The first managerial departure of the 2024-25 Premier League season has come, with Erik ten Hag leaving his role at Manchester United.
United's decision to dismiss Ten Hag came after the Red Devils slumped to a 2-1 defeat at West Ham on Sunday, leaving them 14th in the table.
Elsewhere, Liverpool and Arsenal shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw, Manchester City downed Southampton, Chelsea beat Newcastle United and Brentford came out on top in a seven-goal thriller against Ipswich Town.
Late goals also ruled the roost this past weekend. There were five games to have a final result-altering goal scored in the 90th minute (or later) in the Premier League this weekend, the most across a single matchday in the competition's history.
But what do the underlying metrics tell us?
Unlucky losers: Fulham
Fulham took a point away from Goodison Park on Saturday, but Marco Silva thought his team deserved two more.
And it is fair to say Everton were largely second-best, with Beto's last-gasp equaliser sparring Sean Dyche's team.
Fulham, who took the lead through Alex Iwobi, registered 1.26 expected goals (xG) to Everton's 0.79 and had 14 shots to their hosts' 10. That being said, perhaps Silva's side only have themselves to blame - they converted only 7.14% of their shots and got only three attempts on target.
Lucky winners: Bournemouth
Evanilson's late header secured a 1-1 draw for Bournemouth at Aston Villa, and though the Cherries could point to some potential penalty decisions going against them, it is fair to say the metrics suggest they were fortunate to avoid defeat.
Only Southampton (0.21) mustered a lower xG than Bournemouth's 0.31 across the fixtures in the top flight this past weekend.
Villa, on the other hand, registered 1.81 xG - the fifth-highest total in the division across the games - while Mark Travers was exceptional in the Bournemouth goal.
He made seven saves to keep Villa at bay, bar Ross Barkley's opener. Indeed, Villa's 3.23 expected goals on target (xGoT) was more than any other team in matchweek nine, so Travers finished with a goals-prevented figure of 2.23.
Andoni Iraola's team certainly rode their luck.
Unlucky losers: Man Utd
Ten Hag's time is up, though the Dutchman was fuming about a contentious penalty decision that ultimately settled the match in West Ham's favour.
When discounting the xG from that penalty, West Ham finished with 2.21 xG - just less than United's 2.34.
United had 18 shots and five big chances (the second-most after Brentford across the weekend's matches), but failed to put those opportunities away, apart from Casemiro's close-range header.
The soft defence that plagued Ten Hag's tenure, though, ultimately came back to bite them yet again.
Balotelli 'pumped' for Serie A return after sealing Genoa move
Mario Balotelli has completed a sensational return to Serie A four years after leaving Brescia, joining Genoa on a free transfer.
Balotelli, who has 52 goals in 141 appearances in the Italian top-flight, has been without a club since the end of last season after departing Turkish Super Lig side Adana Demirspor.
The 34-year-old joins a struggling Genoa who currently sit in the bottom three in Serie A after managing just six points from their first nine games this term.
Alberto Gilardino's side have also scored just seven goals this season, with only bottom club Lecce (three) scoring fewer.
"I am pumped. I don’t want to talk much. I just want to get started," Balotelli said earlier on Monday. "I'll give it my all," he added, addressing the fans.
Genoa became the fourth Serie A side Balotelli has played for, having signed for Inter from Lumezzane in 2007, going on to win six major honours for the Nerazzurri.
After a three-year stint with Manchester City, where he won the Premier League, he returned to Italy for Inter's rivals Milan in 2013, rejoining them on loan in 2015 from Liverpool.
Balotelli has since had stays in France, Turkey and Switzerland, but is now hoping to help Genoa stay in Serie A.
And the Italian could make his debut for the club on Thursday, with Fiorentina the visitors to the Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris.
'Thanks for everything boss' - Fernandes leads Ten Hag tributes
Bruno Fernandes led the tributes for departing Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag after his two-year stint at Old Trafford came to an end on Monday.
Ten Hag was relieved of his duties after Sunday's controversial 2-1 defeat to West Ham, leaving the Red Devils 14th in the Premier League table after nine games.
The 54-year-old was only rewarded a new contract ahead of the new campaign after leading United to an FA Cup triumph over rivals Manchester City - his second trophy in as many seasons after winning the EFL Cup the previous year.
Fernandes played a starring role in those successes, and was a key figure in Ten Hag's side.
The United captain played more games (120) in all competitions under Ten Hag than any other player, while only Marcus Rashford (42) scored more times during the Dutchman's tenure than Fernandes (29).
"Thanks for everything boss," Fernandes wrote on Instagram. "I appreciate the trust and the moments we share together. I wish you all the best in the future.
"Even knowing the last period hasn’t been great from all of us I hope you fans can keep with you the good things the manager has done for our club!"
Kobbie Mainoo also expressed his gratitude to his former boss, having been handed his senior United debut by Ten Hag in an EFL Cup tie against Charlton Athletic in January 2023.
“Thank you for your trust and belief in me and for giving me the opportunity to play with my boyhood club," Mainoo posted to Instagram. “I wish you all the best for the future”.
Alejandro Garnacho, another player given his first outing for the Red Devils by Ten Hag, also wished the Dutchman well in his next adventure.
"Thank you for everything, boss," Garnacho said. "I will always be grateful to you for giving me the opportunity and the confidence to play for this club.
"It hasn't gone as well as we wanted, but I will remember the good times we had together, and I wish you all the best in the future. Thank you very much Erik."
Ten Hag managed 128 games in all competitions during his time at Old Trafford, winning 72 (D20 L36).
Only David Moyes (32.4%) lost a higher percentage of his Premier League games as United manager than Ten Hag (31.8%).
United confirmed that Ruud van Nistelrooy will take charge as interim head coach during the club's search for a permanent replacement.
Milan rhythm disrupted by Bologna postponement, says Fonseca
Paulo Fonseca believes Milan's early-season rhythm has been disrupted following the late postponement of their Serie A fixture at Bologna last weekend.
The match, scheduled to take place at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on Saturday, was postponed 24 hours before kick-off after heavy rain and flooding in the region.
After failing to win their first three league matches, Milan have since taken 12 points from their next five games, propelling them up the standings after a difficult start.
But with the Rossoneri not in action over the weekend, they dropped to eighth in the Serie A table ahead of facing leaders Napoli on Tuesday.
"It was tricky to manage this moment. On the eve of the game, we trained without knowing whether we’d play or not the following day," Fonseca said.
"We wanted to play, and I think we’ve been affected by not playing in this match."
Napoli come into the game on the back of a 1-0 triumph over Lecce, with Giovanni Di Lorenzo's 73rd minute strike sealing a seventh win of the campaign.
Antonio Conte's side are now unbeaten in their last eight league games, their best run since a run of eight straight wins in February 2023 under Luciano Spalletti.
They have also kept five clean sheets in their last six games, as many as in their previous 34 Serie A matches.
"As the table shows, Napoli are a strong team at a good moment. They are the table leaders and will be motivated to face us," Fonseca said.
"We are also motivated to play this match against a very strong team that has won games comfortably."
Milan, however, have won just one of their last nine meetings against Napoli whent he fixture has been played in the first half of a Serie A campaign (D2 L6).
Despite his side's league position after nine games so far, Fonseca believes Milan can win a 20th Scudetto title under his guidance.
"The fans must believe because we are a strong team and we are improving. We think we can fight for the Scudetto," he said.
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