Manchester United matched their own record for the biggest home win in Premier League history as Southampton suffered the unprecedented ignominy of 9-0 defeats in consecutive seasons.
Ralph Hasenhuttl's men saw their outing at Old Trafford unravel from the moment Alexandre Jankewitz was shown a second-minute red card for an ugly lunge on Scott McTominay.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka began the rout and efforts from Marcus Rashford and Edinson Cavani either side of a Jan Bednarek own goal made it 4-0 at half-time.
Anthony Martial and McTominay made it 6-0 inside the final 20 minutes before a Bruno Fernandes penalty, Martial's second and a closing goal from Daniel James left Southampton – who also saw Bednarek sent off – in an unsightly heap.
From nine goals to nine men, Arsenal had David Luiz and Bernd Leno dismissed as they lost 2-1 at Wolves.
That scoreline was repeated in victories for Sheffield United and Crystal Palace that could have repercussions at the bottom of the table.
Manchester United 9-0 Southampton: Record-equalling joy and despair at Old Trafford
James' goal deep into stoppage time meant United won 9-0 for the first time since thrashing Ipswich Town in March 1995. It is only the third instance of this scoreline in the Premier League, following Southampton's thrashing on home turf against Leicester City in October 2019.
This fixture is not always anything like as kind to United. In fact, they have won home and away against Saints for the first time since 2012-13 – the last time they lifted the title.
Southampton's fourth consecutive Premier League defeat is also their biggest ever away loss in any competition.
United's efforts to share the goals around, with only Martial hitting a brace, means they are the second side to have seven different scorers in a Premier League match following Chelsea against Aston Villa in December 2012.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has seen his side utterly transform their home performances. They won only one of six at Old Trafford at the start of this league season, scoring three times. A run of four wins out of five, with one defeat, has yielded 19 goals.
The late flurry was aided by Bednarek adding a red card to his own goal, while it could have been so different were it not for Jankewitz's rash tackle. The teenager is the first player to be sent off on his first Premier League start since Serge Aurier for Tottenham in September 2017 and the fourth man to be dismissed inside two minutes in a Premier League game.
Wolves 2-1 Arsenal: David Luiz and Leno leave Arteta's men short
Arsenal took a deserved lead at Molineux through Nicolas Pepe, who now has three goals in his past four league starts – as many as he managed on his previous 16 starts.
Mikel Arteta says he will appeal David Luiz's punishment but the Brazilian defender's foul on Willian Jose means he has been sent off three times and conceded six penalties since his Arsenal debut in August 2019, more than any other player in the division during that time.
Ruben Neves converted from the spot before fellow Portugal midfielder Joao Moutinho hammered in a fabulous 30-yard effort. Very much a collectors' item, it was the first home goal of his Wolves career at the 61st attempt.
When Leno charged from his area to handball in a wretched misjudgement, Wolves' first league double over Arsenal since 1978-79 was virtually assured and the Germany international became the second Gunners keeper to be sent off in the Premier League – and the first since David Seaman against West Ham back in 1993.
Whether largely down to indiscipline or misfortune, Arsenal have been shown nine red cards since Arteta took charge on Boxing Day 2019 – six more than any other side.
Sheffield United 2-1 West Brom: Blades sharpen survival chances
Bottom club Sheffield United are now just a point behind West Brom in 19th, even though they fell behind to Matt Phillips' close-range finish before half-time.
Phillips has now found the net in each of the past 13 seasons in English league football, a run that goes back to 2008-09.
Jayden Bogle brought the hosts level before captain Billy Sharp stepped up to net another crucial goal.
Since Chris Wilder's first game in charge of United in August 2016, Sharp has scored 76 goals in all competitions – 44 more than any other Blades player during that period.
Sam Allardyce's much-vaunted reputation for making his teams hard to beat is not doing West Brom much good at the moment. The Baggies have conceded 26 goals in nine Premier League games under the ex-England boss, as many as they let in during 13 matches under Slaven Bilic this term.
Newcastle United 1-2 Crystal Palace: Eagles soar clear of trouble
Newcastle remain eight points above the drop zone but are now seven shy of Palace, despite enjoying a dream start.
Jonjo Shelvey's long-ranger after 71 seconds was the quickest goal the Eagles have conceded in a Premier League match since Ian Taylor scored for Aston Villa inside a minute in March 1998.
Roy Hodgson's side had not won away from home after conceding first since overcoming West Ham in October 2019, drawing two and losing 12 of such games since.
But Jairo Riedewald's venomous hit saw them level in style as he ended a run of 13 games without a goal in the Premier League.
Gary Cahill then became Crystal Palace's oldest ever goalscorer in the Premier League at 35 years and 45 days. He is also the oldest Englishman to score in the Premier League at St James' Park since Alan Shearer last did so.
Declan Rice set to leave West Ham after Europa Conference League success
West Ham chairman David Sullivan has confirmed captain Declan Rice will be allowed to leave this summer and he expects to start receiving bids immediately.
The England midfielder said he did not know if he had played his last game for the club after leading them to Europa Conference League glory.
A 2-1 victory over Fiorentina in Wednesday night’s final saw him become only the third Hammers skipper to lift a major trophy, following Bobby Moore and Billy Bonds.
However, Sullivan admits a gentleman’s agreement means they will allow a player who still has two years remaining on his contract – one year plus an option – to leave.
Asked whether lifting the trophy in Prague was Rice’s last action as a West Ham player, Sullivan told talkSPORT: “I think it has to be. We promised him he could go.
“He set his heart on going and in due course he has to get on and we have to get a replacement.
“It is not something we wanted to happen. We offered him £200,000-a-week 18 months ago and he turned it down. You can’t keep a player who doesn’t want to be there.
“I think the offers will start to come today. Three or four clubs have shown interest but, out of respect to West Ham, while we’re still playing, you don’t make offers for players.”
Rice said after the game that it was “not goodbye yet”.
He added on BT Sport: “Look at the moment there’s a lot of speculation about my future.
“There is interest from other clubs, that’s out there, but ultimately I’ve still got two years left at West Ham.
“There hasn’t been nothing yet (offers). Let’s wait and see, who knows.
“I love every minute of it here, you can see the smile on my face.
“It’s not about that tonight, it’s about celebrating and that’s what I’m going to do now.”
Women’s World Cup win would earn England’s players more than £200,000 each
England’s players will earn more than £200,000 each if they win this summer’s Women’s World Cup.
FIFA has set out how a record prize money pot will be distributed for the tournament in Australia and New Zealand, with 270,000 US dollars (around £216,000) earmarked for each member of the winning squad.
Every player involved in the tournament is guaranteed to receive at least 30,000 US dollars (just over £24,000), at a time when the average salary in the women’s game worldwide is 14,000 US dollars, according to last year’s FIFA benchmarking report.
World players’ union FIFPRO has praised FIFA “for listening to the voice of players” on the issue of pay, and for ensuring equal conditions in terms of training facilities and transport for players at this summer’s finals compared to the men’s tournament in Qatar late last year.
A group of 150 players from 25 national teams – including players from England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland – had written to FIFA in October last year calling for equal conditions and for a guarantee that at least 30 per cent of prize money would be allocated to players.
Previously, there was no requirement for national associations to distribute a minimum amount of World Cup prize money to participating players.
The overall performance-based fund for the finals is 110million US dollars (£88.1m), more than three times what was on offer at the 2019 World Cup in France, with the players sharing more than 44 per cent of that between them.
“The confirmation of equal conditions and guaranteed per-player performance compensation at next month’s World Cup represents not only the outcome of tremendous global collective action by over 150 national team players, under the umbrella of FIFPRO and its member unions, but a constructive negotiation with FIFA over the past months,” FIFPRO said in a statement.
“They have listened to the voice of the players, and we have taken steps towards greater gender equity in our game at its highest levels. The legacy of this action is by the players, for the players, of both today and tomorrow.”
FIFA is working to make the women’s game self-sustaining, and is understood to be bearing more of the load on prize money compared to sponsors and broadcasters for this year’s tournament than it would like to in the future.
Its president Gianni Infantino has set a target for equal prize money at the 2026 men’s and 2027 women’s World Cups but insists broadcasters in particular must do more to make this possible.
Broadcast deals in some key markets – including the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain – are still not agreed. Last month Infantino described some of the offers FIFA had received as “a slap in the face” for the women’s game.
Liverpool sign World Cup-winning Argentina international Alexis Mac Allister
Liverpool have begun the rebuild of their midfield with the signing of Brighton’s World Cup-winning Argentina international Alexis Mac Allister.
A fee has not been disclosed but it is understood the 24-year-old had a release clause – believed to be around £45million – in a contract he only signed in October.
The PA news agency understands the Argentinian has signed a five-year contract.
Mac Allister has been on the club’s radar prior to his move to the Seagulls in 2019 but the club felt his development was still in its early stages, although his versatility to play in several positions was a key factor in their interest.
He was subsequently identified as a key target prior to the winter World Cup in Qatar, in which he played a key part in Argentina’s victory, and Liverpool were keen to secure his services to avoid a bidding war.
Mac Allister’s age and his career appearances (160) fit in with the demographics of some of the club’s most successful signings like Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Roberto Firmino and represent the start of an overhaul of a midfield which lost James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at the end of their contracts.
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