IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
Manchester City beat Crystal Palace 2-0 on Saturday to cut the gap at the top to five points behind leaders Liverpool on Saturday.
Gabriel Jesus opened the scoring with a spectacular diving header and City's lead was doubled by David Silva two minutes later.
Playing at Selhurst Park, Pep Guardiola's team were quick to get going, dominating possession and forcing Palace onto the back foot but they did not break the deadlock until just before half-time.
In the 39th minute, Bernardo Silva whipped in a left-footed cross that Jesus shaped to head the ball but it came off his shoulder and crept into the net off the far post past a rooted Wayne Hennessey.
Two minutes later Silva doubled the lead on the counter. Raheem Sterling produced a delightful chip from just inside the area into the path of David Silva, who watched it drop over his left shoulder before guiding it into the net.
Palace look to threaten now and then with Wilfried Zaha doing well but failed to test City's defence.
The second half also saw City in charge. Kevin De Bruyne was denied a penalty after a VAR check backed up the referee's original decision not to award a spot-kick.
Jesus forced a smart save from Hennessey before Bernardo Silva forced Hennessey into a one-handed save with a curling left-foot shot from the angle.
Chelsea edge Newcastle
A 74th-minute strike from Spain wing back Marcos Alonso earned Chelsea three points in a 1-0 win over a dogged Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday.
Slovakian goalkeeper Martin Dubravka had kept Newcastle in the game with a string of saves and got a hand to Alonso’s angled left-foot drive but could not keep it out.
Frank Lampard’s young side enjoyed 71% possession and earned 11 corners but until Alonso’s goal could not make their superiority tell against a resurgent Newcastle, who defended in numbers and looked dangerous on the counter.
Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic, Tammy Abraham and Willian all tested Dubravka from close range.
At the other end, Miguel Almiron and Allan Saint-Maximin troubled Chelsea with pacy moves in the first half, but Newcastle, who beat Manchester United in their last game to move out of the relegation zone, lacked finishing quality.
The result lifted Chelsea into fourth place in the table and left Newcastle hovering above the relegation places.
Alli's late leveller to Spurs’ rescue
Tottenham Hotspur snatched a 1-1 draw at home to Premier League basement club Watford on Saturday thanks to a fiercely contested late strike from Dele Alli that was awarded after a VAR review.
Alli pounced on a lapse from Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster and used his shoulder to control the ball before firing into the empty net in the 86th minute, cancelling out Abdoulaye Doucoure’s sixth-minute opener for the visitors.
Watford, who had had a penalty claim turned down in the first half when Gerard Deulofeu was felled by Jan Vertonghen, claimed Alli had used his arm and complained that Harry Kane had fouled Christian Kabasele before the ball fell to Alli.
Confusion reigned as the screen at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium initially said “No Goal” but it eventually stood, leaving Quique Sanchez Flores’ side still without a win after nine Premier League games.
“Of course it’s a relief,” Alli told reporters after averting another defeat for last season’s Champions League runners-up, who have only won three of 12 games in all competitions this term.
“I was sure it didn’t hit my hand but then you start thinking did it? I tried to make sure it didn’t touch it so I could get the strike away.”
Watford scorer Doucoure said his side should feel pleased with their display.
“We are very disappointed at the end of the game. If you don’t score the second one you are always under pressure to not concede,” he said.
“The performance was very good, we have to take a lot of positives. We had a lot of chances against a top-six team.”
Spurs’ only chance in a drab first-half display was a tame shot from Alli which was easily saved by Foster.
Embattled Spurs coach Mauricio Pochettino turned to Son Heung-min at the start of the second half and the South Korean nearly equalised when he smashed a high shot at goal which Foster turned on to the crossbar.
Spurs looked headed for a third straight defeat following a 7-2 humiliation by Bayern Munich and a 3-0 loss at Brighton and Hove Albion until Foster failed to grab a loose ball and Alli took full advantage.
Tottenham are seventh in the Premier League standings on 12 points after nine games. Watford remained bottom on four points.
Tielemans smashes Leicester winner as VAR denies Burnley
Youri Tielemans capped an inspired individual performance with a fine second-half winner as Leicester City came from behind to beat Burnley 2-1 at the King Power Stadium after the visitors had a late equaliser controversially disallowed by VAR.
Former Leicester striker Chris Wood, who had put Burnley ahead on 26 minutes, thought he had scored for a second time on 80 minutes before technology intervened to rule that he had accidentally tripped Jonny Evans in the build-up.
Burnley manager Sean Dyche was furious that his side left with nothing from a game marked by much emotion on the first anniversary of the death of former Leicester chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and four others in a helicopter crash.
“The key moment has gone against us,” said Dyche.
“I’m a big fan of VAR but it has to be used more wisely than that. If you start giving things like that - Chris Wood only has eyes for the ball and the defender isn’t getting it in a million years.
“The referee doesn’t even use the screen, he has got to come and look at that and I’d be surprised if he gave it.”
But Evans insisted the decision was correct.
“At the time I was 90% sure VAR would overturn it,” he said.
Jamie Vardy equalised Wood’s opener with a superb header just before the break, rising high to powerfully meet Harvey Barnes’s cross from seven yards out for his sixth goal of the season.
Substitute Demarai Gray had an effort rightly disallowed for offside before making a telling contribution on 74 minutes when he centred for Harvey Barnes to pick out Tielemans, who crashed the ball home at the far post.
The win moved Leicester second, ahead of Manchester City’s late kickoff against Crystal Palace, on 17 points, while Burnley are eighth on 12.
Southampton end losing streak with draw at Wolves
Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Raul Jimenez scored from the penalty spot to cancel out a second-half goal by Southampton’s Danny Ings in an entertaining 1-1 Premier League draw at Molineux Stadium on Saturday.
In-form striker Ings, who came into the clash having scored four goals in three matches in all competitions, punished Wolves for their poor defending by finding the bottom left corner with a right-footed shot in the 53rd minute.
Southampton’s advantage lasted only eight minutes as Wolves defender Matt Doherty was brought down in the penalty area with the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) confirming the foul, and Jimenez ended his goal drought with a crisp finish.
Jimenez earlier thought he had scored his first league goal in more than a month when he slotted past goalkeeper Angus Gunn in the 29th minute, but the referee disallowed the strike as the ball had grazed the Mexico international’s arm.
The 28-year-old was unlucky again shortly before the break after finishing off a slick passing move as VAR deemed his team-mate Patrick Cutrone to be offside in the build-up to the goal much to the annoyance of the home supporters.
The draw helped Southampton snap a run of three straight defeats while Wolves were denied a third consecutive win. Wolves visit Newcastle United next Sunday while Southampton host Leicester City.
Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo said his team had struggled after defender Ryan Bennett picked up an injury and was replaced in the 18th minute by Jesus Vallejo.
“I hope it’s nothing serious, we’ll have to see. That injury disrupted our tempo a little bit. We started to rush the game a little. I think we dominated but not in the way that we should have,” Santo told the BBC.
“It was a very tough game. It was disputed and there was a lot of fight in the midfield. They were well organised. The game was hard, we made mistakes.
“We know there are things we could have done better. I’m disappointed because we must be solid and today we were not.”
Southampton’s Ings was pleased with his form but said he could do much better to help 17th-placed Southampton climb away from the relegation zone.
“I think I can score more. I had another chance that I should have done better with but I need to keep getting goals and help the team as much as I can to get points,” Ings said.
“In the second half we came out really strong. They got the equaliser and I thought we did really well to hold on to a point... it’s a positive point.”
Villa fight back to sink 10-man Brighton
Aston Villa secured a dramatic 2-1 home win over 10-man Brighton & Hove Albion in a gripping Premier League clash on Saturday after left back Matt Targett struck deep into stoppage time to break down the stubborn visitors.
The result lifted Villa to 11th place on 11 points from nine games while Brighton, who enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and took the lead through Adam Webster in a pulsating first half, dropped to 16th on nine points.
It also stretched Villa’s unbeaten home run against the Seagulls in all competition to 12 games after they secured back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time since May 2015.
Villa manager Dean Smith was pleased with the result but not his team’s performance.
“It’s nice to get late goals because it wasn’t a top performance,” he told the BBC.
“It’s great for us to get back-to-back wins for the first time in a long time. We played a good team today who played through us too easily.”
Brighton dominated the opening 30 minutes and Webster fired them ahead when he headed home a Pascal Gross free kick at the far post past helpless Villa goalkeeper Tom Heaton.
The tide turned after Aaron Mooy was shown a second yellow card in the 35th minute for a second crunching foul in quick succession and it did not take the home side long to capitalise on their numerical advantage.
Midfielder Conor Hourihane had a goal disallowed by VAR in the 42nd minute before Jack Grealish equalised on the stroke of halftime following a Frederic Guilbert cross, stumbling through to turn the ball in from close range.
Brighton had missed chances in the first half as Heaton pulled off several superb saves but it looked like the visitors would hold out for a share of the spoils after their goalkeeper Mat Ryan kept the home side out.
Just when the visitors appeared to have weathered Villa’s second-half onslaught, however, Targett rifled in the winner from a tight angle after a fine pass from Grealish gave him time and space to beat Ryan.
Brighton manager Graham Potter praised his side for a brave performance.
“Our players have real courage and personality,” he said.
“I’m so proud of them. Football can be cruel but our fans can see what we’re trying to do.
“We were positive but that makes it sorer to concede with the last kick.”
Toothless Bournemouth frustrated by Norwich
Bournemouth and Norwich City both kept their first clean sheets of the season as their Premier League clash at the Vitality Stadium finished 0-0 on Saturday after a game of precious few goal-scoring chances.
Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke came closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half, but his effort in the 22nd minute was saved by Norwich keeper Tim Krul, who returned to the side following a recent back problem.
Norwich suffered another injury blow when centre back Ben Godfrey, who recently had an operation for a hernia problem, had to be replaced early in the second half by Tom Trybull.
With Bournemouth wasteful in the final third, Norwich grew into the game in the second half and Aaron Ramsdale had to make a superb save for the home side to deny Norwich’s in-form Finnish striker Teemo Pukki.
That was to be Norwich’s only effort on target of what was an end-to-end game, and though both sides had chances from late corners, neither could get the ball over the line.
“My feeling was we had the momentum in the second half, we were pretty close to winning this game ... I just have to give compliments to my lads,” Norwich coach David Farke told the BBC.
Bournemouth coach Eddie Howe was left to rue what he saw as two points dropped.
“For the first 20 minutes I thought we were excellent, played some really good football and we looked like we could open them up,” he said.
“We didn’t have our mojo in the final third today, that was missing, and that’s what’s cost us the win.”
The draw gave Norwich their first away point of the season but left them second bottom of the table on seven points from their opening nine games. Bournemouth are eighth on 12 points.
Resurgent Everton outclass West Ham to end losing run
Everton snapped a four-game losing streak as Bernard’s superb solo goal in the first half and midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson’s stunner in added time helped the struggling Premier League side beat West Ham United 2-0 at Goodison Park on Saturday.
The Merseyside club were rewarded for a bright start in the 17th minute when Brazilian Bernard twisted and turned inside the penalty area before poking in from a tight angle after being played through by Theo Walcott.
Substitute Sigurdsson sealed the win with a fierce curled shot that flew past goalkeeper Roberto Jiminez into the top corner in the 92nd minute as Everton eased the pressure on manager Marco Silva and climbed out of the bottom three.
“There was a real purpose to our game today... it was a fantastic performance,” Sigurdsson told BT Sport.
“They are dangerous going forward and their goalkeeper made some spectacular saves. I was pleased to come on and give us a bit of comfort.”
Everton came into the match on the back of four consecutive league defeats that had turned up the heat on Silva, but there was little to suggest they were lacking in confidence despite missing several chances to further improve the scoreline.
The Portuguese has faced criticism for rigid tactics in recent weeks but his decision to deploy Richarlison as a striker paid off as the Brazilian troubled West Ham throughout and had a goal ruled out for offside after the break.
The opening goal came minutes after Tom Davies had an effort from point-blank range saved by Jiminez and shortly before Richarlison struck the post from the right.
Walcott, one of five changes to the team from Everton’s last game against Burnley, struck the crossbar with a blistering volley in the 64th minute after Lucas Digne’s free kick was headed away by West Ham’s Angelo Ogbonna.
Alex Iwobi also missed a clear chance in the 77th minute as he shot straight at the keeper from close range.
“The game felt like we needed to start taking our chances, we had so many,” Walcott said.
“The sense of urgency was what we needed. It showed how good we can be going forward. We know the quality in the team and we know what to expect from each other.”
West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini brought on Ukraine forward Andriy Yarmolenko in place of Felipe Anderson at the start of the second half and although the London side appeared a lot sharper, they were unable to score.
Everton, who have 10 points from their opening nine games and provisionally rose to 12th in the table, visit Brighton & Hove Albion next Saturday while West Ham, in eighth with 12 points, host promoted Sheffield United.
