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Manchester City's Premier League title challenge hit a fresh stumbling block as Dominic Solanke's acrobatic strike salvaged a 2-2 draw for struggling Tottenham Sunday, while Benjamin Sesko secured another thrilling 3-2 win for Manchester United over Fulham.City were cruising towards what would have been another damaging defeat for Spurs boss Thomas Frank as they led 2-0 at half-time.But Solanke scored twice in the second half to leave Pep Guardiola's men six points adrift of leaders Arsenal.City have won just one of their six league games in 2026 to allow the Gunners to move closer to a first title in 22 years.Rayan Cherki fired the visitors into an early lead and was only denied a spectacular second by a brilliant Guglielmo Vicario save.Antoine Semenyo did double City's advantage before the break to spark uproar from the furious Spurs support at half-time.However, Tottenham flipped the script in the second period to give Frank some breathing space.Solanke's absence for most of the season due to injury has played a major part in Spurs' struggles.The England international's finish from close range halved the deficit before he produced a stunning moment of athleticism to hook the ball past Gianluigi Donnarumma with a scorpion kick.Sesko rides to Man Utd rescueA third consecutive win since Michael Carrick took the reins at Old Trafford propelled United back into the top four at the expense of Chelsea and Liverpool.A week on from a 3-2 win at Arsenal, it was another throwback to United's glory days during Carrick's playing career as they snatched victory in dramatic fashion after a Fulham fightback.Goals from Casemiro and Matheus Cunha either side of half-time put United in command.Just a second defeat in nine league games dealt a blow to Fulham's own hopes of European football next season.The visitors showed plenty of fight as Raul Jimenez's penalty five minutes from time began a frantic finale before Kevin's spectacular strike looked to have salvaged a point.But United went straight down the other end and Sesko spun onto Bruno Fernandes' pass before blasting into the top corner."It's the best feeling I have to say," Carrick said."Some of the best moments I've been part of here, you can dissect performances and there are plusses and not, and then you get a moment of elation and excitement like that."Villa's title dreams fadeTo cap a fine day for Arsenal, third-placed Aston Villa were beaten 1-0 at home by 10-man Brentford to remain seven points off the top.Kevin Schade was sent off for kicking out at Matty Cash on 42 minutes.But in first-half stoppage time, the Bees took the lead when Dango Ouattara blasted in from a narrow angle.Villa laid seige to the Brentford goal after the break but lacked the invention to break the visitors down.Tammy Abraham did have the ball in the net but was denied a debut goal on his return to Villa after a VAR review found the ball had gone out of play in the build-up.Crystal Palace also failed to make the most of a man advantage in a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest.Morgan Gibbs-White's early strike put Forest in front, but Neco Williams' decision to punch the ball clear off his own goal-line just before half-time was the break the visitors needed.Ismaila Sarr netted from the penalty spot after Williams was shown a red card.However, Palace failed to end their 12-game wait for a win and remain just three points above Forest and nine clear of the bottom three. 

The Premier League’s record transfer summer has had an acute impact on Germany, where even Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich have felt the impact of English football’s growing financial muscle.Other than Liverpool signing Alexander Isak from rivals Newcastle, the top four most expensive Premier League arrivals this summer Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Nick Woltemade and Benjamin Sesko all came from the Bundesliga.A total of 380mn euros (£300mn, $446mn) plus bonuses was paid out on that quartet alone, with the two most expensive moving to the same club: Liverpool.Premier League clubs spent more than three billion euros this summer, a record for a transfer window. The shifting sands have led to debate about whether to pursue major structural reforms in Germany, like abolishing the fan-loved 50+1 rule, which restricts outside investment and ensures member control.Others, however, suggest that clubs could take advantage of the Premier League’s wealth, potentially uprooting Germany’s well-established footballing hierarchy.Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn, the club’s former goalkeeper, slammed German football administrators on Monday, saying that clubs and the league were content to play second fiddle.Kahn called for changes in structure and in attitude.“For many, this is normal now. For me, it’s a signal. The league is playing too safe and has forgotten how to take risks,” Kahn wrote on his personal LinkedIn account.“(The question is) whether we want to remain a league that creates talent and loses it – or whether we want to create the conditions for talents to stay here.”Kahn did not directly call for the abolition of the 50+1 rule, but said that structural restraints meant “bold decisions don’t emerge”.Under the 50+1 rule, German clubs must be majority owned by club members mostly fans thus restricting external investment. The only two clubs which have an exception to that rule, Bayer-owned Leverkusen and Volkswagen-owned Wolfsburg, have won league titles in the past 20 years. Double winners in 2023-24, Leverkusen lost eight members of that team this summer, with five moving to the Premier League.Leverkusen’s sporting director Simon Rolfes told DAZN this season: “when a domino falls in England, it will fall here. As a club you have almost no choice but to let the player go.”As Europe’s largest nation and a traditional football powerhouse, some view the rivers of Premier League gold as an opportunity.This summer, Borussia Dortmund, Leverkusen, RB Leipzig and Stuttgart each sold at least one player to the Premier League for a fee of more than 50mn euros.Rolfes said the “key factor in offsetting the Premier League’s economic advantage” was the “professionalisation of youth academy programmes”.The wealth available has the potential to change a German club’s fortunes.In 2024, Porsche paid 100mn euros to take a minority stake in Stuttgart, providing the side with financial security. Stuttgart qualified for the Champions League in 2024, the first time in 15 years, and won the German Cup a season later. In August, Stuttgart received 85mn euros for Woltemade, who arrived on a free a season earlier.One of Europe’s biggest clubs, even Bayern have not escaped the ripple effects. Despite courting Wirtz and Woltemade, both players moved to the Premier League.Earlier this season, Bayern sporting director Max Eberl said “certain things weren’t possible during the transfer window because we want to be very financially prudent.”Asked at a press conference on Friday to assess the appeal of the Premier League this transfer window, Bayern coach Vincent Kompany gave a one-word answer: “money”.In Germany, Bayern’s woes are unlikely to win them too much sympathy. The growing financial might of the Premier League presents a real challenge to Bayern’s status as the league’s apex predators. Winners of 34 German titles no other side has hit double figures Bayern have built their success on the back of plucking their rivals’ best, particularly in recent seasons.This summer shows competition from the Premier League is making that more difficult.