CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Brandon Pirri in a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday, reuniting the forward with his first NHL team.

The Blackhawks sent Dylan Sikura to Vegas for the 29-year-old Pirri, who split last season between the Golden Knights and Chicago of the American Hockey League. The forward had two assists in 16 games with Vegas, and 15 goals and 20 assists in 38 games with Chicago.

Pirri was selected by the Blackhawks in the second round of the 2009 draft and made his NHL debut with the club in 2010. He had a career-high 22 goals for Florida during the 2014-15 season.

Pirri is signed through the 2020-21 season with a salary-cap hit of $775,000.

The 25-year-old Sikura had one goal and 13 assists in 47 games with Chicago over the past three seasons. He was a sixth-round pick by the Blackhawks in 2014.

A replica of Tiger Woods’ famed Scotty Cameron Newport 2 putter sold for $154,928 at auction on Saturday.

The putter was created as an exact-match backup for Woods, in case something happened to his original Scotty Cameron Newport 2, a putter Woods has used to win 14 of his 15 major titles.

It went up for sale on Golden Age Auctions, which sold Jack Nicklaus’ Rolex earlier this year. That watch sold for $1.22 million. Tiger's backup putter went for a shade under $155K, the most ever paid for a putter.

A previous “backup” Scotty Cameron Newport 2 putter sold for just under $90,000 last year. Each model has slight alterations from the original, but the version that most recently sold was closest to the real thing in grip, insignia and stamping.

Woods still owns the original model and continues to use it during competition.

Liverpool rallied from a goal down to beat Arsenal 3-1 in the Premier League at Anfield on Monday night to maintain their 100% start to the season.

Arsenal took the lead in the 25th minute when Alexandre Lacazette pounced on a poor clearance by Andrew Robertson and beat Alisson to make it 1-0.

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Minutes later, Liverpool were back on level terms, though, as Sadio Mane tapped home from close range after Bernd Leno parried a Mohamed Salah shot into his teammate's path.

Robertson made amends for his earlier mistake with a goal to put Liverpool ahead at the break, settling a lovely cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold with his chest and clipping the ball past Leno for the 2-1 lead.

Lacazette saw a golden opportunity to draw level just past the hour mark, but Alisson stood tall at the top of his penalty area to deny the Frenchman after he'd broken in on goal.

With full-time approaching, new arrival Diogo Jota marked his Premier League debut with a classy finish, controlling a short Arsenal clearance at the top of the area and nailing a low volley into the net to secure the three points.

"[We were] dominant against a team in form and careful as hell that we did not get caught on the counter-attack," said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

"Alisson had to make one save, they had two chances in behind but apart from that the football we played was exceptional tonight."

The result puts Liverpool level on nine points with pacesetters Everton and Leicester City atop the Premier League table, while Arsenal, who won their first two games, have now gone 28 games without a win away from home against "Big Six" opposition.

Nonetheless, Gunners manager Mikel Arteta took encouragement from the result.

"We were in the game for a big part of the game. The reality is they are superior to us in many aspects. You could see that in some phases," said the Spaniard.

"I'm really happy in the way the team competed and kept believing. This is the standard we have to reach. We are on a different journey. They've been together five years, we've had a few months."

The two sides meet again on Thursday in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup (stream live on ESPN+ at 2:45 p.m. ET in the U.S.).

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp hit back at television pundit and former Manchester United captain Roy Keane after the Irishman described the Premier League champions' defending in a 3-1 win over Arsenal on Monday as "sloppy."

Liverpool have won all three of their league games so far this season, beating visiting Leeds United 4-3 and winning 2-0 at Chelsea, but while praising Klopp's side Keane said they had shown the ability to win while not being perfect in defending.

"Strangely enough if you look at Liverpool, they have been sloppy against Leeds, OK done well against Chelsea, sloppy again tonight, but they have got nine points, maximum points, so they will know they need to improve," noted Keane.

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"It looks like they are capable of winning football matches without being at their best and that is a sign of a good team."

But Klopp pounced on Keane's comments.

"Did I hear it right, that Mr. Keane said it was a sloppy performance tonight?" asked the German coach as he began a post-match interview with Sky Sports. "I could hear you already, did he say that?"

After Keane attempted to explain his remarks, Klopp continued.

"I just wanted to hear it. I'm not sure I heard it right, maybe he was speaking about another game... it cannot be this game, sorry!" said Klopp, to the delight of Liverpool fans on social media, who relished the strong riposte to an old rival.

"That is an incredible description of this game, that was absolutely exceptional. Nothing was sloppy, absolutely nothing.

"Alisson had to make one save, they had two balls in behind, you cannot avoid that. You need a goalie in these situations. Apart from that, the football we played was absolutely exceptional tonight.

"About this game tonight, there is nothing bad to say. It was the opposite of sloppy."

Arsenal had taken the lead through Alexandre Lacazette after a poor miscontrol from Andy Robertson in his own area and the French striker could have equalised in the second half when he was one-on-one against Alisson.

Keane, known as a tough tackling player and tough talking pundit, appeared a little amused by Klopp's reaction.

"Very sensitive, Jesus. Imagine if he'd lost?" he said.

One negative for the night for Liverpool's was confirmation that new midfield signing Thiago Alcantara will miss their next two games.

The Spaniard was signed from Bayern Munich earlier this month and made his debut against Chelsea last week but was not in the squad for Monday's win.

"After the international break he will be fine, for sure," Klopp told Sky Sports after the Premier League match.

"That's the situation in the moment. He is not fit enough to be involved today, but that's it."

Liverpool's website reported that his absence was due to a "minor fitness issue."

There is a new No. 1 in this week's edition of MLS Power Rankings, with Columbus' stumble against Toronto clearing the path for the youthful Philadelphia Union to become kings of the league. At the other end, Thierry Henry's Montreal lost twice in a week to fall 10 places down the order.

1. Philadelphia Union

Previous ranking: 2

Next MLS match: Saturday at Toronto, 7:30 p.m. ET

A scoreless draw at Cincinnati in midweek was underwhelming, but the Union rebounded to rain on the parade of Gonzalo Higuain's MLS debut in a dominant 3-0 win as the heavens opened in Philadelphia, providing a deluge of precipitation and goals. Twenty-year-old Anthony Fontana and 19-year-old Brenden Aaronson chipped in with a goal each as the league's model academy continues to power its strongest club.

2. Toronto FC

Previous ranking: 5

Next MLS match: Saturday vs. Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m. ET

Toronto moved just two points off the lead in the race for the Supporters' Shield by knocking off Eastern Conference contenders NYCFC and then league-leading Columbus. Alejandro Pozuelo scored in both of the pivotal wins, serving a reminder that the 29-year-old is very much in the race for this year's Landon Donovan MVP award.

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3. Columbus Crew

Previous ranking: 1

Next MLS match: Saturday at Dallas, 8:30 p.m. ET

The Crew's three-week reign on top of MLS Power Rankings came to an end following their 3-1 defeat to Toronto -- the most goals that the league's best defense has conceded in a single game all season.

4. Orlando City

Previous ranking: 4

Next MLS match: Saturday vs. Red Bulls, 4:30 p.m. ET

Orlando took four points from two trips in the span of four days, beating Sporting KC 2-1 before settling for a 0-0 draw in Dallas. For a club that's never made the MLS Cup playoffs, Oscar Pareja & Co. are 10 points clear of the East's final postseason place.

5. Portland Timbers

Previous ranking: 8

Next MLS match: Saturday vs. Colorado, 11 p.m. ET

A couple of tense 1-0 wins -- including an always-satisfying triumph over the Sounders -- have the Timbers tied for the top spot in the West. Gio Savarese was able to rotate his squad, too, which is always a nice thing.

6. Seattle Sounders

Previous ranking: 3

Next MLS match: Saturday vs. Vancouver, 10 p.m. ET

The Sounders bounced back from their midweek disappointment against the Timbers with an emphatic away win against the Galaxy. Jordan Morris continued his fine season with a goal and an assist.

7. New York City FC

Previous ranking: 6

Next MLS match: Saturday at Miami, 8 p.m. ET

Heber tore his ACL in Wednesday's 1-0 loss to Toronto, so NYCFC will be without their No. 9 for the remainder of the season, but the club's depth in attack picked up the slack as Alexandru Mitrita netted twice and Jesus Medina added another in a 4-0 win over Cincinnati. They'll need that to continue if the Bronx side is to make a playoff run.

8. New England Revolution

Previous ranking: 13

Next MLS match: Saturday vs. Nashville, 7:30 p.m. ET

The wins came against strugglers D.C. and Montreal, so take them with a grain of salt, but those results have given the Revs some separation from those sides fighting for their postseason lives.

9. FC Dallas

Previous ranking: 7

Next MLS match: Saturday vs. Columbus, 8:30 p.m. ET

FCD manager Luchi Gonzalez managed to avoid defeat against his old mentor Oscar Pareja, but a 1-0 loss earlier in the week against Atlanta is a bad result. The attack continues to be feast or famine for Dallas.

10. Colorado Rapids

Previous ranking: 16

Next MLS match: Saturday at Portland, 11 p.m. ET

The Rapids walloped San Jose 5-0, only for three staff and one player to test positive COVID-19. Here's hoping that all involved recover quickly and get back on the job soon.

11. New York Red Bulls

Previous ranking: 22

Next MLS match: Saturday at Orlando, 4:30 p.m. ET

After losing three of four, the Red Bulls outscored Miami and Montreal 8-2 for a crucial six-point haul. That those wins saw six different goal scorers provides further evidence that New York is still without a focal point for an inconsistent attack.

12. Nashville SC

Previous ranking: 17

Next MLS match: Saturday at New England, 7:30 p.m. ET

With four points from games against D.C. and Houston, Nashville has lost just once -- to Supporters' Shield leader Columbus -- in five September fixtures. Daniel Rios, who scored the Music City side's lone goals in the win over D.C. and draw with Houston, makes him the expansion side's leading scorer with two.

13. Real Salt Lake

Previous ranking: 20

Next MLS match: Sunday vs. LAFC, 9:30 p.m. ET

RSL looked to have a pair of tough matchups against the Galaxy at home and Minnesota on the road, and still managed to pick up four points. Goalkeeper Andrew Putna was sharp in the 0-0 draw against the Loons.

14. Minnesota United

Previous ranking: 14

Next MLS match: Saturday vs. Cincinnati, 8 p.m. ET

There was no disgrace in losing 2-1 against Columbus, but disappointment was the byword after creating more of the chances in the 0-0 draw against RSL. Kei Kamara is still awaiting his first MNUFC goal.

15. LA Galaxy

Previous ranking: 9

Next MLS match: Saturday at San Jose, 10:30 p.m. ET

The Galaxy have scored just one goal in their past four games, and just three with Chicharito on the field (compared to 10 against) this season. Sure, it's a team game, but Chicharito's production hasn't been anything near what was expected.

16. LAFC

Previous ranking: 17

Next MLS match: Sunday at Salt Lake, 9:30 p.m. ET

The Black and Gold's season of inconsistency continued after a blowout win against Vancouver and then falling apart in a 2-1 home loss to San Jose. Meanwhile, Brian Rodriguez has one goal in 22 league and playoff appearances. LAFC desperately needs some end product from the attacker.

17. Houston Dynamo

Previous ranking: 11

Next MLS match: Saturday vs. Kansas City, 8 p.m. ET

The Dynamo's winless streak has hit five after getting torched by the Fire and tying Nashville on the road. Matters would be even worse if Maynor Figueroa hadn't popped up for his second equalizer in as many weeks.

18. Sporting Kansas City

Previous ranking: 12

Next MLS match: Saturday at Houston, 8 p.m. ET

A chance to get three points at Colorado will have to wait after a cluster of COVID-19 cases within the Rapids team, which means the home defeat to Orlando will stick in the craw for a bit longer. For those counting: just one win in the past seven for SKC.

19. Chicago Fire

Previous ranking: 24

Next MLS match: Saturday at Montreal, 7:30 p.m. ET

Having scored twice in his first 10 appearances, DP striker Robert Beric has scored in each of his past four appearances, including Wednesday's 4-0 romp over Houston and Saturday's 2-0 win over Atlanta.

20. Montreal Impact

Previous ranking: 10

Next MLS match: Saturday vs. Chicago, 7:30 p.m. ET

Last week Montreal lost twice by a combined scoreline of 7-2 and followed it up with a 3-1 defeat at the Red Bulls and a 4-1 capitulation in New England. The Impact have just one win in September, conceding 18 goals in seven contests.

21. San Jose Earthquakes

Previous ranking: 26

Next MLS match: Saturday vs. LA Galaxy, 10:30 p.m. ET

After a 5-0 defeat in midweek to Colorado, another blowout seemed in the offing against LAFC. Credit the Quakes for a 2-1 fightback thanks to Jackson Yueill's ridiculous finish for the game winner.

22. Vancouver Whitecaps

Previous ranking: 19

Next MLS match: Saturday at Seattle, 10 p.m. ET

After the 'Caps got smashed by LAFC last Wednesday, they pushed the Timbers to the limit -- in a "home" game at Providence Park -- but it wasn't enough. Still, Vancouver is just three points outside the playoff places.

23. Inter Miami CF

Previous ranking: 18

Next MLS match: Saturday vs. NYCFC, 8 p.m. ET

Gonzalo Higuain's debut will be remembered for a missed penalty and an ensuing near-brawl as Miami looked as lifeless as ever in attack, falling 3-0 at Philadelphia on the heels of being on the wrong end of a 4-1 rout at home against the Red Bulls.

24. Atlanta United

Previous ranking: 25

Next MLS match: Saturday at D.C. United, 7 p.m. ET

Wednesday's 1-0 win over Dallas was the first victory of the month for Atlanta, but followed it up with a 2-0 defeat in Chicago. The Five Stripes have scored more than a single goal in any games just twice since MLS play resumed in July, both times against expansion side Nashville.

25. FC Cincinnati

Previous ranking: 21

Next MLS match: Saturday at Minnesota, 8 p.m. ET

Cincinnati was shut out by Philadelphia and NYCFC, collecting a point from its pair of games last week. In the nine games since returning from the MLS is Back bubble in Orlando, Cincy has scored just two goals.

26. D.C. United

Previous ranking: 23

Next MLS match: Saturday vs. Atlanta, 7 p.m. ET

Defeats to Nashville and New England leave D.C. at the foot of the league table. United have won just once since March. With the utmost respect to Ben Olsen and his decade in charge of the club, his seat surely must be getting warmer than would be comfortable right now. The same goes for GM Dave Kasper.

There were wild results in the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga, Lionel Messi was back in action, Luis Suarez excelled for Atletico Madrid -- which feels weird to type -- and we had handball controversies galore in England.

It's Monday, and Gab Marcotti reacts to the biggest moments in the sport of football from the past week.

Jump to: Brilliant weekend of soccer | Stop bemoaning handball laws | Unpacking Bayern's shock loss | Man City's defence fails again | Lessons from Roma-Juve | Fati fabulous for Barca | Man United need depth at the back | Real won't get lucky every week | Chelsea, Lampard have work to do | Suarez' super Atletico debut | Ribery shines vs. Inter | Mourinho's flawed "respect" argument | And finally...

Stop complaining about VAR: Soccer was brilliant this weekend

Take a breath. Go on, it's fine. Forty-eight hours of football -- oh, and there's still Arsenal and Liverpool to go on Monday night -- has likely left you exhausted. For better, if you like upsets, moments of magic and intense slug 'em outs, and for worse -- if your team lost, or if you're one of those doomsday merchants who thinks the "new" handball law (which isn't actually "new") spells the end of the game as we know it.

That's fine. We'll get to the handball issue in the next segment, but first, a reminder of what else happened. Because this is what makes the game at once magical and unpredictable, engrossing and exhausting, enthralling and infuriating, but, most of all, addictive.

We saw two stoppage-time goals and a Manchester United smash-and-grab 3-2 win at Brighton. Borussia Dortmund's Young Guns silenced in a 2-0 defeat at Augsburg. Atalanta picking up where they left off with four goals in their Serie A opener at Torino. Everton making it three wins in a row, their best start since the 1970s, with a 2-1 result at Crystal Palace.

Free-spending Chelsea conceding three goals in 27 minutes to go 0-3 down at West Brom (and then come back to draw 3-3). Inter scoring twice in the final three minutes to come back and complete a 4-3 win over Fiorentina. Real Madrid's VAR-assisted late comeback against Betis, sealed by a Sergio Ramos "Panenka" penalty, no less.

And that was just Saturday.

Sunday brought us Spurs dominating and dropping two points in stoppage time, thanks to that pesky handball interpretation, vs. Newcastle. Bayern getting thumped 4-1 by Hoffenheim (!), their first defeat since Dec. 7, 2019 (32 games in all competitions). Atletico Madrid putting six (no, that's not a misprint, and neither is "Atletico Madrid") past Granada, with Luis Suarez delivering a 24-minute cameo that saw him bag two goals and set up another. Manchester City turning a comfortable 1-0 lead late in the first half at home to Leicester into a 2-5 debacle.

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Roma -- a goal up and a man up vs. Juventus -- dropping another two points as Cristiano Ronaldo once again defies gravity. Ronald Koeman winning 4-0 on his La Liga debut as Barcelona manager, thanks largely not to Lionel Messi (all eyes on him given his reaction to Suarez' departure) but with two goals from his heir apparent, Ansu Fati. Oh, and Neymar making his return for Paris Saint-Germain.

Those, of course, are just results. You want magic? Let me steer you to Frank Ribery's assist for Federico Chiesa, Jamie Vardy's near-post flick for Leicester's second goal, Mikel Merino's pass to Portu, Mateus Pereira's backheel flick -- there are plenty more. You can find your own.

I'm dizzy just recounting this. Let it be a reaffirmation that this sport won't be felled by something as mundane as the interpretation of handball. That the next grouch who grumbles about how X-Y-Z is "killing our game" (sorry, your game?) deserves a boot to the head, time-travel back to April when there was no football of any kind or, if you're charitable, a hot toddy, because clearly they've stayed up well beyond their bed time.

Game is not "gone" because of VAR-assisted handball calls

If you think this game is dead or dying because of the handball rule, you've got issues.

You don't have to like it, but you should, I think, be aware of its origins and, above all, that this is no some imposition from above. And yes, this is directed at you, pundits in the Premier League bubble -- it's not new and it wasn't designed by outsider to wreck what makes English football great.

The law was modified by FIFA's International Board (IFAB), a body that is 50% made up of the Welsh, English, Northern Irish and Scottish FAs and whose technical director, David Elleray, is English and an experienced former referee. The "guardians of the game," in other words.

They were responding to calls from clubs, managers and players asking for consistency, and so they largely took the notion of "intent" out because, since referees aren't mind-readers, determining "intent" is tricky. We can all recount obvious cases; it's the marginal ones that get people really riled up, with referees abused, threatened and doxxed.

And incidentally, this isn't a new thing. The guidelines were introduced before the 2019-20 season, with the Premier League even issuing a statement to that regard. Except the referees' association (PGMOL) decided to do things their way (a bit like they decided not to have on-field reviews) and basically ignored it most of last season. Other leagues applied it, and results were very mixed. Serie A in particular saw an absurd proliferation of handball penalties that resulted in referee chief, Nicola Rizzoli, reminding officials at the start of this season that they still had "discretion."

"Our goal is to allow defenders to defend without turning into penguins [with hands behind their back]," he said. "We can't rob a defender of the possibility of making an instinctive gesture; if you can't pull your arm away, you can't punish the handball. Every situation has to be adjudicated and discretion has to be applied."

Oh, what's that? You didn't know referees still had discretion? Well, you wouldn't based on the hysterical reaction of the past 24 hours, with blame falling on the laws themselves rather than the officials' interpretation.

All the handball law does is clarify that the ball touching the arm/hand is punishable if it makes the body "unnaturally bigger," or if the arm/hand is "above or beyond" shoulder level when it hits the arm/hand. It's up to the referee to judge this.

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My take on the two handballs that got everybody riled up?

Joel Ward's arm was away from his body in Crystal Palace vs. Everton, and he wasn't running or moving. That's probably a penalty, and that's how the referee saw it. He does turn towards the ball and his arm comes out. I'm happy for the referee to use his discretion there.

As for Eric Dier in the Spurs-Newcastle game, his arm is up above his head. Sure, his back is turned, but if you believe it strikes his arm "above or beyond" shoulder level, then it's a penalty. And, no, this notion that you can't jump without raising your arms way above your head is just nonsense. If you can see the Dier incident, you can also see Andy Carroll jumping (higher than Dier, in fact) without his arms flailing maniacally above his head. (That said, Dier may have been pushed. If so, it shouldn't be a handball, but again, that's a call for the referee to make.)

In both cases, referees had discretion and judgement calls to make within the framework of the Laws of the Game. In both cases, they could have made different decisions. In both cases, for whatever reason, we've gone with the hysterical narrative that, somehow, PGMOL, under pressure (from FIFA, from the Illuminati, from aliens in Mike Riley's head) have forced them to make foolish, nonsensical decisions.

Regardless, you may not like this interpretation, but it's there for a reason. And guess what? Players will adapt. Just as they adapted to the back-pass rule, the tackle-from-behind rule, the "don't-barge-into-the-goalkeeper-like-you're-Nat-Lofthouse" rule. Just as athletes in other sports adapted to rule changes.

The only issues here are that, because the PGMOL ignored this last season, the Premier League has had a year less to adapt and because the discretion part of it hasn't been fully explained, the media and commentariat treat it like some sort of dogma.

The game isn't "gone." It will be just fine, thank you. Everything else we witnessed this past weekend is evidence of that.

Bayern Munich finally lose! (And this could easily happen again)

So after 295 days, Bayern Munich have finally lost a game. That part itself really shouldn't be a concern; heck, but for Manuel Neuer donning his superhero cape on Thursday night against Sevilla in the Supercup in the final minutes of regular time, their first loss might have come a couple days back.

That said, the 4-1 defeat at Hoffenheim is notable nonetheless. Some of the mistakes we saw -- from Benjamin Pavard, from Jerome Boateng -- are the sort you see when a team is mentally worn down. And given we're just two matchdays into a new season (albeit one that, for Bayern, began just 26 days after the last one ended), that has to be a concern.

I wrote last week how this side is still lacking in depth after the summer departures. If I were really mischievous, I'd wonder if Hansi Flick's decision to rest Robert Lewandowski and Leon Goretzka for Joshua Zirkzee and Corentin Tolisso was his way of reminding the powers-that-be that, yes, they're still short.

Man City's poor defending hurts them a lot vs. Leicester

Half an hour into Manchester City's clash with Leicester Sunday and with Pep Guardiola's crew 1-0 up, I was pretty confident that this was only go one way. Boy, was I wrong. When the dust settled, Leicester had emerged as 5-2 victors, and Jamie Vardy had notched a hat trick. (Fun fact: only two men have ever scored three against a Guardiola side: Lionel Messi is one and Vardy is the other, except he's now done it twice.)

I should have known better because this was foreshadowed on Monday night against Wolves. Man City had the upper hand and then wilted after the break, and while they won that game, it would have been no crime if Wolves had scored three or even four.

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Guardiola had to contend with the absence of seven players, and that is a mitigating factor. But, equally, the idea of Raheem Sterling up front on his own against three central defenders simply didn't work. You almost wonder if, with Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero unavailable, he might not have been better off with the youngster Liam Delap, who at least has presence and physicality and might have opened up some spaces.

It was a similar story in midfield. Playing Rodri and Fernandinho together doesn't really give you more cover against a team like Leicester; it simply takes away another passing option, leaving Kevin De Bruyne to do too much.

That's standard postmatch second-guessing. What Guardiola can't do anything about is some of the absurd individual defending we saw from Kyle Walker. Benjamin Mendy and Eric Garcia. Walker and Mendy are 30 an 26, respectively, and they should know better. Garcia's head may be elsewhere, who knows? The arrival of Ruben Dias from Benfica and the return to fitness of Aymeric Laporte should help, but what will make the most difference is Pep getting under the hood and, once again, working with his defenders.

What we learned from Roma 2-2 Juventus

Roma dropped two points on opening day when they were forced to forfeit a match they drew because of an incorrectly filled-out team sheet (yes, really). They dropped another two points on Sunday night because -- up a goal and a man -- they took their foot off the gas and did what Paulo Fonseca teams aren't built to do: manage leads. That, and the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo rescued a draw for Juve with one of his gravity-defying leaps.

For roughly an hour, Fonseca fully won the tactical battle against Andrea Pirlo's Juventus. With better finishing from Edin Dzeko, they would have been 4-1 up. Pirlo, of course, is a work in progress and, sure, you cut him slack. But the short passing game, high line and de facto 3-2-1-4 formation when in possession only take you so far against an energetic, well-drilled side like Fonseca's.

Pirlo will find his way, but there are two obvious issues. Against teams that defend well, you probably need more creative passing from deep midfield than Adrien Rabiot and Weston McKennie can provide. Equally, the high line will suffer when you're asking Giorgio Chiellini (36) and Leo Bonucci (33) to defend an entire half: either give them more time to find the right movements, or mix in some younger legs (Matthijs De Ligt is out until November, but Merih Demiral deserves a shot).

This isn't a criticism of Pirlo, by the way. This is his second game in charge. It's just a reminder of how difficult it is to come in and radically alter the way a team plays, something Maurizio Sarri -- who tried and then gave up -- showed us last season.

Fati fabulous, Messi chips in as Barca win big

All eyes were on Lionel Messi Sunday night after his Instagram post questioning Barcelona's treatment of Luis Suarez. Not sure what folks were expecting, but above all, Messi is a professional, so he did his part in the 4-0 thumping of Villarreal.

Messi stationed himself centrally, didn't move around much and basically popped up when needed. Truth be told, it wasn't needed often, because Ansu Fati scored twice inside of 20 minutes, and Villarreal, who were really poor, never quite showed up. In fact, it's dangerous to read too much into this, given the sort of performance (non-performance?) they faced from their opponents. Sure, it's encouraging that Barca weren't Messi-dependent and that others stepped up. But this setup looks distinctly lopsided, with Philippe Coutinho, Messi and Antoine Griezmann all occupying the same areas, Jordi Alba and Fati hanging wide left and Sergi Roberto all on his own on the right.

Ronald Koeman, no doubt, gets this. The question is how and whether he can fix it.

Why are Man United not planning to sign more defenders?

According to multiple reports, Manchester United will not be signing a central defender. Perhaps its some clever misdirection from the powers that be, but if it's true, you have to wonder whether Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is on board with this or whether he's along for the ride. Especially after seeing United needing a late smash-and-grab to get all three points away to Brighton.

- Olley: Man United's lucky win shouldn't obscure familiar issues

This was a game where United were out-shot 18-7, where Brighton hit the woodwork five times and where the xG count was 2.38 to 1.10 for the home team. Solskjaer said he was happy with the result, not the performance, and it's good that he recognises the shortcomings. But if he can see that, he should also see his issues at the back, where you have to worry about both quality and depth.

Victor Lindelof is 26 -- it's unlikely he's going to blossom into Nemanja Vidic any time soon. Axel Tuanzebe is promising, but he's 22, hasn't played since 2019 and has really only had one season as a starter under his belt (at Aston Villa, in the Championship). Eric Bailly has started 20 league games since 2017. Tim Fosu-Mensah has started three league games in the past 18 months. Teden Mengi is highly rated, but is also 18 and has seven minutes of first-team Europa League football under his belt. Chris Smalling is supposedly on his way out. And Phil Jones, well ...

Unless he's got some outside-the-box brainwave in store (Scott McTominay at the back?), it seems evident that United are going to be painfully short at the back. Brighton simply drove that point home.

Real Madrid can't rely on luck every week

Zinedine Zidane went wingless in pairing Luka Jovic with Karim Benzema up front against Betis, and it didn't quite go to plan. Jovic was disappointing (again) and they looked better once Isco replaced Martin Odegaard. On the flip-side, Fede Valverde was a driving force in the midfield and gives them some breathing room given that Toni Kroos, who came off just before the half, is now sidelined with injury.

I don't think we need to see the Benzema-Jovic combo again, to be honest. At this stage, when Benzema needs a breather, you're almost better off with Borja Mayoral or Mariano Diaz. More of a concern is how Real Madrid needed two big VAR decisions to go their way. Jovic stepped in front of Emerson to get him sent off: it was classic "seen-them-given" type stuff (a bit like the Paul Pogba on Aaron Connolly in the United game) and it could have gone either way. So too did the clash between Borja Mayoral and Marc Bartra, which resulted in the penalty that Sergio Ramos Panenka'd past Joel Robles.

Tight margins and calls that go Madrid's way. This team can and will do better.

Lampard, Chelsea have food for thought after West Brom draw

Chelsea found themselves 3-0 down inside half an hour against newly promoted West Bromwich Albion. And while Frank Lampard was correct to highlight that it was individual errors that led to the three goals (Marcos Alonso's and Thiago Silva's the most egregious) and to praise the second-half comeback that took them to 3-3, it doesn't mean all is well. It can't be, not when you score your equalizer deep in stoppage time.

Chelsea's first-half setup -- with Kai Havertz in the playmaking hole, Timo Werner wide and a genuine center-forward like Tammy Abraham up front -- looked more rational in the final third than previous iterations. But equally, it has to be noted that the comeback came after Mateo Kovacic made way for Callum Hudson-Odoi, effectively leaving N'Golo Kante on his own in midfield as Chelsea threw everything forward to chase the game. That's not going to be a viable formation, so there is still plenty to figure out.

Dissecting Suarez' superb Atletico debut

Twenty-four minutes (counting stoppage time), two goals, one assist, one penalty won (and then overturned by VAR) and enough "Garra Charrua" to fuel a small city. That was Luis Suarez's debut in the 6-1 demolition of Granada, which also happened to coincide with arguably Joao Felix's best performance in a long time.

Suarez left his passport woes behind him and seemed an almost too obvious fit for Diego Simeone's "Cholismo" style of play, but make no mistake about it: for Suarez to work out this season, Atleti need to move their center of gravity up the pitch and ensure they are more proactive than reactive. They have the players to do it, and they did it against Granada. The test will come against tougher opposition.

Ribery superb, Inter a work in progress

As footballers age, they may lose strength and speed and the ability to recover from injury, but the last thing they lose is technical ability and vision. Franck Ribery showed he still has plenty of both, judging from the two assists (especially the one for Federico Chiesa's goal) he conjured up in Fiorentina's 4-3 defeat to Inter.

As for Antonio Conte's crew, he needed two goals in the last three minutes -- as well as some questionable substitutions from his opposite number, Beppe Iachini -- to bring home the three points. There's plenty to work on here, too. Ivan Perisic as wing-back turned out to be a dud; they signed Achraf Hakimi (who was excellent after coming on), play him and let Perisic go elsewhere or reinvent himself as a second striker. The back three also needs work and, still, you're not getting the best out of Christian Eriksen.

The window closes in a week and Inter have plenty of players they need to shift. You'd hope Conte has made up his mind about the ones he wants to keep and how he's going to use them.

Mourinho needs to ditch "respect" argument

I don't blame Jose Mourinho for being furious after the final whistle in Tottenham's 1-1 draw with Newcastle. We covered the late, late penalty above, but beyond that, Spurs utterly dominated this game.

I don't like it, though, when in complaining about the referees, he talks about Spurs "deserving respect" because they are a big club and alluding to the "respect" he got while at bigger, "establishment" clubs like Manchester United or Real Madrid.

If by "respect" you mean "fair, honest officiating and referees who work to the best of their ability," well, you don't deserve it because you're a "big club." You deserve because you're a football club, period. This "coded language" is a legacy of his past, and one he'd do well to forget about.

And finally...

Bas Dost scored for Eintracht Frankfurt in their 3-1 away win over Hertha Berlin. This was his first Bundesliga goal of the season, and he's now on pace to score 17 in the league. He has two goals in three appearances this season in all competitions.

This concludes the latest instalment of #BasDostWatch.

LIVERPOOL, England -- So much for Liverpool's "nightmare" start to the season. Three games in and the reigning champions have aced it so far by beating last season's Championship winners (Leeds United), Europe's biggest summer spenders (Chelsea) and a resurgent Arsenal side -- 3-1 on Monday at Anfield -- that only last month overcame Jurgen Klopp's team at Wembley to win the Community Shield.

Thanks to the early stumbles of others this season, it already looks as though the only team capable of stopping Liverpool winning another title this season will be Liverpool themselves.

While all of their likeliest challengers have already slipped up and dropped points - Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur all have a Premier League defeat in their column less than month into the campaign -- Liverpool have bagged maximum points from their three games so far and are only sitting in second position right now because Leicester have a better goal difference after also winning their first three fixtures. And best not forget Everton, who have also won three out of three since the start of the season.

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Leicester supporters will point to their remarkable 2015-16 title triumph if anyone discounts their early hopes of another table-topping season. Meanwhile, Evertonians will believe that the clock is being turned back to the 1980s, when they twice dethroned neighbours Liverpool to become champions themselves, after seeing Carlo Ancelotti guide their team to a flawless start so far.

But while Everton and Liverpool could both contest this season's first Merseyside derby next month with 100% records if they win again at the weekend, nobody should be fooled into thinking that Everton or Leicester will push Liverpool all the way this campaign. The harsh truth for all of the teams harbouring title ambitions this season, realistic or otherwise, is that Liverpool still look a class apart from the rest.

City's problems were exposed by Leicester in Sunday's 5-2 defeat -- Pep Guardiola will hope that new signing Ruben Dias will fill the gaping hole in defence created by Vincent Kompany's departure more than 12 months ago -- while United continue to resemble a car going round in circles under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Chelsea are a work in progress under Frank Lampard -- a young manager with an inexperienced but exciting team -- while Arsenal are still at the beginning of their rebuilding programme under Mikel Arteta. Tottenham, meanwhile, have been in decline since before Jose Mourinho replaced Mauricio Pochettino last November and nobody has ever really considered Spurs serious title challengers anyway, so they will not be taking the Premier League trophy from Anfield anytime soon.

As for Leicester and Everton's prospects, time will tell, but even now, less than a month into the 2020-21 season, it is difficult to see who can realistically beat Liverpool to the title.

Arsenal arrived at Anfield with a 100% record and confidence high after winning the FA Cup and Community Shield. Arteta's team even had the audacity score first when Alexandre Lacazette capitalised on a mistake by Andrew Robertson on 26 minutes to make it 1-0.

Within two minutes, though, Sadio Mane had equalised for Liverpool. Six minutes later, Robertson made amends for his earlier mistake by making it 2-1 with a cool finish from Trent Alexander-Arnold's cross.

Liverpool's response exemplified why they are the best in England by some distance right now.

Despite all of their recent success, no team works harder out of possession than Liverpool and they chased Arsenal down, pressed high and switched gears after falling behind. When winners get used to success, they sometimes allow complacency to blunt their edge, but that has not afflicted Liverpool yet.

The only hope for the rest is that, at some point this season, they allow their dominance to diminish their intensity and give their rivals a chance to capitalise. Perhaps their defending offers a glimmer of hope too, with Lacazette scoring from a mistake and then twice wasting clear chances after beating the offside trap in the second half before being denied by goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

It was those lapses of concentration that prompted former Manchester United captain Roy Keane, working as a television pundit, to describe Liverpool as "sloppy." Keane had a point, but Klopp was not happy with his description of Liverpool's performance.

"Did I hear right? Mr. Keane said we had a sloppy performance, did he say that?" Klopp said. "Did he say that it was sloppy? I want to hear it, that is an incredible description of this game."

In the 4-3 opening-day win against Leeds and here against Arsenal, Liverpool's back four was unconvincing, but on each occasion Klopp's forwards delivered to ensure victory, as they have done many times before. Liverpool's defending will improve, so that does not bode well for the rest, and their attacking machine has been boosted by the signing of Wolves forward Diogo Jota, who marked his Anfield debut with a classy goal on 87 minutes to make it 3-1.

That this victory was achieved without Thiago Thiago, who will be out until after the international break with an unspecified fitness issue, so Liverpool's strength is looking ominous -- unless complacency and poor defending trip them up. But with Klopp in charge, it is hard to envisage either being an issue for too long.

Essex have admitted "further work needs to be done" on their approach to diversity after photographs of their celebrations at Lord's appeared to show a Muslim player being showered with alcohol.

Essex lifted the Bob Willis Trophy on Sunday, triggering scenes of jubilation on the balcony of their dressing room at Lord's. Amid the photographs of those moments, Feroze Khushi, a 21-year-old batsman who played several games in the earlier stages of the tournament, is seen grimacing as beer is poured over his head by another young player on the staff. ESPNcricinfo has chosen not to name that player.

While Essex released a statement insisting the club "pride themselves on their work within multi-diverse communities", they admitted the celebrations "did not meet the inclusive values of the organisation".

"As an organisation, Essex County Cricket Club prides themselves on their work within multi-diverse communities throughout the county and the surrounding areas," the statement said.

"For a substantial period of time, Essex have had a multi-diverse team with players from different backgrounds, religions, and races, where cricket is at the heart of these communities.

"The club has worked extremely hard and will continue to bring cricket to anybody and everybody, and educate on diversity, but further work needs to be done across both sport and society in general, to widen people's knowledge and make them more aware of cultural differences.

"Essex County Cricket Club are in regular dialogue with the ECB and the PCA around the education and development in this area."

But the statement left some members of the Muslim cricket community underwhelmed. "I'm not really satisfied with that," Sajid Patel of the National Cricket League, told ESPNcricinfo. "We've been discussing such issues for a long time. I would have thought the answers to these issues had filtered down by now.

"I don't think there's any benefit in blaming one, young player. Looking at those photographs, it seems the issue is more about ignorance than malice. No doubt the young man will learn from the experience.

"But I do blame the whole system. I do blame the team manager and the senior players who didn't foresee this problem. I do think the PCA should be doing more to educate young players in this regard."

In recent years, England's Test and ODI teams - which have regularly featured two Muslim players in Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid - have desisted from spraying champagne during their trophy presentations to allow the pair to take a fuller part in the celebrations.

"We've seen the England team manage their celebrations in such a way that the Muslim players are included," Patel added. "We should be better than this by now."

Royal Challengers Bangalore 201 for 3 (de Villiers 55*, Padikkal 54, Boult 2-34) tied with Mumbai Indians 201 for 5 (Kishan 99, Pollard 60*, Udana 2-45)
Super over Royal Challengers Bangalore 11 for 0 beat Mumbai Indians 7 for 1

A day after IPL 2020 delivered an incredible thriller with the highest ever successful chase, the Mumbai Indians and the Royal Challengers Bangalore went one better, with the highest ever tied score in an IPL game. Mumbai were behind all through their chase of 202, needing 90 off the last five overs. They were still behind when Kieron Pollard reiterated his T20 G.O.A.T. status by smacking around Adam Zampa and Yuzvendra Chahal for an imagination-defying 49 runs in two overs during his unbeaten 60 off 24 balls. They were still behind when Ishan Kishan - back in the XI due to a Saurabh Tiwary niggle - was out for 99 to make it five needed off the last ball. Pollard hit a four, of course he did, to bring the match to a Super Over.

As comebacks go, there was still one left in the match though, and Navdeep Saini delivered a standout Super Over to keep Pollard, Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma to just 7 for 1. Jasprit Bumrah, who had gone for 42 runs in four wicketless overs during regular play, then turned up with some excellent Super Over bowling of his own, though his gamble to bounce AB de Villiers with fine leg up went for a top-edged four. With scores level, Virat Kohli used his wrists to put the final ball away and ensure Mumbai's story of comebacks ended on the last ball of the Super Over.

Ten days into the IPL, the Royal Challengers have two wins in three games - a start they haven't been used to of late.

Before Mumbai mounted their incredible fight back, the Royal Challengers seemed to be coasting to victory, powered to 201 for 3 on the back of half-centuries from openers Aaron Finch (52 off 35) and Devdutt Padikkal (54 off 40), both of which were overshadowed by a barnstorming de Villiers 55 not out off 24. For almost three quarters of the chase after that, a revamped bowling attack stuck to its plans as Mumbai struggled.

Pollard's arrival and Kishan's fine knock unravelled those plans, but not to the finish.

Finch starts, Padikkal steers, de Villiers finishes

Finch has not been in the best form so far in the IPL, but he didn't let that change his game-plan, going hard at the top. He survived a couple of chancy hits, but then began connecting well, giving the Royal Challengers the kind of start from which they could launch. Kohli, however, looked off-colour and struggled to even get the singles. Padikkal, the other opener, played second fiddle to Finch in the opening stand, but opened out more once Finch and Kohli fell. What really boosted the Royal Challengers though, was de Villiers' arrival. Without even looking like he was taking extravagant chances, de Villiers had purred to 20 off 12, when Bumrah came on for his final spell. He was promptly dispatched for 18 runs in one over and 17 in the next, with de Villiers scoring 27 of those. At the other end, Shivam Dube blasted three sixes and a four in his ten-ball stay as the Royal Challengers surged past 200.

Washington Sundar stifles Mumbai

The Royal Challengers had brought in Isuru Udana and Adam Zampa for this game to beef up their bowling attack, with Dale Steyn and Umesh Yadav dropped. They then gave Washington Sundar three overs in the powerplay, a move that paid spectacular dividends. Not only did Sundar get Rohit Sharma in the game's second over, he ended his first spell giving up a mere seven runs in three overs. None of Mumbai's vaunted top order could attack him, denied room to free their arms or width to play the ball square on either side. Sundar - no stranger to bowling in the powerplay - was not the only one to stick to his plans. The long square boundaries allowed the Royal Challengers to bowl lines that asked the Mumbai batsmen to clear those, with fielders positioned in the deep. Sharma, Quinton de Kock and Hardik Pandya were all caught at deep midwicket off the spinners, as Mumbai sank deeper.

Ishan Kishan arrives, Pollard unleashed

All the while,Kishan had been timing the ball well and kept ticking over. While he can hit the ball big, in Mumbai's line-up it might have been expected of the others to do the big-hitting. But with the rest of the top order falling and the asking rate climbing, Kishan also began to go for the big shots. In Pollard, he had a partner at the other end who could hit them like few can. Pollard faced only 10 balls in the first 4.4 overs that the two were together, but Kishan took the other 18 for 31 runs.

When Pollard faced up to Zampa at the start of the 17th over, Mumbai needed an unrealistic 80 runs in 24 balls. But Pollard then ripped apart Zampa and Chahal - both in their final overs - for a 27-run over followed by a 22-run over, and suddenly the impossible seemed merely the improbable. Along the way they were helped by three drops - two off Pollard and one off Kishan - of which one was straightforward.

In the circumstances, Saini's final over - the 19th of the innings - was an excellent effort with just 12 runs conceded, giving Udana 19 to defend. Kishan was on strike for four of the six balls, but sent two of them over the boundary, the first via a tough spilled chance and the second sailing over and taking him to 99. Mumbai could have had victory next ball, but Kishan's slog-sweep was finally held in the deep, just a yard inside the boundary. The final ball was short and sat up, Pollard connected with a mighty swipe and got the power, but not the elevation as it bounced once before clearing the rope, to signal a tie.

The Super Over

Saini bowled a terrific over. He was going for the yorkers, and nailed a couple but the ones he didn't ended up as low full tosses that weren't easy to hit either. Hardik Pandya couldn't time it, and even Pollard was beaten once before whipping another low full toss to deep midwicket. Only three balls were scored off from the bat, with one bye on the final ball, and Bumrah faced up to de Villiers once again to defend a low total. He almost did it, and de Villiers was even given out caught behind off a third-ball bouncer that was overturned on review, but with fine leg up, Bumrah's gamble of bluffing de Villiers with another short one didn't work. De Villiers wasn't fully in control of his pull shot but he got enough on it to roll into the boundary. Bumrah went back to fuller lengths - a perfect yorker and a low full toss - for the last two balls, but with just two to get, he couldn't stop de Villiers and Kohli.

ALSO SEE: Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore live score, September 28 2020

Dropped chances cost Royal Challengers Bangalore dearly in their match against Kings XI Punjab last week. On Monday night, the Royal Challengers dropped three more catches, including one regulation chance - the substitute Pawan Negi putting down Kieron Pollard at deep extra-cover - that could have proven just as costly.

At that point, Mumbai Indians needed an improbable 76 to win off 23 balls, with Pollard batting on 15. He would go on to score an unbeaten 60 off 24 balls and, in partnership with Ishan Kishan, help Mumbai pull off a last-gasp tie. According to ESPNcricinfo's Luck Index, that chance cost the Royal Challengers 22 runs.

The Royal Challengers eventually prevailed in the Super Over to pick up two precious points, and their captain Virat Kohli reflected that they could have wrapped up the game in a far more routine way had the chances stuck, and hoped the team's catching would pick up through the tournament.

Here are excerpts from his interview at the post-match presentation.

On Mumbai's comeback
I think we batted really well in the first innings to get us past 200, and then the start with the ball was outstanding as well. And then I think they [Mumbai] played really well, patiently, in the middle overs, waited for the dew to kick in and obviously with that power at the back end, with Pollard and Hardik [Pandya]… we got Hardik out, but still, for Pollard and Ishan to bat the way they did was outstanding to keep them in the game.

On the catching
We tried to execute the things that we wanted to - again fielding is something that we have to keep working on, because those [dropped] catches are going to be costly. If we'd taken our catches again tonight, probably it wouldn't have been so close, so look, we've got a close victory, and, as I said, these little things on the field we are not capitalising on right now - it's something we really need to focus on.

On Navdeep Saini restricting Mumbai to 7 in their Super Over
Outstanding Super Over from him, bowling against Hardik and Pollard. I think the longer boundary helped him gain some confidence for his yorker, because he's got the pace, and he was using the wide yorker well too. I think the guys showed real good composure to get these two points in the bag, and they're very very crucial points at the early stage of the tournament.

On facing the Super Over alongside AB de Villiers
Well, look, I thought about it, to be honest, but then I thought, okay, Jasprit [Bumrah]'s going to bowl, he's going to use the longer boundary - who are the two guys that can probably run the first four balls for two, and that was me and AB. So AB said 'I'm going', I said 'I'm coming with you.' Yeah, look, it was all about just stepping onto the field, taking responsibility for the team, and yeah, we got a boundary each and got the job done.

On facing Bumrah
Yeah, it was interesting. I think it was a good match-up with Jasprit being the best bowler they have, and [against] AB and myself, I think he would have been under a bit of pressure as well, to defend eight [runs], so good contest. We both felt that he's in the game, we're in the game, and that's what people love watching, and that's what this competition is all about - top-quality cricket, games going down to the wire, and exciting games like this is good for the people to watch, but not for the captains involved in it. We can take lessons out of this and try and close the closer games much better in the future.

On the three changes in the Royal Challengers line-up
I think the changes that we made - making Washy (Washington Sundar) bowl in the Powerplay, which is his strength, paid off; I think Isuru [Udana] was really good as well, and to be honest Gurkeerat [Singh] didn't get a chance with the bat, but these changes gave us more balance in the side. I think [Adam] Zampa was good as well, apart from that last over where Polly (Pollard) went after him. I think the guys showed good character, they were positive through the innings, and when you're playing against top-quality sides they're going to hurt you at some stage.

On picking up two wins from the first three games of the season
Yeah, pretty different from the past, isn't it? Feels good. Feels good to get the points on the board. As I said, this should boost us forward in a better way. Plug in those gaps, be more professional with our performances, and then, you know, keep accumulating those points.

ALSO SEE: Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore live score, September 28 2020