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PIX: Chelsea held by Manchester United; City win

November 29, 2021 01:20 IST

Images from Sunday's action in the Premier League.

Jadon Sancho scores to put Manchester United ahead in the Premier League match against Chelsea, at Stamford Bridge, in London, on Sunday.

IMAGE: Jadon Sancho scores to put Manchester United ahead in the Premier League match against Chelsea, at Stamford Bridge, in London, on Sunday. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Reuters

Manchester United put their worries to one side to hold Premier League leaders Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on Sunday thanks to a Jadon Sancho breakaway goal that was cancelled out by a Jorginho penalty.

 

Chelsea, seeking to maintain their lead at the top of the table over Manchester City and Liverpool, dominated the first half against a United side playing their first Premier League match under caretaker manager Michael Carrick after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's sacking last weekend.

The Blues were punished for failing to turn possession into goals five minutes after the restart when United cleared and Jorginho, alone near the half-way line, miscontrolled and Sancho raced past him to beat the helpless Edouard Mendy.

Jorginho draws Chelsea level from the penalty spot.

IMAGE: Jorginho draws Chelsea level from the penalty spot. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Reuters

Chelsea were rocked by the goal against the run of play but Jorginho repaid his debt to the Stamford Bridge faithful in the 69th minute when he coolly converted a penalty after Aaron Wan-Bissaka fouled Thiago Silva.

The hosts pushed for a winner and brought on Romelu Lukaku, returning from injury as a substitute for the last 10 minutes, but they failed to find a way through United's defence.

The result leaves Chelsea top of the table, a point ahead of Manchester City and two clear of Liverpool.

United sit in eighth place, 12 points behind Chelsea.

Manchester City brave snowstorm in win over West Ham

Ilkay Gundogan scores Manchester City's first goal against West Ham United, at Etihad stadium, in Manchester.

IMAGE: Ilkay Gundogan scores Manchester City's first goal against West Ham United, at Etihad stadium, in Manchester. Photograph: Carl Recine/Reuters

Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan struck in the midst of a first-half snowstorm before a late goal from substitute Fernandinho proved enough to secure a 2-1 home victory over West Ham United.

The win took City to second place on 29 points, one behind leaders Chelsea, who drew with Manchester United in the late game.

West Ham, who snatched an added-time consolation with a superb Manuel Lanzini strike, stay fourth on 23 points.

"It was a very difficult day because of the weather conditions but it is always difficult against this team," City midfielder Rodri told the BBC.

"We were lucky to get this first goal because in the first half we couldn't play much. In the second we dominated and could have scored more."

West Ham United's Manuel Lanzini shoots at goal.

IMAGE: West Ham United's Manuel Lanzini shoots at goal. Photograph: Carl Recine/Reuters

With thick snow falling for most of the opening half, City's Riyadh Mahrez had the ball in the net in the 16th minute after a superb finish but his effort was ruled out for offside.

City took the lead in the 33rd minute when Mahrez drove the ball across the goal and Gundogan was on hand to steer it home.

That marked the beginning of a spell of heavy pressure from the hosts and they could have gone 2-0 up four minutes later but Gabriel Jesus's shot was cleared off the line by Ben Johnson.

Halftime saw the snowstorm abate and an army of groundstaff cleared the pitch. West Ham then had another let-off when Aaron Cresswell made a goal-line clearance as City dominated.

It took the home side until the 90th minute to score again, however, as Jesus teed up fellow Brazilian Fernandinho to net three minutes after he came off the bench.

Having seen little to warm them up during the game, the West Ham fans finally had something to celebrate when Lanzini won the ball on the edge of the area and sent an unstoppable shot into the top right corner with the final kick of the game.

Leicester fire four past Watford

Jamie Vardy scores Leicester City's second goal against Watford, at King Power Stadium, in Leicester.

IMAGE: Jamie Vardy scores Leicester City's second goal against Watford, at King Power Stadium, in Leicester. Photograph: Rebecca Naden/Reuters

Leicester City thumped Watford 4-2 in the Premier League amid heavy snowfall, which reduced visibility and made playing conditions difficult at the King Power Stadium.

Watford boss Claudio Ranieri, who guided Leicester to their only league title against overwhelming odds in 2015-16, was given a warm welcome by the home fans but he was in for a cold afternoon as his former striker Jamie Vardy scored twice.

The win takes Leicester up to provisional ninth place on 18 points from 13 games, while Watford stay 16th on 13 points.

The match began in relatively clear conditions and Leicester took an early lead from a Watford error when William Troost-Ekong ducked under a long ball, allowing Leicester's James Maddison to sneak in behind and beat goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann.

Watford levelled 14 minutes later after Emmanuel Dennis was tripped in the box by Wilfred Ndidi and Joshua King made no mistake in beating Kasper Schmeichel from the spot.

But as the snowfall got heavier, Vardy fired the home side ahead with two goals in eight minutes, both created by Maddison, first chipping the onrushing Bachmann before cleverly heading home from the near post at a corner kick.

"It is different (the weather), you see with the ref having to stop it. These are things you have to deal with. You have to stay professional and we did that," Vardy told Sky Sports.

"At one point their keeper was trying to get it called off with the ref but pitches have the under-soil heating and we weren't worried."

A blanket of snow turned the lush green pitch white in the second half and as the visibility fell Dennis nicked the ball off a back-tracking Timothy Castagne on the hour mark to go one-on-one with Schmeichel, making it 3-2 with a controlled finish.

However, Leicester restored their two-goal cushion minutes later when Harvey Barnes skipped forward on a counter-attack and squared the ball for Ademola Lookman to tap into an empty net.

King said Watford lost to a side that showed more determination but the Norwegian striker complained about the snowfall, which forced the referee to stop the game in the second half so groundstaff could clear snow off the lines.

"Horrible to play in, you have snow on your boot and feel heavy," King said. "I haven't witnessed a game like that before. I couldn't see anything but it is the same for both sides."

The adverse weather had earlier forced Burnley's home game against Tottenham Hotspur to be called off.

Toney penalty helps Brentford beat Everton

Ivan Toney's strike from the penalty spot earned Brentford victory over Everton.

IMAGE: Ivan Toney's strike from the penalty spot earned Brentford victory over Everton. Photograph: Ian Walton/Reuters

Brentford striker Ivan Toney’s first-half penalty secured a 1-0 win over ailing Everton in the Premier League on Sunday, heaping more misery on the visitors ahead of their midweek Merseyside derby with Liverpool.

Toney converted from the spot for his first home goal of the season, ending Brentford's five-game winless league run and taking them up to 12th.

It was the Bees' first clean sheet at home since their opening-day 2-0 win over Arsenal.

Injury-depleted Everton are now without a victory in their last seven league games, five of which have been lost, and they slipped to 14th. The Toffees host third-placed Liverpool on Wednesday, with manager Rafa Benitez coming under increasing pressure as he prepares to face his former club.

Everton had the majority of possession and made numerous raids towards the Brentford box, but lacked the quality in the final third to force an equaliser.

Brentford were awarded their penalty following the intervention of Video Assistant Referee Jonathan Moss as Andros Townsend’s high boot into the face of Frank Onyeka left the officials with little choice. Toney had no trouble converting.

Source: REUTERS
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