Premier League
Chelsea stunned as Masuaku’s stroke of luck lifts West Ham
Thomas Tuchel admitted Chelsea paid the price for too many “individual mistakes” as Arthur Masuaku’s fortuitous late winner gave West Ham a shock 3-2 victory on Saturday (Dec 4).
Tuchel’s side went ahead through Thiago Silva but Manuel Lanzini’s penalty drew West Ham level at the London Stadium.
Mason Mount restored Chelsea’s advantage just before half-time, only for Jarrod Bowen to blast West Ham’s second equaliser soon after the interval.
Chelsea dominated for long periods but made too many mistakes at both ends.
Even so, it was rough justice to leave empty-handed after Masuaku’s miscued cross somehow found its way past Edouard Mendy with three minutes left.
“We need to admit we did too many crucial mistakes at the moment. That cost us points against Manchester United and today as well,” Tuchel said.
“If you want a result at this level you have to minimise mistakes. We talked about it before, it’s obviously not helped.”
Senegal keeper Mendy was partially at fault for two of the goals and Tuchel said: “The decision making from Edouard is not the best in this moment.”
It was the Blues’ first defeat in their last 13 games in all competitions and their spell at the top of the Premier League might be over by Saturday evening.
They are just one point ahead of second placed Manchester City, who visit Watford later on Saturday, with third placed Liverpool also able to go above Chelsea if they win at Wolves.
After admitting Chelsea rode their luck to beat Watford in midweek, Tuchel will be concerned at another disjointed display from the European champions.
“Their third goal is a strange one but we could not finish our chances. We had to be more ruthless,” Tuchel said.
“Every loss is a bump in the road. We need to play more accurate, more stable and reduce big mistakes.”
Fourth placed West Ham once again showed their ability to make life uncomfortable for the big guns.
The Hammers had already ended Liverpool’s long unbeaten run this season, as well as knocking Manchester City and Manchester United out of the League Cup.
Now Chelsea have joined the list of star-studded teams driven to distraction by David Moyes’ well-drilled side.
“Truthfully, I didn’t think we played that well, but to get those goals against a team that don’t concede many is a great credit to the lads,” Moyes said.
“I said to Arthur I thought it was a great cross! It was very fortunate, but in football you need that sometimes.”
Chelsea collapse
Chelsea’s early dominance was rewarded in the 29th minute when Silva met Mason Mount’s corner with a downwards header that Lukasz Fabianski could only push into the net via the far post.
But their concentration wavered five minutes before half-time when Jorginho played a suicidal backpass that Mendy scrambled to reach before Bowen.
As Mendy tried to dribble around Bowen, he lost control of the ball and sent the West Ham forward crashing to the turf with a panicked tackle.
It was a comedy of errors and Lanzini delivered the punchline as he drove the penalty into the roof of the net.
Chelsea’s response was instant as a sweeping move put them back in front four minutes later.
Hakim Ziyech’s majestic long pass picked out Mount, who ran in behind Ben Johnson to caress a sublime volley past Fabianski from just inside the area.
Missing the injured N’Golo Kante as the midfield shield in front of them, there was a lack of cohesion about Chelsea’s defence and they surrendered a 56th minute equaliser.
Vladimir Coufal was able to poke a pass to Bowen on the edge of the area as Chelsea fatally backed off and the forward drilled a superb low strike into the far corner.
There was worse to come for Chelsea in the 87th minute.
When Masuaku took possession and shaped to cross, there seemed little danger, but the defender’s delivery suddenly swerved in mid-air, deceiving Mendy as it arched past the stunned keeper.
-AFP
Liverpool beat Crystal Palace 1-0 to remain top of the Premier League as Arsenal and Manchester City came from behind to win on Saturday.
City were 3-2 victors over Fulham to stay one point behind Liverpool, alongside Arsenal who saw off Southampton 3-1.
Arne Slot has now won nine of his first 10 games since succeeding Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager, but was frustrated that the visitors invited a late onslaught from the winless Eagles.
Jota prodded the Reds into the lead from Cody Gakpo’s cross on nine minutes.
The Portuguese international was then guilty of missing two big chances to extend Liverpool’s advantage.
Palace failed to make them pay, but victory came at a cost for Slot as goalkeeper Alisson Becker limped off with a hamstring injury.
“If you score the second you break them mentally,” said Slot. “All the fans kept believing in a result because it was only 1-0, even though in my opinion we were the dominant team.”
Fresh from a dominant win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, Arsenal were expected to sweep aside winless Southampton.
But the Saints shocked the Emirates 10 minutes into the second half when Cameron Archer fired in his first Premier League goal since a summer move from Aston Villa.
The lead only lasted three minutes before Kai Havertz scored for the seventh consecutive home game.
Gabriel Martinelli was introduced after an hour and took just eight minutes to make his mark with a finish on the volley from Bukayo Saka’s cross.
Having set up Arsenal’s first two goals, Saka pounced on a loose ball to score the third himself.
Fulham’s outrageous opener
Rodri’s season-long absence due to a serious knee injury is expected to be a major blow to City’s chances of retaining the title for a fifth consecutive season.
But it was the Spaniard’s deputy Mateo Kovacic who scored twice to turn the game around for the champions at the Etihad.
The visitors had not lost since the opening night of the season at Manchester United and led thanks to Andreas Pereira’s finish from an outrageous backheel assist by Raul Jimenez.
Kovacic’s deflected effort quickly brought City level before a cleaner strike less than two minutes into the second half made it 2-1.
Jeremy Doku then smashed into the top corner from outside the box to give City a two-goal cushion, which they needed.
Rodrigo Muniz gave Fulham hope on 88 minutes, but City held out for a 17th consecutive win against the Cottagers.
West Ham eased the pressure on new boss Julen Lopetegui by ending a run of three home defeats to start the new season.
Michail Antonio, Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta struck for the Hammers in a 4-1 win over Ipswich, who are still waiting for their first Premier League win 22 years.
There were six goals before half-time as Brentford beat Wolves 5-3 to leave the visitors still rooted to the foot of the table.
Leicester secured their first league win of the season as Facundo Buonanotte’s strike beat Bournemouth 1-0.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag faces a huge match if he is to remain in charge when the Red Devils visit Aston Villa in the pick of Sunday’s action.
-AFP
Premier League
Premier League rejects City request to delay next season’s games after Club World Cup
The Premier League has rejected Manchester City’s request to postpone the first two games of the 2025-26 season to help the players recover after their FIFA Club World Cup campaign in the U.S., the club’s manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday.
City and Chelsea are the two English clubs who have qualified for the expanded month-long Club World Cup set to start on June 15. The Premier League’s season will begin in August.
An increasingly packed soccer calendar has been a concern among a growing number of players and managers. A report by global players’ union FIFPRO said some players get only 12% of the year to rest.
The Premier League did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.
City midfielder Rodri said in September that players could be close to strike action over the time they are required to play. A knee ligament injury has since put him out for the season.
“I don’t know if we will play more games than the treble year (2022-23)… maybe we’ll play less games,” Guardiola told reporters.
“The Premier League has not allowed us to postpone the first two games for our recovery. Thank you so much. They don’t postpone these games so that will be the moment of, oh, what do we have to do?”
He said the Club World Cup will make it even more difficult for clubs to manage player workload.
-Reuters
Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe said a decision about under-fire manager Erik ten Hag is not his call, and was reticent about whether he still has faith in the team’s boss amid their worst start to the Premier League season since 1986-87.
“I don’t want to answer that question,” Ratcliffe told the BBC. “I like Erik. I think he’s a very good coach but at the end of the day it’s not my call, it’s the management team that’s running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects.
“That team that’s running Manchester United has only been together since June or July. They weren’t there in January, February, March or April — Omar (Berrada, CEO), (Sporting Director) Dan Ashworth — they only arrived in July.
“They’ve only been there . . . you can count it in weeks almost — they’ve not been there a long time so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions.”
Ten Hag’s job was the subject of speculation for much of last season en route to the team’s lowest Premier League finish of eighth. After an FA Cup final victory over Manchester City and an end-of-season review, however, Ten Hag signed a new contract to extend his stay at Old Trafford until 2026.
“Our objective is very clear, we want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and it’s not there yet, obviously, that’s very clear,” Ratcliffe said.
Ten Hag continues to plead for patience from fans with the team languishing 13th in the Premier League table, having lost three of their six opening games. They were headed towards defeat by Porto in the Europa League on Thursday before Harry Maguire scored a last-gasp goal to salvage a 3-3 draw.
-Reuters
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