Aston Villa returned to winning ways in style as they put Sheffield United to the sword with four goals in the opening 30 minutes in a 5-0 romp at Bramall Lane.
Villa’s Premier League top-four hopes had faltered after winning just one of their last five matches but Unai Emery’s men put that right to move above Tottenham and back into fourth.
Goals from John McGinn, Ollie Watkins, Leon Bailey and Youri Tielemans before the half-hour put them in dreamland and Alex Moreno’s second-half goal made it a day to remember for Villa, who registered their biggest Premier League away win since 2004.
At one point they would have had history in their sights as they had more than 45 minutes to try and find four more goals which would have equalled the record victory in the Premier League era, but they took their foot off the gas.
Still, it was bad enough for Sheffield United on another embarrassing day for the club, just four months after they were beaten 8-0 by Newcastle at Bramall Lane.
Boss Chris Wilder will surely know his side will be playing in the Championship next season as they have taken just 10 points from 23 games and are the same number away from safety.
Villa will hope to use this as a springboard for the rest of the campaign as they eye Champions League qualification for the first time.
It was the vision of Douglas Luiz that enabled them to take a two-goal lead within 16 minutes.
First, the midfielder sliced open Sheffield United’s defence with a fine pass which set Watkins through on goal. The England international lifted the ball over the on-rushing Wes Foderingham and onto the post, with McGinn tucking the rebound into an empty net.
Luiz’s assist for the second goal four minutes later was even more eye-catching as he again played in Watkins with an outrageous pass with the outside of his boot and this time the striker found the bottom corner.
It was 3-0 four minutes later with another goal of quality as Bailey cut inside and whipped a brilliant left-footed strike into the top corner.
A section of the home fans were fearing a repeat of that Newcastle nightmare and left the ground and even more headed for the exit 10 minutes later when Tielemans made it 4-0 with another picturebook goal.
The Belgian found acres of space on the edge of the area from a corner, took a touch and then rifled in off the underside of the crossbar to complete a dream half-hour.
Villa needed 83 seconds of the second half to make it five, as some slapdash defending from Auston Trusty allowed Watkins to tee up Moreno to volley home from close range.
United were at least able to stem the tide and threatened to get on the scoresheet but Emiliano Martinez saved from Anel Ahmedhodzic and Jack Robinson.
Their misery was complete late on in the game when Vini Souza poked home from a set-piece but VAR ruled it out for offside.
Conte embracing Napoli improvements after Como triumph
Antonio Conte is embracing Napoli's recent run of form after they extended their lead at the Serie A summit to four points ahead of the international break.
Scott McTominay's early opener was cancelled out by Gabriel Strefezza, only for star man Romelu Lukaku and substitute David Neres to seal the win after the break.
Conte is now the sixth manager to have won each of his first four home games as Napoli head coach in Serie A, after Paolo Iodice, Luis Vinicio, Alberto Bigon, Carlo Ancelotti and Luciano Spalletti.
The Italian, however, started his Napoli reign with a shock 3-0 defeat to Hellas Verona on the opening day, but his team have since gone seven games unbeaten, scoring 19 goals during that run.
Conte acknowledged that his side may not deserve to be at the top of the table, but felt quietly optimistic about his players' progression during the early stages of his tenure.
"I don't know if this is currently a Napoli that deserves to be in first place in the standings, but we are first and that is a fact," Conte said to DAZN.
"If someone had told me this three months ago, it would have been difficult to believe.
"We're growing in terms of temperament, and in our ability to adapt—playing good football, but also willing to get our hands dirty when we need to.
"That's a great sign, and we have to embrace it fully."
But the encounter against Como was far from comfortable for Conte's side, with the visitors registering 11 shots compared to Napoli's nine, while Cesc Fabregas' men also ended the contest with 59.3% possession.
Napoli, though, created the better chances, ending the encounter with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.02 from their six efforts on target, with Lukaku continuing to flourish under Conte's stewardship.
McTominay's opening goal after 26 seconds was the third-quickest for Napoli in the three-points-per-game era, while the former Manchester United midfielder also became the first Scottish player to score for Gli Azzurri in Serie A.
"We started well in the first half, scoring a great goal, the result of our hard work," Conte said.
"Then we changed things tactically in the second half, and they were no longer in the game.
"We lost too many duels, but that's part of the process of rebuilding confidence and self-esteem."
Conte also showered praise on the home supporters inside the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
"Playing in Naples, at the Maradona, with a full stadium means that the players can really feel the crowd's emotions," he said.
If you make mistakes, you can feel the disappointment, and that can chip away at your confidence.
"Napoli has a deep passion for football. We try to feed that passion by giving our all, like we did today. In the second half, we improved from every point of view."
Sunderland 2-2 Leeds: Meslier howler gifts Black Cats a point
Illan Meslier's last-gasp error saw Sunderland snatch a point against Leeds at the Stadium of Light on Friday.
The home supporters were sent into raptures by one of their own in the ninth minute when Chris Rigg opened the scoring, tucking home from close range after Meslier had produced a miraculous save to deny Dennis Cirkin's previous effort.
But Sunderland's joy was short-lived when Joel Piroe headed Wilfried Gnonto's inviting delivery beyond Anthony Patterson, though replays showed he may have wandered into an offside position.
Both sides continued to push for a half-time lead, with Brenden Aaronson seeing his shot cleared off the line and Patrick Roberts seeing his effort saved to end a pulsating half of action.
The hosts emerged from the tunnel in the ascendency but were met with a sucker punch in the 56th minute when Junior Firpo's driving run from deep ended with the left-back sweeping the ball into the far corner.
But with the clock ticking into the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time, there was to be one final twist when Alan Browne's flicked pass into the box somehow evaded the grasp of Meslier to preserve Sunderland's unbeaten home record this season.
Data Debrief: Meslier blunder overshadows Leeds display
Leeds were moments away from going level on points with Sunderland at the summit of the Championship, before a moment of madness sealed a gut-wrenching end to an enthralling encounter in the North East.
The visitors ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.16 from their 15 shots compared to Sunderland's 1.77, with Piroe contributing 0.72 xG to Leeds' tally.
But their display was overshadowed by Meslier's blunder, with the Frenchman enjoying a strong performance up until that point, making three saves against the Black Cats.
Gabbia, Pisilli and Maldini named in Italy's Nations League squad
Luciano Spalletti has handed four players their senior call-up to the Italy national team ahead of their Nations League fixtures next week.
Italy take on Belgium and Israel in the next round of games, hoping to build on their impressive start in Group A2 after winning their opening two games which included a 3-1 win over France.
Milan defender Matteo Gabbia has been included after an impressive run of performances at centre-back under new head coach Paulo Fonseca.
Gabbia is also the first player from the Rossoneri to be named in the Italy squad in almost 600 days, with Sandro Tonali, who joined Newcastle in 2023, the last Milan representative to feature for the Azzurri.
There was also a place in the squad for Monza's Daniel Maldini, who could follow in the footsteps of his father Paolo, and grandfather Cesare, both former Italy captains.
Maldini has one goal and one assist in seven appearances in all competitions this season, and comes in for Lazio's Matteo Zaccagni.
Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio has also been given a first call-up to the senior side, replacing the injured Alex Meret of Napoli.
Roma's Niccolo Pisilli was also named in the squad, replacing Atlanta's Marco Brescianini, who has also suffered a recent injury set-back.
There were five Premier League representatives named in Spalletti's 23-man squad on Friday, with Guglielmo Vicario, Riccardo Calafiori, Caleb Okoli, Destiny Udogie and Tonali also included.
However, there was no space for Liverpool's Federico Chiesa, who did not feature in the Reds' Champions League win over Bologna in midweek.
Italy squad: Michele Di Gregorio (Juventus), Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG), Guglielmo Vicario (Spurs), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Raoul Bellanova (Atalanta), Alessandro Buongiorno (Napoli), Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Matteo Gabbia (Milan), Caleb Okoli (Leicester), Destiny Udogie (Tottenham Hotspur), Nicolo Fagioli (Juventus), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Niccolo Pisilli (Roma), Samuele Ricci (Torino), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle United), Moise Kean (Fiorentina), Daniel Maldini (Monza), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Atalanta).
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