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STAMFORD BRIDGE. — Liverpool retained their five-point lead at the top of the table as they became the first team to win their opening six Premier League games in successive seasons with a fiercely-fought 2-1 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Jurgen Klopp’s title pace-setters looked on course to win in comfort as Trent Alexander-Arnold’s magnificent free-kick and Roberto Firmino’s header gave them complete control at the interval.

Chelsea, who had been denied an equaliser when Cesar Azpilicueta’s close-range effort was ruled out for offside by VAR, were in no mood to capitulate and made Liverpool fight every inch of the way to maintain that perfect record.

Tammy Abraham had chances to increase his tally of seven goals this season, particularly when he was denied by Liverpool keeper Adrian when clean through in the first half, but it was left to N’Golo Kante to set up a grandstand finish with a superb strike with 19 minutes to play. Liverpool remain unstoppable in their Premier League duel with Manchester City after one of those victories all potential champions will need to secure if they are to claim the big prize at the end of the season.

Jurgen Klopp’s side have made a habit of unleashing an attacking blitz on opponents in a remarkable run of only one league loss since the start of last season, their winning sequence now extended to 15 games.

Meanwhile, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s stunning free-kick helped 10-man Arsenal come from behind to beat Aston Villa 3-2 in a pulsating encounter at Emirates Stadium.

Aubameyang curled home his seventh goal of the season with six minutes remaining to complete a remarkable turnaround for the Gunners, who had Ainsley Maitland-Niles sent off after 41 minutes.

John McGinn flicked home Anwar El Ghazi’s cross to put Villa ahead after 20 minutes before Maitland-Niles was shown a second yellow card for a rash challenge on Neil Taylor.

Arsenal levelled early in the second period thanks to Nicolas Pepe’s first goal for the club from the penalty spot only for Wesley to restore Villa’s lead from Jack Grealish’s low cross less than two minutes later.

Elsewhere, Goals from Andriy Yarmolenko and Aaron Cresswell earned West Ham their second successive 2-0 home win against Manchester United, who lost striker Marcus Rashford with a groin injury in the second half.

Yarmolenko opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time, sending a low finish past David de Gea following patient build-up play involving Mark Noble and Felipe Anderson.

The result lifts West Ham above the Red Devils in the Premier League table, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side remain three points off the top four and without an away league win since February.

And Wolves head coach Nuno Espirito Santo says his team’s dramatic 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace is the “starting point” for their Premier League recovery. Wolves appeared set for a fourth consecutive defeat across all competitions until Diogo Jota’s stoppage-time goal rescued a point. Despite the draw, they remain 19th and remain winless after six top-flight matches but the nature of their fightback — completed in the 96th minute and made more difficult by Romain Saiss’s dismissal for two yellow cards — has given Nuno optimism.

“This is a starting point. What we did in the first half, lets try to do over and over again.”— BBC Sport.