drawing or winning tight games. They'd beaten Besiktas in midweek to advance to the Champions League group stage with a narrow 1-0 win after having played a 0-0 draw in the first leg, as well as come back from 2-0 down to draw against Everton a week before.

It's good the Gunners have yet to lose, but they could do with an emphatic win soon, which might be hard since their next opponent will be City.

The author is an editor with the Global Times. hiltonyip@globaltimes.com.cn