Chelsea stun City, Liverpool go top
For 45 minutes Chelsea were under siege, pinned in their own half by Manchester City in yesterday’s English Premier League headline act.
With halftime approaching, Chelsea finally managed a shot from an unlikely source and broke through the impervious champions.
Just when he seemed to be struggling to adapt to a more advanced attacking midfield role, N’Golo Kante got into space in front of goal to be set up by Eden Hazard and sweep the ball into the net.
So wasteful in the first half, City then allowed Chelsea to seize the initiative as their unbeaten start to the season came to an end.
‘‘Everyone wants to beat us,’’ City manager Pep Guardiola said.
David Luiz made sure of that, heading in from Hazard’s corner in the 78th minute to seal Chelsea’s 2-0 win.
‘‘It was a great game and we have to be honest playing against the best team in Europe or the world at the moment,’’ Luiz said. ‘‘They have great players, so we had a lot of humility and tried to take our chances to score. So we did our plan well.’’
Not only did City lose for the first time in the league this season but they also lost top spot to Liverpool, who moved a point ahead after Mohamed Salah’s hat-trick inspired a 4-0 victory at Bournemouth.
The visit of last-placed Fulham allowed Manchester United to end a four-match winless run as Jose Mourinho’s side claimed a 4-1 victory.
Ashley Young put United ahead in the 13th minute, Juan Mata slotted in from Marcus Rashford’s cutback in the 28th and Romelu Lukaku ended his 997-minute wait for a goal at Old Trafford in the 42nd.
Substitute Aboubakar Kamara’s penalty reduced the deficit from the spot but Fulham midfielder Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa’s sending off in the 68th was followed by Marcus Rashford netting for United in the 82nd.
At Bournemouth, Salah’s hat-trick was a reminder of how the forward won the Golden Boot last season.
The Egyptian broke the deadlock in the 25th minute when he responded to a parried shot.
Salah stayed on his feet under a challenge from Steve Cook before drilling home in style, before netting three minutes into the second half.
Cook somehow back-heeled past his own goalkeeper, Asmir Begovic, when trying to clear Andy Robertson’s cross.
A mazy dribble preceded Salah completing his hat trick in the 77th.
Tottenham stayed in contention for a top-four spot with a 2-0 win at Leicester, where Son Heung-min played a starring role.
With Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen on the bench, the South Korean struck the opener from long-range on the stroke of halftime and then provided a cross for Dele Alli to head in the second in the 58th minute.
Lucas Torreira acrobatically volleyed into the bottom left corner in the 83rd minute as Arsenal beat Huddersfield 1-0 to extend their club-record unbeaten run to 21 matches in all competitions. Arsenal remained fifth, behind Chelsea on goal difference.
In other matches, Burnley beat Brighton 1-0, Cardiff edged Southampton by the same score while West Ham continued their revival by beating Crystal Palace 3-2. Now the Football Ferns know who they will play at the World Cup, it’s a matter of getting their preparation right.
Coach Tom Sermanni was content with the draw for next year’s event in France, which pits his 19th-ranked side against fifth-ranked Canada, seventh-ranked Netherlands, and 46th-ranked Cameroon in group E.
‘‘It’s like any draw you’d expect at a World Cup,’’ he said from Paris. ‘‘It’s a difficult draw but it’s not an insurmountable one. We’ve played the Netherlands [losing 1-0] and we’ve played Canada [drawing 0-0] at the previous World Cup and we’ve been competitive.
‘‘Our players will look at the group, they’ll think it’s going to be difficult but they’ll think we’ve got a chance.’’
The Ferns begin their campaign against the Netherlands on June 11 (June 12, NZT) before facing Canada on June 15 (June 16) and Cameroon on June 20 (June 21).
They have twin goals for the tournament of winning a game at a World Cup for the first time and qualifying for the knockout stages for the first time in five appearances.
Drawing Canada, ranked fifth of the six teams in pod one, the strongest pod, was a boon, as was drawing Cameroon, ranked fourth of the six teams in pod four, the weakest group.
But drawing the Netherlands, the topranked team in pod two, gives the Ferns, ranked fourth in group E, a slightly more difficult task than they would have hoped for.
The top two teams in each of the six groups advance to the round of 16, where they are joined by the four best thirdplaced teams.
2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup draw: ❚ Group A: France, South Korea, Norway,
Football Ferns’ group E fixtures:
❚ v Netherlands; Le Havre; June 12, 1am
❚ v Canada; Grenoble; June 16, 7a
❚ v Cameroon; Montpellier; June 21, 4am