Tottenham Hotspurs missed out on returning to the top of the table in Monday’s Premier League game. After two sendings off, they lost a wild derby against Chelsea.
At 1:4 (1:1) everything went for the Spurs. Dejan Kulusevski took the lead after just five minutes in front of 61,726 spectators at the Hotspur Stadium. Nicolas Jackson missed the equalizer immediately afterwards. Then events came to a head and the VAR was in constant use. First the home side’s second goal was conceded by Heung-min Son due to offside, then the supposed equalizer for the Blues by Raheem Sterling due to a handball.
The guests’ next goal was initially disallowed due to an offside position, but the VAR discovered that it was a rude foul by Cristian Romero on Enzo Fernández. That ultimately led to a red card for Romero, a penalty and the equalizer with Cole Palmer’s converted penalty (35′).
Desert kicking on both sides
But Romero’s foul was by no means the only bad offense that evening, both teams were often over the limit of what was acceptable and there should have been more sending offs than a yellow-red for Tottenham’s Destiny Udogie in the 55th minute for a completely unnecessary one Straddle against Sterling.
With two more men on the pitch, what Chelsea played was downright embarrassing at first. The Blues repeatedly ran into the offside trap of Spurs, who defended extremely well, and then there was far too much stubbornness on the counterattack. Only when Sterling made another precise cross in front of the goal did Mauricio Pochettino’s team take the 2-1 lead through Nicolas Jackson a quarter of an hour before the end.
Dier and Son unlucky – and a hat trick at the end
But even with nine players, Ante Postecoglu’s team didn’t give up and briefly celebrated the equalizer through Eric Dier – before this goal was also conceded by VAR due to a slight offside position. Pedro Porro (86th) and Son (94th) had further great chances for Tottenham before Jackson ultimately made things clear in favor of Chelsea with two more counterattack goals in the 94th and 97th minutes.
Liverpool stumbles against Luton
The day before, Kellerkind Luton Town was close to defeating the big favorites Liverpool FC. In the end the Reds managed a 1:1 (0:0). Substitute Tahith Chong gave Luton the lead in the 80th minute, before Liverpool went full attack and made it 1-1 through Luis Diaz in the 95th minute. Jürgen Klopp’s team is in third place in the table after the draw, while Luton climbs to 17th place.
City with a triple blow
In the 6:1 (3:0) win against AFC Bournemouth, Manchester City needed a bit of time to get going, but then came out even stronger. Jeremy Doku (30′) after a one-two in the penalty area, Bernardo Silva (33′) from ten meters and Manuel Akanji (37′) following a corner quickly made it 3-0 for the superior “Skyblues”.
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After that, coach Pep Guardiola’s team controlled the game. In the second half, Phil Foden increased the score to 4-0 (64th) thanks to a pass from the strong Doku, who scored a total of four goals. After the consolation goal for the guests by Luis Sinisterra (74th), Silva (83rd) and Nathan Ake (88th) completed the sweeping victory. With their third league win in a row, City took first place with 27 points, but can be pushed back by Tottenham Hotspur with a win against Chelsea on Monday.
First defeat of the season for Arsenal FC
Arsenal FC lost valuable points at the top of the table. The 0-1 (0-0) at Newcastle United meant the Gunners’ first defeat and are now three points behind Manchester City. Anthony Gordon scored the goal of the day for the “Magpies”, which had to pass several checks from the video assistant (ball previously out of bounds, offside, foul).
Overall, the Arsenal offensive with Kai Havertz in the starting line-up rarely managed to embarrass the hosts. With the win, Newcastle move up to sixth place with 20 points.
Bruno Fernandes redeems Manchester United
Manchester United happily won 1-0 (0-0) at FC Fulham. Captain Bruno Fernandes scored in stoppage time against Fulham’s German keeper Bernd Leno. The success also gave Erik ten Hag some breathing room; after two recent competitive defeats, the pressure on the United team manager had become ever greater.
United had already made headlines before the game. Striker Marcus Rashford, who was injured against Fulham, was forced to excuse himself for a nightclub visit following the 3-0 derby defeat to Manchester City last Sunday. “It’s unacceptable, I told him, he apologized and that’s it. The rest is an internal matter,” said ten Hag.
