Manchester United were left with a late concern after Marcus Rashford requested a substitution during Sunday’s match against Everton, with Michael Carrick confirming the winger had been feeling discomfort.

Rashford showed no obvious sign of injury while on the pitch, but Carrick said after the game that the player had been “feeling a bit of something,” which led to him being replaced by Patrick Dorgu.

“He’s done very well,” Carrick said of Rashford. “As I said during the week, he’s done ever so well since he came back.

“I thought he looked really sharp again today and dangerous. That final little moment didn’t quite drop for him, but nevertheless, I thought he created really good opportunities, and there was a big threat throughout the game.”

The exact issue remains unclear, and Carrick did not provide any further detail on whether the problem could keep the 28-year-old out for a short spell or something longer in the worst case.

It is an awkward moment for United, who are about to enter a run that includes their Champions League and Carabao Cup campaigns, with three matches coming in the next nine days. Even without an injury worry, that schedule would demand rotation.

Carrick’s options on the wing are limited. Dorgu, normally a left back, was the player chosen to step in, a reflection of the shortage of alternatives in that area.

United do not have a natural left-wing replacement for Rashford. Matheus Cunha spent a lot of time there last season, but he never fully looked at ease in the role, and using him wide would also force a change further up the team.

Martin Ødegaard’s claim that “all of the teams are good” has already been tested by three weeks of Premier League football, and matchday three offered more evidence that quality in this division is abundant, but perfection remains elusive.

Across the round, several teams produced encouraging spells without turning them into clean, controlled wins. Some were left to regret missed chances, others survived by narrower margins than expected, and a few drifted into the familiar territory of being competitive without quite being convincing.

At one end of the scale, Liverpool were pushed hard by Ipswich, with Gary O’Neil admitting: “I hate having to talk about good performances when you don’t get points because you need to maximize them,” while Ipswich could not consistently threaten a side that still looked vulnerable at times.

Aston Villa’s visit to the MKM Stadium was harder to explain. Unai Emery insisted the match had gone exactly as intended, although the performance raised obvious questions about how a game plan can survive without even a shot on target.

Chelsea began sharply, with Morgan Rogers’s second-minute volley setting the tone after a set-piece routine, but Arsenal gradually took control. Chelsea created almost nothing after the interval, while Martin Ødegaard’s winner underlined the difference between a bright start and a complete performance.

Elsewhere, Hull’s seven points from three games drew a playful Champions League reference from Sergej Jakirović, while Tottenham remained stubbornly in the middle ground. Roberto De Zerbi’s side were held to a goalless draw that suited neither heaven nor hell.

There were also reminders that strong starts can unravel quickly. Bournemouth led 2-0 at St. James’s Park before another late setback, while Everton earned a point thanks to Ainsley Maitland-Niles’s 96th-minute strike and Manchester United were undone by Everton’s set-piece threat after a flat first half.

Elsewhere, Brighton “woke up too late,” Nottingham Forest were left frustrated by a disallowed goal, Brentford needed a triple half-time change to find a response, and Leeds experienced a textbook game of two halves. Sunderland, meanwhile, secured a different outcome from the same spot and the same goalkeeper, when Enzo Le Fée produced a far better penalty than he had before.

For Manchester City, Erling Haaland again provided the decisive edge, as Coventry’s resistance made the result far less straightforward than expected.

Youri Tielemans’s unusual penalty routine became one of the talking points from Manchester United’s 5-2 win over Ipswich Town, but the midfielder has now clarified why he does it.

Much of the attention from that match centred on Bruno Fernandes’s hat-trick, Kobbie Mainoo’s display and even the hole in Old Trafford’s roof. Yet Tielemans’s ghost-like approach to penalty moments drew its own share of debate after Sunday’s victory.

Asked about the copycat run-up by Manchester United’s in-house social media team, Tielemans gave a simple explanation: “It’s to time my run into the box.”

The reasoning is practical. Team-mates who enter the penalty area too early can commit an offence if they rush in before the ball is struck and have a clear effect on the outcome. With Fernandes using a small hop in his penalty technique, Tielemans said he preferred to be certain about his timing rather than risk being caught out.

In the end, Fernandes scored, which meant the precaution was not needed. Even so, Tielemans was first to reach him and celebrated with a tight embrace.

It was not the first time Tielemans has used this method. He also did so during his spell at Aston Villa, including an FA Cup quarterfinal against Preston North End in March 2025, when he was in effect shadowing the steps of Marcus Rashford, now one of his Manchester United team-mates.

There is also the possibility that the idea was shaped by Austin MacPhee, Villa’s set-piece specialist at the time. The details coach handled dead balls under Unai Emery before later being poached by Chelsea over the summer.

Tielemans has already faced questions about adapting to Michael Carrick’s demands this season. “It might be different than what I am used to, but it is logical things in my opinion. It is just smelling football,” he said. He later started his United career with a poor performance.

After a difficult outing against Hull City on the opening Saturday, he looked more settled alongside Kobbie Mainoo against Ipswich Town, though the match remained finely balanced for much of the first hour. United now turn to Everton on Sunday, with Tielemans and Mainoo expected to operate behind Fernandes again, although Mason Mount’s return from injury leaves that selection open.