 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Tottenham Hotspur moved top of the Premier League after an impressive 2-0 victory over Manchester City while Chelsea beat Newcastle United and Manchester United secured their first home win of the campaign on Saturday.
Jose Mourinho's Spurs, unbeaten in their last eight games, have 20 points from nine matches while Frank Lampard's Chelsea are on 18 points after their 2-0 win at Newcastle.
Third-placed Leicester City (18 points) are at fourth-placed Liverpool (17 points) on Sunday and would go back to the top with a win at Anfield.
Pep Guardiola's City slipped to 11th with United's victory moving them above their local rivals to ninth.
Spurs now fully look like a Mourinho team, solid at the back, hard-working in midfield and deadly on the break and that was enough to beat a City team who have managed just 10 goals in nine games.
Son Heung-min's prolific form continued, the South Korean opening the scoring in the fifth minute with his ninth goal of the season.
A beautifully weighted pass from Tanguy Ndombele picked out Son's perfectly timed run and the striker kept his cool to slip the ball through the legs of the advancing Ederson.
Harry Kane for Spurs and Aymeric Laporte for City both had goals disallowed before substitute Giovani lo Celso settled the match just 35 seconds after coming off the bench.
While Mourinho will have been delighted to have put one over on Guardiola, who he jousted with during his time in Spain when he coached Real Madrid and his rival was in charge of Barcelona, he wasn't getting carried away by the table.
"We are not fighting for the title, we are just fighting to win every match," said the Portuguese coach.
Chelsea became the seventh club to top the Premier League standings this season after a 2-0 victory at Newcastle United on Saturday courtesy of an own goal by Federico Fernandez and Tammy Abraham's second-half effort.
Frank Lampard's side dominated before the break and took the lead in the 10th minute when Fernandez, under pressure from Ben Chilwell, turned in Mason Mount's cross.
Chelsea really should have been out of sight with Timo Werner guilty of missing some gilt-edged chances but Newcastle came alive after the break.
Isaac Hayden squandered a great chance to equalise on the hour but a few minutes later Werner burst through on goal before passing to Abraham to double Chelsea's lead.
Sean Longstaff came close for Newcastle when his rising drive clipped the crossbar but Chelsea could have scored more with Werner having a goal ruled out for offside.
Chelsea's third successive league win lifted them level on 18 points with Leicester City but are top thanks to a better goal difference. Leicester face Liverpool on Sunday.
Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur could both replace Chelsea at the top later on Saturday.
After a huge investment in the squad, Chelsea are beginning to show the consistency for a title challenge after something of a mixed start to the new campaign.
Saturday's win was more comfortable than the scoreline suggests with Newcastle having only one shot on target.
Chelsea's problems in the goalkeeping department also look to be solved with Edouard Mendy keeping a seventh clean sheet in his nine appearances for Chelsea in all competitions.
"We put the game away with a professional performance," Lampard said.
"The result is key because the Premier League is tough and relentless.
"It's pleasing, but I'm not going to get excited about being at the top of the table for five minutes. It's a long season."
Argentine Fernandez was a little unfortunate to give Chelsea the lead but the hosts were indebted to goalkeeper Karl Darlow as he made saves from Werner and Abraham.
Newcastle were more positive after the break with the dangerous Allan Saint-Maximin finally getting some service and Hayden should have done better than scoop a shot over the bar when through on goal with only Mendy to beat.
But Chelsea, with defender Antonio Rudiger starting his first league game of the season, rode the mini-storm before regaining control to win with ease.
Newcastle's third home defeat of the season left them on 11 points from nine games.
Brighton snap winless streak with 2-1 triumph at Villa
Brighton & Hove Albion celebrated their first Premier League victory since September after Danny Welbeck helped them to a 2-1 win at Aston Villa on Saturday with his first goal for the club.
Solly March also netted a fine goal for the visitors to cancel out Ezri Konsa's equaliser, as Brighton moved clear of the relegation zone with nine points from as many games.
Sixth-placed Villa's patchy form continued as they suffered their third successive home defeat, the setback against Brighton coming after a 3-0 win at Arsenal following losses to Leeds and Southampton.
Welbeck, who endured a difficult year at relegated Watford last season with only two league goals in 18 appearances, was delighted after opening his account at Brighton.
"It's a very important three points," the former Arsenal and Manchester United striker told the BBC.
"We've had some good performances but today we got the result as well. I'm obviously happy to get off the mark with the goal. I just kept my cool and slotted it over the keeper."
The pulsating clash had a dramatic climax as Brighton's Tariq Lamptey was sent off in stoppage time moments before referee Michael Oliver rescinded a penalty he awarded to Villa after a VAR check.
Villa missed a string of chances in the first half and were punished as Welbeck raced clear from inside his own half in the 12th minute and beat goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez with a deliciously dinked finish.
Konsa equalised shortly after the break when he slid in at the far post to turn in Bertrand Traore's free kick and Villa looked set to complete their comeback as they kept laying siege to the Brighton goal.
But they were stunned again in the 56th minute when March capped a flowing move with a sublime first-time shot from 18 metres into the top corner, leaving Martinez rooted to his line.
March, whose tackle on Trezeguet was initially seen by Oliver as a penalty, was relieved the referee changed his mind after reviewing the replay of the incident on a monitor.
"For a moment I had my heart in my mouth but I got a bit of the ball," he said. "I haven't seen it back but sometimes with the follow-through you cannot avoid making contact."
