Chelsea seize top spot after dramatic victory
sportsdesk@hindustantimes.com LONDON: Timo Werner fired Chelsea to the top of the Premier League as the German’s late goal inspired a controversyfilled 3-1 win against 10-man Southampton on Saturday.
Thomas Tuchel’s side ended a frustrating week on a high note thanks to Werner’s contribution to a dramatic finale at Stamford Bridge.
After successive 1-0 defeats against Manchester City and Juventus, the Blues were in danger of another disappointing result with just minutes remaining in rain-soaked west London.
Trevoh Chalobah’s early opener for Chelsea had been cancelled out by a James Wardprowse penalty in the second half. But Ward-prowse was sent off for an ugly lunge on Jorginho and Chelsea took full advantage as Werner restored their lead with six minutes left before Ben Chilwell wrapped up the points.
Chelsea sit two points clear of second-placed Liverpool, with Jurgen Klopp’s side able to regain pole position if they beat champions Manchester City on Sunday.
Failure to defeat a Southampton side still seeking their first league win this season would have raised serious questions about the European champions.
So it was a huge relief for Tuchel to get back on track heading into the international break as Chelsea put one of their rare blips of the German’s reign behind them.
Frustrated by what he labelled a “strange display” against Juventus on Wednesday and an equally lacklustre loss to City last weekend, Tuchel made five changes in a bid to shake up his “tired” team. Ruben Loftuscheek was handed his first league start for Chelsea since September 2020, while Jorginho, Kai Havertz and Marcos Alonso were among those dropped.
United frustrated by Everton at Old Trafford
MANCHESTER: Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Everton on Saturday after Andros Townsend’s equaliser cancelled out Anthony Martial’s opener for the home side.
It was another disappointing result for United, following their home defeat to Aston Villa last week, but continued the impressive start that Everton have made under Rafael Benitez. Both teams are on 14 points.
United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer responded to the challenge of the quick turnaround from Wednesday’s Champions League win over Villarreal by starting Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Pogba and Jadon Sancho on the bench—although all three were brought on in the second half.
United began brightly with Martial heading wide at the back post and Edinson Cavani forcing Jordan Pickford into a diving save with a firm header from a nicely floated Fred cross.
Everton though were well organised and set up to hit on the break, and the lively Demarai Gray brought David De Gea into action with a good effort after bursting in from the left in the 34th minute.
But it was a deserved lead that United took, two minutes before the interval when Mason Greenwood, showing some excellent touches on the flank, found Bruno Fernandes who expertly fed Martial, the Frenchman’s slightly deflected shot flashing past Pickford.
Solskjaer made a double substitution in the 57th minute, bring on Ronaldo and Sancho for Martial and Cavani, but the switch did not have the desired effect of finishing the game off.
Instead, Everton hit United on the counter-attack—breaking from a United corner with Gray out-muscling Fred on the left before finding the excellent Abdoulaye Doucoure who in turn slipped it outside to the sprinting Townsend, who fired low past the stationary De Gea.