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regular-article-logo Friday, 29 November 2024

EPL: Lingard & De Gea get full points for Manchester United; Chelsea cruise in 2nd half

Rudiger’s late strike was enough to give Chelsea an identical record to Liverpool with two sides on 13 points from five games, both having scored 12 goals and conceded one

Reuters London Published 20.09.21, 01:35 AM
Thiago Silva

Thiago Silva Twitter/@ChelseaFC

Chelsea’s dominant second-half performance was rewarded with goals for Thiago Silva, N’Golo Kante and Antonio Rudiger in a comfortable 3-0 victory at London rivals Tottenham Hotspur that sent them joint top of the Premier League on Sunday.

The emphatic scoreline did not look likely in the first half as the home side’s energetic display allowed them to more than match Chelsea. But Spurs simply had no answer when the Blues found another couple of gears after the break.

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Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel’s decision to replace Mason Mount with Kante at half-time proved a masterstroke as the French midfielder helped the visitors seize control and ease to a victory that sent out an ominous warning in the title race.

Thiago’s header gave Chelsea the lead in the 49th minute and when Kante’s deflected shot crept past Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris shortly after there was no way back for the deflated hosts.

Rudiger’s late strike was enough to give Chelsea an identical record to Liverpool with the two sides on 13 points from five games, both having scored 12 goals and conceded one.

De Gea the star

Jesse Lingard scored a stunning late goal and David de Gea saved a stoppage-time penalty as Manchester United beat West Ham United 2-1 in a dramatic match on Sunday.

West Ham had gone ahead on the half-hour mark with a deflected strike from Said Benrahma but the visitors responded quickly, Cristiano Ronaldo heading a Bruno Fernandes cross at Lukasz Fabianksi and following up to tap the ball into the net.

Substitute Lingard hit a thumping shot into the top corner in the 89th minute against his former club but West Ham were awarded a penalty moments later for a hand-ball by defender Luke Shaw.

Mark Noble stepped up to take the penalty immediately after coming off the bench but De Gea guessed correctly and dived to turn his spot-kick away.

It was the first time De Gea had kept out a penalty since April 2016, having let in the previous 40 spot-kicks he had faced including 11 in the shootout in last season’s Europa League final loss to Villarreal.

“It was the last minute, I made the save. Going through my head was ‘save the ball’. It’s a massive three points for us,” De Gea said.

“It was a really tough game, both teams had good chances, again a great goal from Jesse.”

Lingard redemption

There was also a sense of redemption for Lingard, whose stray pass had given away Young Boys’ last-gasp winner in the Champions League on Tuesday.

“Mistakes happen in football, you have to overcome those things,” said Lingard, who scored nine Premier League goals for West Ham last season after joining on loan.

“I got a brilliant reception. I had a good time here but I have to move on with Man United and do my best,” he added.

Both sides showed signs of tiredness after their recent European exploits, with West Ham winning 2-0 on Thursday in their opening Europa League game away to Dinamo Zagreb.

Vardy’s 150th in vain

Brighton & Hove Albion secured a 2-1 home win over Leicester City on Sunday thanks to a controversial penalty and a Danny Welbeck header that put them in the fourth spot in the Premier League despite Jamie Vardy’s 150th goal in his 250th game for the Foxes.

The visitors will feel hard done by after a number of key decisions went against them, including the one to award Brighton the penalty that saw them open the scoring in the 35th minute.

A Brighton corner resulted in the ball being headed onto the arm of Leicester defender Jannik Vestergaard and the spot kick was confirmed by a VAR review despite the replay showing he was being fouled by Neal Maupay.

Maupay blasted home the penalty as Leicester players continued to remonstrate with referee Stuart Attwell.

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