England: Brighton's insatiable attack demolishes Palace, Manchester United held to a draw

Brighton extended their stunning start to the season by sinking their arch-rivals Crystal Palace (5-0) on Sunday in the Premier League, while Manchester United only managed a single point away at Leeds (1-1).

Brighton's (2nd, 16 points) show of force against Pierre Sage's team puts the Seagulls in second place, pending Arsenal's (3rd, 15 pts) upcoming match at Nottingham Forest.

It was definitely not a good day for French coaches in England: Régis Le Bris' Sunderland, with ten men, lost 2-0 at Bournemouth and are second to last after seven matchdays.

Manchester United are stuck in thirteenth place, a rank unworthy of their history (20 titles) and wealth, after going five games without a win in the league.

Conceding it at Elland Road, in the stadium of a historic rival, and after having opened the scoring, makes this Sunday even more gloomy for Mickael Carrick's team.

The young English coach appears unable to turn things around at the Red Devils despite his tactical adjustments, such as the one attempted on Sunday by repositioning his playmaker Bruno Fernandes as a false No. 9.

The plan worked rather well, and the visitors opened the scoring with a cross from Youri Tielemans that was tackled by Bryan Mbeumo (35th minute, 0-1). But Leeds responded through Dominic Calvert-Lewin (51st minute, 1-1) from a corner, and had two chances to win it in quick succession at the end (90+1).

- Supersonic Brighton -

Since mid-September, Brighton has become a steamroller that leaves its opponents on the ground, in pieces.

After Coventry (5-0), Arsenal (3-0) and Sunderland (2-0), arch-rival Crystal Palace were added to the list of victims of the Seagulls, who recorded a fourth consecutive victory without conceding a goal in the Premier League.

Their goal-scoring machine, however, is running at full speed right from the start of the match.

On Sunday, Fabian Hürzeler's team demolished their opponent by scoring three times in the first ten minutes, before sealing the deal with goals from Charalampos Kostoulas (49th) and Jack Hinshelwood (84th).

Palace never recovered from their disastrous start: own goal by Jaydee Canvot (4th), sublime lob by Diego Gomez from the center circle (7th) and shot by Yasin Ayari deflected by Canvot (10th).

The return of Jean-Philippe Mateta, after nearly two months of absence, was one of the few bright spots for the Eagles. The striker hit the crossbar two minutes after coming on (63rd minute).

This fourth defeat in seven games increases the pressure on Pierre Sage, whose team is fourteenth and close to the relegation zone.

Sunderland (19th, 4 pts) and Le Bris are more than ever in the relegation zone after suffering a fourth consecutive defeat, at the poorly ranked Bournemouth (2-0).

Defender Kevin Danso was the architect of his team's downfall. He couldn't withstand Evanilson's power on Marcus Tavernier's opening goal (6th, 1-0), then he brought down the Brazilian as the last defender, which earned him a red card (17th).

Evanilson took advantage of a completely missed back pass by Omar Alderete to score in turn (48th, 2-0).