Chelsea’s late winner was scored by Kai Havertz in a disputed 2-1 victory over West Ham, while Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp complimented Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford’s “amazing” performance in Saturday’s goalless Merseyside derby.
After spending £250 million ($280 million) in the summer transfer window, Chelsea are under pressure to justify their new owners’ eye-popping expenditure.
Chelsea’s early results were uneven, as the team suffered losses to Leeds and Southampton.
When Michail Antonio scored a close-range goal to give West Ham the lead in the 62nd minute, the naysayers at Stamford Bridge sharpened their knives.
Ben Chilwell, though, equalized in the 76th minute, only three minutes after the England left-back substituted for Marc Cucurella.
Chilwell headed Thiago Silva’s lofted pass past his defender, then whirled around and fired a low drive between the legs of Lukasz Fabianski.
Kai Havertz scored off Chilwell’s cross to seal Chelsea’s dramatic victory in the 88th minute of the game.
Maxwel Cornet seemed to equalize in stoppage time, but the goal was controversially rejected by VAR due to Jarrod Bowen’s foul on Benjamin Mendy.
The squad of Thomas Tuchel is still unimpressive, but they are now in fifth position following their third victory in six games. Meanwhile, West Ham manager David Moyes was furious with the authorities for depriving his team a point.
Conor Coady believed he had put Everton ahead with a close-range finish from Neal Maupay’s second-half attempt at Goodison Park, but the goal was ruled out by VAR.
After a VAR review, Coady’s score was properly disallowed for offside.
There might have been a plethora of goals if not for a man-of-the-match performance by Pickford and several superb saves by his Liverpool rival Alisson Becker.
“What can you possibly do? It was a fantastic derby that was really heated and featured a number of truly exceptional saves “Klopp stated.
“Three times, we struck the post, and Pickford made several saves. I don’t know how many derbies I’ve participated in, but it’s been quite a few, and they’re usually challenging here “he added.
Everton remain winless in their opening six games of the season, while Liverpool’s momentum was halted following two consecutive victories.
Kane hits milestone
With a 2-1 victory against Fulham in north London, unbeaten Tottenham has now won four of their last six games.
Richarlison’s assist allowed Tottenham’s Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to score in the 40th minute, as he swept the ball in after receiving it from Richarlison’s delivery.
Harry Kane expanded Tottenham’s advantage in the 74th minute after a cross from Ryan Sessegnon to become the third-highest scorer in Premier League history, surpassing Andy Cole with 188 goals.
Kane currently trails just Alan Shearer (260) and Wayne Rooney (208) in the scoring list.
Kane’s strike also tied him with Thierry Henry for the most goals scored in Premier League London derbies with 43.
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored with a curling shot in the 82nd minute for Fulham, but Tottenham held strong.
At Nottingham Forest, managerless Bournemouth rallied from two goals behind to win 3-2 in a nail-biter.
Cheikhou Kouyate’s header and Brennan Johnson’s penalty gave Forest a 2-0 halftime lead against the Cherries, who had lost 9-0 at Liverpool the previous weekend. The Cherries seemed to be in for another hammering after the interval, as Cheikhou Kouyate’s header and Brennan Johnson’s penalty gave Forest
However, Philip Billing’s long-range strike and Dominic Solanke’s acrobatic attempt leveled the score before Jaidon Anthony clinched the victory in the 87th minute.
At the Community Stadium, Ivan Toney scored a hat-trick as Brentford defeated Leeds by a score of 5-2.
Daniel Podence scored the game-winning goal as Wolves defeated Southampton 1-0 at Molineux for their first league win of the season.
In first-half stoppage time, Podence’s easy goal moved Bruno Lage’s team out of the relegation zone.
At St. James’s Park, Crystal Palace and Newcastle drew 0-0, while Newcastle striker Alexander Isak missed a chance to score on his home debut.
The £60 million ($69 million) player, who scored in his maiden outing against Liverpool last week, squandered two excellent opportunities to leave Newcastle winless since the season opener.
AFP