The Malta Independent on Sunday

Abraham scores hat trick as Chelsea beat Wolves 5-2

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Tammy Abraham scored a hat trick as Frank Lampard's young Chelsea side beat Wolverhamp­ton Wanderers 5-2 at Molineux in the Premier League on Saturday.

Not counting own-goals, Chelsea became the first-ever team to have 11 straight Premier League goals scored by players aged 21 or younger.

Fikayo Tomori put Chelsea ahead with a superb 31st-minute strike and Abraham doubled the advantage three minutes later.

Abraham, who had netted twice in each of his previous two games, then added a header in the 41st and a 55th-minute finish to make victory look all but secure for the Blues.

Wolves hit back via an Abraham own-goal in the 69th minute and it was 4-2 in the 85th thanks to substitute Patrick Cutrone, before Mason Mount got Chelsea's fifth deep in stoppage time.

Spurs hammer Crystal Palace 4-0 after team talks

Tottenham responded to pep talks with coach Mauricio Pochettino by unleashing a firsthalf blitz on Crystal Palace and winning their English Premier League match 4-0 on Saturday.

Pochettino got the group together this week to galvanize them following the closure of the European transfer window, and it did the trick as Spurs equaled their biggest win at their new stadium.

All the damage was done in the first half thanks to Son Heungmin's double, a Patrick van Aanholt own goal, and Erik Lamela's fourth.

Palace had conceded only two goals before this game, but had an afternoon to forget as it was unable to replicate its impressive win at Manchester United.

It would have been optimistic of getting something as Spurs labored in their opening two home games, where both followed the same pattern of conceding an early goal and then struggling to break down the opposition.

But they were in no mood to allow that to happen for a third time, and produced one of their best 45-minute performanc­es in recent times.

Son continued his love of scoring against Palace by giving his side a 10th-minute lead. Son scored his first league goal against Palace and became the first scorer at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against Palace in April.

Returning defender Serge Aurier, making his first start of the season having admitted he wanted to leave the club in the offseason, created the second and third goals, an own goal and Son's second.

Near halftime, Son found Harry Kane on the right edge of the penalty area and the England captain whipped in a cross which begged to be converted, and Lamela answered.

Man United beat Leicester on penalty to end wait for win

Manchester United earned its first win in over a month in beating Leicester 1-0 thanks to an early Marcus Rashford penalty on Saturday.

United lost one and drew two of its last three English Premier League games, but seized the lead early against Leicester when Rashford was brought down by Caglar Soyuncu.

Rashford stepped up to score with a powerful strike from the spot in the eigth minute. He also hit the bar from a free kick late on.

Leicester, which had been unbeaten in its first four league games, nearly leveled in the 30th when goalkeeper David de Gea was forced to leap to keep out a long-range shot from Ben Chilwell. That was de Gea's second big save of the game after stopping James Maddison's shot in the opening minutes.

Mane scores 2 as Liverpool extends perfect EPL start

Sadio Mane scored twice as Liverpool came back from a goal down to beat Newcastle 31 on Saturday and extended its perfect start to the Premier League season with a fifth straight win.

Newcastle left-back Jetro Willems took full advantage of Liverpool's slow start to score the opener, but Mane's goals and a strong contributi­on from substitute Roberto Firmino saw Liverpool take the win.

The strategy bore fruit when Willems picked up a pass from Christian Atsu, cut inside past Alexander-Arnold and blasted a shot into the top corner for a surprise opening goal in the seventh minute.

Mane kick-started Liverpool's comeback. The Senegal winger received the ball from Andy Robertson in the 28th and curled it into the top-right corner from a tight angle.

Mane needed some luck for his second goal 12 minutes later. As he dribbled toward goal, the ball deflected off advancing goalkeeper Martin Dubravka and bounced in front of goal to leave Mane a simple finish. Mohamed Salah made it 3-1 after he charged through the Newcastle defense in the 72nd.

Djenepo skill lifts Southampto­n past Sheffield United 1-0

A moment of skill from Moussa Djenepo handed Southampto­n a 1-0 win over Sheffield United in the English Premier League on Saturday.

Djenepo dribbled past three Sheffield defenders before knocking the ball past goalkeeper Dean Henderson. It was the Malian striker's second goal in three league games since arriving from Belgian club Standard Liege in the offseason.

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