Chelsea end City unbeaten run
United romp
LONDON, Dec 8, (Agencies): Chelsea inflicted the first Premier League defeat of the season on champions Manchester City as goals from N’Golo Kante and David Luiz earned the home side an unlikely 2-0 victory on Saturday.
Chelsea had been run ragged by a clearly superior City side until Luiz produced a pinpoint 50-metre pass to Pedro in the 44th minute. Pedro found Willian and the ball fell to Eden Hazard who sent it across goal where Kante thumped it into the back of the net.
It was the Frenchman’s first goal since the first game of the season and Chelsea’s first shot on target.
Luiz headed home Chelsea’s second in the 78th minute from a corner by Hazard, the ball looping into the net past the stranded Ederson to confirm City’s first league defeat since April.
City arrived at Stamford Bridge after seeing their closest title rivals Liverpool leapfrog them with a thumping 4-0 win at Bournemouth. Chelsea climbed to third on goal difference with Tottenham Hotspur set to play Leicester City later on Saturday.
Liverpool delivered a clear sign they intend to push Manchester City all the way in the Premier League with an emphatic 4-0 victory at Bournemouth that was capped by a hat trick from Mohamed Salah.
This victory, the Reds’ fifth consecutive league win, secured with the additional help of a Steve Cook owngoal, extended Jurgen Klopp’s side’s unbeaten start to the league season.
It also moved them one point ahead of City at the top of the table, hours before Pep Guardiola’s side take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Salah’s contribution was central to Liverpool’s success – the Egyptian has struggled to match his outstanding levels of last season but with 10 league goals to his name, he is now hitting his stride.
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2HD, 11HD Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva (center), misses a scoring chance during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Manchester City at Stamford Bridge in London on
Dec 8. (AP)
son’s absence during the periods of the game when they pushed Liverpool onto the back foot.
But defensive errors, combined with a dubious offside decision for the opening goal, meant they had little chance to impose themselves on a Liverpool side that never had to find top gear to secure three points.
The opening period suggested Klopp’s side would again have to work hard for victory. Salah and Roberto Firmino took time to make an impact, with the Egyptian spurning the first real chance of the game when he sliced wide from close range.
And had David Brooks shown more composure when he was sent clear on Liverpool’s goal in the 24th minute, the early momentum would have been in favour of the home side.
As it was, Liverpool responded immediately, taking control with some help from the assistant referee.
Salah and Firmino combined well 25 metres out, before the Brazilian fired in a shot at keeper Asmir Begovic. The Bosnia international should have done better than parry the ball into the middle of the penalty area, allowing Salah to react first and fire high into the net from close range.
Eddie Howe’s players pointed out that Salah had been in an offside position but their complaints were dismissed, although TV replays suggested they had a case.
From that point in the game, Liverpool tightened their grip, particularly after the restart.
It helped the Reds’ cause that Salah was gifted the chance to add a second three minutes after the restart when Steve Cook lost the ball near the halfway line. Firmino released the Egyp-
Liverpool’s Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah (center), has an unsuccessful shot during the English Premier League football match between Bournemouth and Liverpool at the Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth, southern England on Dec 8. (AFP) Manchester United’s English striker Marcus Rashford (left), vies with Fulham’s English defender Alfie Mawson during the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Fulham at Old Trafford in Manchester, north
west England on Dec 8. (AFP)
tian, who ran 40 metres before placing the ball beyond Begovic.
A bad afternoon for Cook got worse when he diverted the ball past Begovic and into his own goal as he attempted to cut out a left-wing cross from Andy Robertson.
And Salah produced the best goal of the game to wrap up the victory in the 77th minute after collecting Adam Lallana’s through ball. The forward outpaced Cook and rounded Begovic twice to complete his treble.
Jose Mourinho answered his critics – for the time being at least – as his Manchester United side recorded their biggest league victory in 13 months with a 4-1 win over Fulham.
Ashley Young, with his first goal in over 12 months, Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku shot United into a commanding first-half lead.
But they struggled to add to that advantage after the break, even after Fulham were reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, moments after Aboubakar Kamara had pulled a goal back from the penalty spot.
Eventually, United were able to do so, completing the rout in the 82nd minute when Marcus Rashford beat Fulham keeper Sergio Rico at his near post with a curling shot from the edge of the area.
Young struck early, receiving a short pass from Rashford and beating Denis Odoi far too easily as he cut into the Fulham area.
Results and Standings Page 31 BERLIN, Dec 8, (AFP): Robert Lewandowski helped fire defending champions Bayern Munich up to second in the Bundesliga on Saturday while Jadon Sancho led leaders Borussia Dortmund to a 2-1 derby win at Schalke.
Lewandowski scored twice in an impressive 3-0 home win against Nuremberg to lift Bayern up from fourth to second in the table, but they remain nine points behind Dortmund.
Bayern will drop back to third if Borussia Moenchengladbach beat Stuttgart at home on Sunday.
In Gelsenkirchen, England winger Sancho, who suffered a bereavement in mid-week, slotted the winner 15 minutes from time to seal Dortmund’s first away derby win for five years.
Thomas Delaney’s first-half header for Dortmund was cancelled out by a Daniel Caligiuri penalty for mid-table Schalke before Sancho struck at the Veltins Arena.
Dortmund went ahead after just seven minutes when Delaney found space in the congested area to head home a floated free-kick by Marco Reus.
Schalke drew level on 61 minutes when the video assistant referee judged Reus had fouled Amine Harit in the area and Caliguiri banged home the resulting spot-kick.
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However, Sancho hit the winner by going clear in the box after trading passes with Raphael Guerreiro and tapping home. He pointed to the heavens in celebration before disappearing under a pile of team-mates.
In Munich, Bayern proved their October and November dip in form is behind them with a third straight victory as they crushed Nuremberg.
Lewandowski struck after
eight minutes at the Allianz Arena when he headed home a Joshua Kimmich corner with a deft flick.
The Poland goal ace then poached his second just before the half-hour mark when he followed up and tapped home after Leon Goretzka’s longrange strike clattered the crossbar.
Bayern maintained the pressure after the break and the Nuremberg defense was again torn open when Serge Gnabry’s fierce shot was saved, Franck Ribery reacting fastest to drill home the rebound on 56 minutes.
It was fourth heavy away defeat this season for Nuremberg having already been thumped 7-0 at Dortmund, 6-0 at RB Leipzig and 5-2 at Schalke.
Fourth-placed RB Leipzig lost ground in the title race after crashing to a shock 3-0 defeat at Freiburg, a notoriously hard place to get an away result.
Germany striker Nils Petersen gave the hosts an early lead before Luca Waldschmidt converted a penalty just before the break. Captain Mike Frantz headed in their third to lift Freiburg to 12th.
Schalke’s Alessandro Schoepf (left), and Dortmund’s Axel Witsel (right), challenge for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund at the Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany on Dec 8. (AP)