English Football Weekend: Hull Stay Unbeaten, Ipswich Win Late & West Ham Hit Six

Four Premier League games played.

Still unbeaten.

Hull City are making a habit of ruining people's predictions.

The Tigers went to Stamford Bridge on Saturday and came away with another point, while fellow promoted side Ipswich Town produced one of the weekend's best finishes with a 90th-minute winner at Crystal Palace.

Then came Sunday's Manchester derby, where ten-man Manchester City beat United in circumstances that ensured VAR rather than the football became part of the conversation again.

Further down, West Ham put six past Wrexham, Swansea kept pace at the top of the Championship, Sheffield Wednesday remained top of League One despite being held at Hillsborough, and Barnet climbed to the League Two summit.

September is starting to tell us a little more.

Hull refuse to go away

At some point we're probably going to have to stop describing Hull's start as a surprise.

Chelsea led after only seven minutes at Stamford Bridge through Morgan Rogers.

For a promoted side away at one of the Premier League's big spenders, this was the moment when an afternoon can quickly get away from you.

Hull didn't let it.

Mohamed Belloumi equalised in the 28th minute.

Six minutes later he scored again.

Suddenly it was Chelsea 1-2 Hull City.

João Pedro eventually levelled for Chelsea in the 66th minute, but the Tigers held on for a 2-2 draw.

That means Hull have taken eight points from their opening four Premier League matches.

Manchester United beaten.

Coventry beaten.

Aston Villa held.

Chelsea held.

And they are still unbeaten.

Their defensive record finally took a dent at Stamford Bridge, but their confidence clearly hasn't.

Even Hull manager Sergej Jakirović is receiving recognition now. He was named the Premier League's August Manager of the Month after overseeing the opening victories against Manchester United and Coventry.

For supporters enjoying the ride, Hull are included on the live On The Terrace Shop by Club A-Z page alongside the wider independent terrace range.

Eight points from four.

Not bad for a side plenty of people expected to spend the season looking nervously over its shoulder.

Ipswich produce a proper away-day finish

Ipswich had already discovered how quickly Premier League football can punish you.

Saturday reminded them how good it feels when the late goal goes the other way.

Crystal Palace took the lead at Selhurst Park before Emersonn equalised for Ipswich.

Leif Davis then headed the visitors in front.

Palace, despite being reduced to ten men in the first half, fought back to 2-2 through Jørgen Strand Larsen.

Then came the 90th minute.

Substitute Zian Flemming bundled in the winner.

Crystal Palace 2-3 Ipswich Town.

It was Ipswich's first Premier League away victory since April 2025 and ended a remarkable sequence of 32 Premier League matches in which they had conceded first without going on to win.

That's an away end worth being in.

The late winner is one of football's simplest pleasures.

Ninety minutes of tension followed by ten seconds where strangers end up three rows away from the seat they paid for.

Exactly the sort of afternoon supporters remember.

Ten-man City take the Manchester derby

Sunday's Manchester derby supplied considerably more controversy.

Manchester City went down to ten men after Phil Foden was sent off in the 23rd minute.

United hit the woodwork twice.

Yet City still won.

Erling Haaland scored the game's only goal in the 60th minute as City beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford.

The problem was what happened around the goal.

Haaland himself was ultimately judged onside, but Enzo Fernández was in an offside position and attempted to become involved in the move.

The refereeing body subsequently acknowledged that the VAR process got the incident wrong and that an on-field review should have taken place.

City won't care much this morning.

They played for more than an hour with ten men and still left Old Trafford with three points.

United are left with four points from four matches and another weekend of uncomfortable questions.

Arsenal keep winning

While Manchester argued about VAR, Arsenal simply continued collecting points.

The Gunners beat Sunderland 2-0 on Saturday.

David Raya saved a Sunderland penalty before Bruno Guimarães scored his first Arsenal goal and Bukayo Saka added another from the spot in stoppage time.

Arsenal therefore maintained their perfect league start.

Manchester City joined them on 12 points from four matches with Sunday's derby victory, leaving the early title picture looking increasingly familiar.

The live Arsenal T-Shirts & AFC collection includes independent Highbury, trainer and terrace-inspired designs.

West Ham have gone from struggling to scoring for fun

A couple of weeks ago, West Ham couldn't buy a Championship win.

Now they can't stop scoring.

Friday night produced their biggest statement yet.

West Ham United 6-0 Wrexham.

Six different scorers.

Jarrod Bowen started it.

Joel Piroe made it two before half-time.

Konstantinos Mavropanos, Taty Castellanos, Mohamadou Kanté and Manor Solomon added four more after the break.

The Hammers have now won four consecutive Championship matches, scoring 16 goals across those four victories.

The win put them on 14 points from seven matches.

This is why nobody should panic too much about a Championship table in August.

West Ham's opening weeks looked awkward.

Now they're top.

On The Terrace also now has a live West Ham terrace T-shirt, so this is finally a Hammers story we can link naturally to a current tee rather than the old mug-only situation.

Swansea answer back

West Ham didn't get long to enjoy having the summit to themselves.

Swansea beat Burnley 3-1 on Saturday.

Adam Idah and Moussa Yeo gave the Swans a two-goal first-half lead.

Largie Ramazani pulled one back for Burnley, but Zan Vipotnik restored Swansea's cushion.

That leaves Swansea level with West Ham on 14 points, with West Brom also on 14 after Saturday's programme. West Ham retain first place on goal difference.

Burnley's situation is considerably less enjoyable.

They remain without a Championship victory and finished Saturday at the bottom of the table.

Jamie Vardy made his first Burnley matchday squad following his move from Cremonese, but there was no instant transformation.

For Swansea supporters, the live Swansea City T-shirt gives us another natural route from the football into the shop.

Wednesday stay top — just

After three consecutive league victories, Sheffield Wednesday finally had to settle for a point.

Sheffield Wednesday 0-0 Wigan Athletic.

Wednesday hit the post early through Mason Burstow.

Wigan hit the woodwork too through Jensen Weir.

And substitute Harry Gray had a late opportunity to win it for the Owls but fired over.

Not exactly seven against Bromley.

But the useful bit is the table.

Wednesday finish the weekend top of League One with 13 points from six matches, one ahead of Huddersfield.

Four wins, one draw and one defeat is still an excellent opening return after relegation.

And sometimes promotion seasons need the ugly points as much as the spectacular Saturdays.

The live Sheffield Wednesday T-Shirts & SWFC collection remains one of the strongest club ranges on On The Terrace, with Hillsborough, trainer and Northern Monkeys-inspired designs.

Seven goals at Edgeley Park

League One's most entertaining match wasn't at Hillsborough.

Stockport County and Leicester City served up seven goals.

Leicester won 4-3.

Liam Cullen opened the scoring, Emil Riis scored twice and debutant John Lundstram added another.

Stockport refused to disappear, with Jack Diamond, Ollie Norwood and Kyle Wootton getting them back into the contest.

But Leicester held on.

It was only their second League One victory of the season and eased some of the pressure around manager Russell Martin.

League One has already shown enough this season to suggest reputation isn't going to carry anybody anywhere.

Barnet hit the top of League Two

Another club enjoying September is Barnet.

The Bees came from behind to beat Accrington Stanley 2-1 at The Hive.

Charlie Caton gave Accrington the lead, but Charlie Lakin scored twice in the second half to turn the match around.

Accrington then went down to ten men when Devon Matthews received a second yellow card.

The victory moved Barnet top of League Two on 12 points, level with Bristol Rovers but ahead on goal difference.

Six matches in and League Two remains exactly what League Two usually is.

Tight.

Unpredictable.

And one bad week away from looking completely different.

These are starting to look like real stories

August tables are entertaining.

September tables start becoming interesting.

Hull being unbeaten after four Premier League games is no longer just an opening-weekend novelty.

West Ham winning four Championship matches in succession is a proper run.

Wednesday staying top of League One after six games gives supporters something tangible to enjoy.

Barnet leading League Two matters.

And Ipswich travelling home from Selhurst Park after a 90th-minute winner is exactly why supporters keep doing the miles.

That's where the terrace side of football comes in.

The train home feels completely different depending on what happened five minutes before the final whistle.

The pub afterwards does too.

Our Football Casual T-Shirts & Terrace Clothing collection is built around that matchday culture, while the Stadium Series focuses on the grounds where the memories happen.

Four divisions.

Four very different promotion, survival and title races.

And we're only in September.