After only two of the top eight clubs collected all three points on the weekend, the 2016/17 Premier League season suddenly looks a lot more interesting.
Manchester City had threatened to run away with the title earlier in the campaign, but now just one point separates the top five as Pep Guardiola and company begin to learn just how tough English football really is.
Elsewhere, Hull City's defeat to Stoke City and West Ham United's last minute winner against Sunderland saw the bottom end of the table settle into a more understandable pattern. The current bottom three clubs are the bookies favourites to remain there come May, while those important wins for Slaven Bilic and Mark Hughes puts them within touching distance of the top half.
Here are three tactical lessons we learnt from the weekend's action.
1) Spurs still lack a plan B and could learn a thing or two from Chelsea
AFC Bournemouth deserve credit for the compactness of their narrow 4-5-1 formation against Spurs on Saturday, but truthfully it has become fairly easy to stifle Mauricio Pochettino's team recently. They have only scored four goals in their last five games thanks to their congested attacking tactics; Spurs need a plan B when intricate, middle-focused build-up play does not bring results.
Danny Rose and Kyle Walker are supposed to provide the width but Bournemouth successfully squeezed them out of the game with an excellent pressing system.
Moussa Sissoko was signed to offer them a more direct option for these kinds of occasions, but he failed to influence the match after coming on in the 72nd minute.
Pochettino would do well to take a closer look at the 3-4-2-1 formation Antonio Conte is using at Chelsea. The extra bodies in attacking midfield allow Chelsea to simultaneously dominate this zone (as Spurs love to do) and give them direct attacking wingers.
A sudden formation change mid-match could have handed Spurs the three points on Saturday.
2) Work still to be done for Guardiola's 3-4-2-1 with Gundogan the weak link
Guardiola's new formation looked a bit flat on Sunday, possibly because their fragile confidence meant the ball was not moved as quickly as it should have been.
They attempted to switch the play to Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling on the flanks at every opportunity, so that they could stretch the pitch for Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva to dominate centrally.
Unfortunately, everything was a bit disjointed.
Southampton's central midfield trio of Jordy Clasie, Oriol Romeu, and Steven Davis were outstanding (14 tackles), meaning Man City simply could not find any rhythm in that key central area.
This improved dramatically after the interval when De Bruyne was replaced by Kelechi Iheanacho. City stopped relying on the below-par De Bruyne (who had suffered a calf injury) and Fernandinho dropped much deeper, allowing Ilkay Gundogan to pour forward and give City more short-passing options in the final third.
It was the German who was the weak link, however, for much of the match. Still looking tentative in English football, only 16 of Gundogan's 84 passes were forward; City looked lethargic because they had two central midfielders essentially doing the same job for much of the game. Fabian Delph will be a more dynamic option when he returns from injury.
3) Mourinho's tactics are consistently being undermined by his meandering attackers
There were plenty of flaws in Manchester United's 4-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge, and arguably the biggest of these was Jose Mourinho's use of a back six. He failed to react quickly enough after Chelsea took the lead, which stifled their own counter-attacking options and allowed Chelsea's defensive players to stride into the final third unchallenged.
But more worrying than this was the meandering, undisciplined display of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, and Marouane Fellaini. Over the last few weeks all three of these players have drifted in and out of matches, seemingly following their own instincts rather than working to help United keep their shape.
Fellaini is the worst offender, but Pogba could also frequently be found walking in a right wing position unnecessarily or lazily refusing to track back when Chelsea won the ball. Ibrahimovic's play is looking increasingly one dimensional, meaning that United have to play a direct, cross-focused game based on his height (and his limitations outside the final third).
The real worry for Mourinho is that he is relying on players who cannot fit into a cohesive system week in, week out.
Player of the week – Michael Keane
Another fabulous performance from 23-year-old Michael Keane earned his Burnley side three points against Everton on Saturday. It was surely Burnley's best team performance of the season to date, but they could not have kept Romelu Lukaku and Yannick Bolasie so quiet without their rising star.
Keane made eight interceptions and 12 clearances against Ronald Koeman's side in yet another man-of-the-match performance. It cannot be long before Gareth Southgate realises that Keane deserves to be in the England squad.
Flop of the week – David Moyes
Critics of David Moyes have long pointed to his negativity as a reason for his wilting career, and after some drab pre-season press conferences seemed to create an atmosphere of inevitable relegation around the club it should come as no surprise that Sunderland are rock bottom.
Sunderland are now only the second top-flight team in history to fail to win any of their first nine games for two consecutive seasons. The last team was Bury in 1905 and 1906.
They defended well at the London Stadium for the most part, but Moyes deserves criticism for substituting two attackers for defenders in the final ten minutes. Unsurprisingly, this made his team nervously retreat and retreat until, with seconds remaining, the inevitable occurred.
By Alex Keble
