basketball
Everton stay perfect as Chelsea come from 3 goals down to draw at WBA
BRIGHTON, England, Sept 26, (AP):Bruno Fernandes converted a penalty in the 10th minute of stoppage time with the last kick of a wild Premier League game to earn Manchester United a 3-2 win over Brighton, which had earlier scored in added-on time and also hit the goal frame on five occasions on Saturday.
United were awarded a spot kick after the referee saw on the pitchside monitor that Harry Maguire’s header deflected off the outstretched hand of Brighton striker Neal Maupay before being cleared off the line.
Despite the full-time whistle having already been blown, Fernandes was allowed to take a penalty and the Portugal playmaker found the corner of the net to score the latest Premier League goal since 2011 and secure a first win of the campaign for United.
Even Fernandes accepted it was fortunate.
In the last of the allotted five minutes of second-half stoppage time, Solly March - one of the players to have previously hit the goal frame - headed home at the far post for a goal that looked like sealing a point for the hosts.
Earlier, Leandro Trossard struck both posts in the opening 21 minutes before smashing a shot against the bar in the second half.
With Adam Webster heading against the bar and March striking a shot against the post, the Premier League’s official statistics supplier, Opta, said it was the first time a team had struck the goal frame five times in a match since the company started compiling data in 2003-04.
“They have a lot of chances, it’s true,” Fernandes said. “Maybe everyone can say they deserve more, or not.
SOCCER
The point is, score goals - don’t hit the crossbar or the post.
“Sometimes you have to have some luck.”
Brighton went ahead in the 40th minute when Maupay converted a cheeky “Panenka” penalty after Fernandes brought down Tariq Lamptey.
United equalized three minutes later via an own-goal by Lewis Dunk, who inadvertently turned the ball into his own net after Nemanja Matic pulled the ball back across the face of goal at a free kick.
Brighton were denied a penalty at the start of the second half after Paul Pogba was initially adjudged to have clipped the legs of Aaron Connolly. The referee changed his mind after viewing the incident on the pitchside monitor and booked Connolly.
Then United went ahead through Marcus Rashford, who cut in from the left after being played in behind the Brighton defense, delivered two shimmies, before getting the ball back on his left foot and rifling in a shot that deflected into the top corner in the 55th minute.
Everton 2 Palace 1
Everton won their third straight match to open the English Premier League by beating Crystal Palace 2-1 thanks to a contentiously awarded penalty converted by Richarlison.
Palace right back Joel Ward became the latest player to fall foul of the league’s newly adopted interpretation of defensive handballs, when the ball struck his left arm after being headed on by Lucas Digne.
Because his arm was adjudged to have made his body unnaturally bigger, a penalty was awarded and Richarlison struck his 40th-minute effort into the top corner after a stuttered runup.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin put Everton in the lead in the 10th minute, finishing off a flowing team move involving James Rodriguez and Seamus Coleman to score his fifth goal of the season.
Cheikhou Kouyaté equalized with a header from Andros Townsend’s right-wing corner in the 26th.
Everton have already beaten Tottenham away and West Bromwich Albion at home.
Palace dropped points for the first time after wins against Southampton and Manchester United.
Robin Koch, Victor Lindelof, Matt Doherty and Neal Maupay are others to have given away penalties for defensive handball since the Premier League decided to fall in line with the rest of European soccer and apply the ruling in a stricter way rather than judging it on intent.
West Brom 3 Chelsea 3 Tammy Abraham scored in the third minute of injury time to complete Chelsea’s comeback from three goals down to draw at West Bromwich Albion 3-3 as Thiago Silva had a tough introduction to the English Premier League .
Chelsea fell 3-0 behind after just 27 minutes and it was partly down to Thiago Silva, who failed to control a simple pass to him allowing Callum Robinson to run through and score West Brom’s second goal.
Robinson put the hosts in front after four minutes after another poor piece of defensive work, this time from Marcos Alonso, and Kyle Bartley completed a fast start for West Brom by side-footing in the third when unmarked at a corner.
Chelsea staged a stunning recovery, though, with Mason Mount and substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi scoring in the 55th and 70th minutes, respectively. Still, it looked like West Brom were going to hang on for a first win of the season since their promotion, only for Abraham to tap into an empty net after the ball landed at his feet from a save by Sam Johnstone.
Chelsea have spent nearly $300 million on new signings and the team have yet to gel, with their defending especially weak at The Hawthorns.
Thiago Silva, who made his Chelsea debut in the English League Cup in midweek, was given the armband for the game against West Brom with club captain Azpilicueta starting on the bench. The Brazil center back has been signed to shore up a defense that lacked leadership under Frank Lampard last season but it looked as shaky as ever, with Thiago Silva alongside Andreas Christensen at center back.