Szoboszlai stunner secures Liverpool win over Arsenal as Man City collapses to another loss

Full time was approaching at Anfield and it was clear something special was needed to separate Liverpool and Arsenal as they slugged out an early-season heavyweight contest in the Premier League on Sunday.

Enter Dominik Szoboszlai.

With a long-range free kick that flew in off the post in the 83rd minute, Szoboszlai earned Liverpool a hard-fought 1-0 win over the opponent likely to be the biggest challenger to its title.

“The game needed a moment of magic for either team to win it," Liverpool manager Arne Slot said, “and it was Dominik who did so.”

Many thought Manchester City would be back in the title race this season, but perhaps not.

Collapsing to a 2-1 loss at Brighton, for a second straight loss, was another sign that Pep Guardiola's once-dominant team has lost its aura.

“This is the reality — we are not at the level from a long time (ago),” City midfielder Rodri said.

Szoboszlai is popular among Liverpool fans for his work ethic and versatility, and the Hungary midfielder was filling in at right back — for so long the position of the now-departed Trent Alexander-Arnold — because of injuries to Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong.

Szoboszlai did his best impression of Alexander-Arnold with a top-quality dead-ball strike that was out of keeping with the rest of the game.

“Until now Trent was taking them,” Szoboszlai said of his former teammate who now plays for Real Madrid. “Now I could finally take one.”

It secured a third straight win for Liverpool, with the defending champions the only team on a maximum nine points after three rounds of the Premier League. They've already beaten two tough rivals in Newcastle and Arsenal, too.

As for Arsenal, it was a first loss this season — extending its winless record at Anfield dating back to 2012 — and a first league goal conceded by a defense that was without center back William Saliba from the fifth minute at Anfield because of a leg injury.

“When you play against this kind of team and at a high level where the margins are minimal, they can be decided by a magic moment,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said. “We needed that moment for us and we didn't have it.”

The defeat at Brighton followed a 2-0 home loss to Tottenham last weekend for City, which is demonstrating the same vulnerabilities and brittleness it showed last season when surrendering the title to Liverpool after four consecutive years as champions.

Brajan Gruda surged through an open defense, rounded goalkeeper James Trafford and slotted into an empty net for the 89th-minute winner for Brighton, which trailed to Erling Haaland's first-half strike — his 88th goal in 100 Premier League appearances since moving to England in 2022.

City, which gave a first start to Rodri — the Ballon d'Or winner — since September last year following a serious knee injury, conceded an equalizer in the 67th minute after Matheus Nunes raised his arm in the area to block a shot.

James Milner converted the penalty for Brighton to become — at age 39 years and 239 days — the second-oldest scorer in Premier League history. He is also the second youngest, having netted as a 16-year-old for Leeds.

With City noticeably fading, Brighton created a succession of chances before Gruda converted one to seal a repeat of his team's come-from-behind 2-1 win over City last season.

“We forgot to play,” Guardiola said.

City's only points so far this season have come from a 4-0 opening-round win at Wolverhampton, after which pundits were saying Guardiola's team was back. Now, it has fewer points than Manchester United.

West Ham eased the pressure on manager Graham Potter with a 3-0 win at Nottingham Forest, secured by goals from the 84th minute by Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta — from the penalty spot — and Callum Wilson.

West Ham lost its first two games in the league, conceding eight goals in the process, and also was eliminated from the English League Cup in midweek.

Paqueta, the Brazil midfielder, celebrated his successful penalty kick by pretending to answer a call and throw away a phone before kissing the badge on his jersey — perhaps a nod to being linked over the past 24 hours with a move to Aston Villa.

World Cup-winning Argentina goalkeeper Emi Martinez was left out of Aston Villa's team for the 3-0 home loss to Crystal Palace amid speculation about his future.

Reports have linked Martinez with a move to Manchester United ahead of the transfer window closing on Monday, and Villa manager Unai Emery chose to play Marco Bizot in goal instead.

Bizot gave away a penalty that was converted in the 21st minute by Jean-Philippe Mateta to give Palace the lead, before captain Marc Guehi — reportedly the subject of a bid from Liverpool — curled a second into the top corner in the 68th. Ismaila Sarr added a third before going off injured.

Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta kicks the corner flag as he celebrates scoring their side's first goal from a penalty during the English Premier League soccer match between Aston Villa and Crystal Palace at Villa Park, Birmingham, England, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai celebrates with Liverpool's goalkeeper Alisson after the English Premier League soccer match between FC Liverpool and FC Arsenal in Liverpool, England, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai runs to celebrate after scoring his sides first goal during the English Premier League soccer match between FC Liverpool and FC Arsenal in Liverpool, England, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai, left, shoots to score his sides first goal during the English Premier League soccer match between FC Liverpool and FC Arsenal in Liverpool, England, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola applauds supporters after the English Premier League soccer match between Brighton and Hove Albion and Manchester City at the Falmer stadium in Brighton, England, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

Nottingham Forest's Nikola Milenkovic, right, and West Ham United's Niclas Fullkrug (left) battle for the ball = during the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and West Ham United at the City Ground, Nottingham, England, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Manchester City's Erling Haaland, second left, scores his side's first goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Brighton and Hove Albion and Manchester City at the Falmer stadium in Brighton, England, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)

Brighton and Hove Albion players celebrate after Brighton's Brajan Gruda scored his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Brighton and Hove Albion and Manchester City at the Falmer stadium in Brighton, England, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A hard-line cleric leading Friday prayers in Iran's capital demanded the death penalty for protesters detained in a nationwide crackdown and directly threatened U.S. President Donald Trump, showing the hard-line rage gripping the Islamic Republic after the demonstrations.

Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami's sermon carried by Iranian state radio sparked chants from those gathered for prayers, including: “Armed hypocrites should be put to death!” Executions, as well as the killing of peaceful protesters, had been two of the red lines laid down by Trump for possible military action against Iran over the protests.

Khatami's remarks also offered the first nationwide counts of damage done during the demonstrations, which began Dec. 28 over Iran's ailing economy and soon morphed into demonstrations directly challenging the country's theocracy.

Iran cut off access to the internet Jan. 8 and intensified a bloody crackdown on all dissent, which the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reports killed at least 2,677 people. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll and Iran has offered no overall casualty figures.

Khatami, appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a member of both the country's Assembly of Experts and Guardian Council, described the protesters at time as the “butlers” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “Trump's soldiers.” He insisted their plans “had imagined disintegrating the country”

“They should wait for hard revenge from the system,” Khatami said of Netanyahu and Trump. “Americans and Zionists should not expect peace.”

Khatami long has been known for his hard-line views in Iran, including in 2007 when he said a fatwa calling for the death of writer Salman Rushdie remained in effect. He also threatened Israel in a 2018 speech by saying Iran could “raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground” with its missile arsenal.

Khatami also provided the first overall statistics on damage from the protests, claiming 350 mosques, 126 prayer halls and 20 other holy places had sustained damage. Another 80 homes of Friday prayer leaders — an important position within Iran's theocracy — also had been damaged, likely underlining the anger demonstrators felt toward symbols of the country's government.

Khatami said 400 hospitals, 106 ambulance, 71 fire department vehicles and another 50 emergency vehicles sustained damage, showing the scale of the protests.

“They want you to withdraw from religion,” Khatami said. “They planned these crimes from a long time ago,"

Khatami, as a cleric in the public positions, would have access to such data from authorities and mentioning it at Friday prayers likely meant Iran's government wanted the information to be communicated without having to formally address the public. He also issued a call for the arrest of “individuals who supporters the rioters in any way.”

FILE - Iranian senior cleric Ahmad Khatami delivers his sermon during Friday prayer ceremony in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)