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Palmer on the spot as Chelsea roar back to beat Tottenham 4-3
Cole Palmer scored twice from the penalty spot as Chelsea roared back from being two goals down after 11 minutes to beat Tottenham Hotspur 4-3 away in a frenzied London derby and close the gap with Premier League leaders Liverpool on Sunday.
Two comical slips by Chelsea full back Marc Cucurella led to Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski giving the hosts a dream start but their joy turned to despair as the visitors showed why they should be considered title contenders.
Jadon Sancho rifled in a shot after 17 minutes to give Chelsea momentum and Palmer equalised from the spot just past the hour mark as Chelsea dominated the second period.
Enzo Fernandez powered home a shot to put Chelsea ahead and Palmer effectively wrapped it up with his second penalty late on before Son Heung-min scored a stoppage-time consolation goal.
Chelsea are in second place with 31 points from 15 games, four points behind Liverpool whose game at Everton was postponed because of high winds on Saturday.
Tottenham's second defeat of the week left them in 11th place with 20 points and the pressure mounting on manager Ange Postecoglou whose cause was not helped by losing centre back Cristian Romero to injury early on.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has played down the title chances of his expensively-assembled squad who are now unbeaten in seven games and have won their last four Premier League matches. They are also top scorers in the division with 35 goals and in Palmer have a player at the peak of his powers.
He now has 50 goal involvements (33 goals and 17 assists) in 48 Premier League games for the London club since joining from Manchester City.
Things looked bleak for the visitors early on as a tumbling Cucurella was twice left red-faced.
He lost his footing in the fifth minute and Brennan Johnson played the ball into the area when Solanke produced a poacher's finish to give his side the lead.
Minutes later the exact same thing happened, this time the Spaniard slipping over and looking on in horror as the ball was eventually played to Kulusevski who cut across the area before threading a precise shot past Emiliano Sanchez.
Cucurella went off to change his footwear and his side's fortunes quickly changed too, Sancho striking a wonderful shot in off the post after a surging diagonal run.
Chelsea were perhaps lucky not to be down to 10 men when Moises Caicedo followed through on Pape Matar Sarr and soon afterwards Sarr headed a cross against the woodwork.
Tottenham were hanging on to their lead in the second half but a reckless challenge by Yves Bissouma on Caicedo was a clear penalty and Palmer beat Fraser Forster.
The hosts briefly rallied with Son going close but Fernandez volleyed Chelsea in front in the 73rd minute after a mazy dribble by the unstoppable Palmer.
Palmer then capped a great afternoon when he was brought down by Sarr and delivered an audacious 'Panenka' penalty.
Son's tap-in was scant consolation for Tottenham who also lost Romero's defensive partner Micky van de Ven to injury near the end.
Arsenal frustrated by Fulham once again
Arsenal were held to a 1-1 Premier League draw by London rivals Fulham on a grey wet Sunday at Craven Cottage as Raul Jimenez scored early for the hosts and William Saliba equalised for the visitors at the start of the second half.
The result left Arsenal second in the table on 29 points ahead of third-placed Chelsea's late game against Tottenham Hotspur.
Fulham, who also thwarted the Gunners both home and away last season, have now lost only one of their last seven league games and sit 10th in the table on 23 points.
"We dominated most of the game... It's frustrating not to win," Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard told Sky Sports.
Arsenal had almost complete control of the ball in the first 10 minutes but Jimenez stunned the title-chasers in the 11th, racing away down the right and firing right-footed across goalkeeper David Raya into the far corner.
Declan Rice nearly scored a mirror-image goal for Arsenal at the other end midway through the half, controlling a pass from Leandro Trossard only to strike his left-footed volley just wide of Fulham keeper Bernd Leno's far post.
Despite having almost 75% possession in the half and four corners compared with none for the hosts, the Gunners were unable to break through Fulham's disciplined defence.
Saliba levelled for Arsenal shortly after the interval from point-blank range, poking the ball in when Kai Havertz headed it back down into his path from a corner.
Arsenal thought they had won it in the 88th minute when Bukayo Saka headed the ball in from close range, but the goal was ruled out by the video assistant referee for an offside in the buildup.
Fulham remain unbeaten in their last nine London derbies in the league, their best such run since 2000-2001.
Bournemouth stage comeback with two late goals to beat Ipswich 2-1
Goals from substitutes Enes Unal and Dango Ouattara powered Bournemouth to a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory at Ipswich Town, breaking the hearts of home fans hoping to witness their first Premier League win of the season at Portman Road.
Bournemouth move up to eighth in the standings on 24 points, while relegation-threatened Ipswich have nine points from 15 games and sit in 18th place, four points adrift of the safety zone.
The result extended Ipswich's run of defeats in the league to three matches, while further stoking the momentum that Andoni Iraola's Bournemouth have built up after impressive league wins over Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
"We definitely didn't deserve to lose, we had great chances but just failed to take them, especially in the first half," Bournemouth coach Iraola, whose substitutions turned the tide of the match, told the BBC.
"The subs gave us the end product that we were missing. We were arriving in the right places but just not finishing. They finished well, we were almost in desperation mode at that point."
In a testy and physical opening spell, Ipswich captain Sam Morsy and Bournemouth left back Milos Kerkez took blows to the face, while Sammie Szmodics made a crunching tackle on Adam Smith.
Ipswich had the better chances early on and took the lead in the 21st minute when Cameron Burgess set up Conor Chaplin, who sidefooted home the ball from the edge of the area.
Bournemouth improved as the first half wore on and had opportunities to score but Marcus Tavernier rattled the post with a low shot, while in-form Justin Kluivert was denied by a last-ditch tackle from Burgess.
Ipswich were allowed little time on the ball after the break as the visitors emerged with renewed vigour and pressed furiously in search of an equaliser.
Despite fashioning a number of half-chances, Bournemouth were often frustrated by a combination of gutsy defending and a final ball that was lacking at crucial moments, with keeper Arijanet Muric making smart saves to deny Antoine Semenyo and Ryan Christie.
Just as it looked that Ipswich had done enough, Bournemouth's pressure finally told as Unal headed the ball off Burgess and over the goal-line to level in the 87th minute.
Smelling blood, Bournemouth flooded forward in their hunt for a winner and overwhelmed a weary Ipswich defence, with Ouattara smashing a rebound into the roof of the net in the fifth minute of stoppage time to score the winner.
The win was Bournemouth's first over Ipswich since 1990 and moved them within three points of fourth-placed Manchester City.
Vardy and De Cordova-Reid rescue late 2-2 draw for Leicester against Brighton
Leicester City came from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League at the King Power Stadium, thanks late goals by captain Jamie Vardy and Bobby De Cordova-Reid.
Right back Tariq Lamptey gave the visitors the lead in the 37th minute with a spectacular left-footed strike, curling the ball into the far top corner from outside the box after cutting inside following a clever pass from left back Pervis Estupinan.
After Yankuba Minteh had doubled Brighton's lead in the 79th minute, Vardy reduced the deficit for Leicester in the 86th and De Cordova-Reid scored to level things up for the home side in added time.
Brighton moved up to seventh place in the table with 24 points from 15 matches, while promoted Leicester sit in 16th place on 14 points ahead of the remaining weekend fixtures.
