Chelsea were demolished by manager Graham Potter’s former club Brighton & Hove Albion as the plot thickened in the Champions League tussle on a packed Premier League afternoon.
The Blues’ lost 4-1 at the Amex Stadium, while Tottenham Hotspur came from two goals down to beat Gary O’Neil’s AFC Bournemouth as part of a busy Saturday calendar.
Here’s how the afternoon unfurled…
LEICESTER CITY 0-1 MANCHESTER CITY
In the early kick-off champions Manchester City were frustrated for long spells by Brendan Rodgers’ side, but a moment of genius from Kevin De Bruyne made all the difference.
The Belgian delivered a wonderful free-kick just after the break, lifting a fantastic effort over the wall and leaving goalkeeper Danny Ward with no chance. A line-up missing 20-goal striker Erling Haaland still got the job done to return to the top of the table.
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AFC BOURNEMOUTH 2-3 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Antonio Conte’s Spurs overcame a two-goal deficit to earn three points at the Vitality Stadium.
Kieffer Moore gave Bournemouth the lead after turning in Marcus Tavernier’s cross, then doubled the advantage with a flying header early in the second half.
But Spurs predictably fought back, Ryan Sessegnon’s deflected shot halving the deficit before Ben Davies headed home after Mark Travers came flapping at a corner.
Then Rodrigo Bentancur came up trumps from Son Heung-min’s set piece in stoppage time to break Bournemouth’s hearts.
BRENTFORD 1-1 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Brentford held the lead only very briefly as they were pegged back by managerless Wolves at the Gtech.
An astonishing Ben Mee scissor-kick broke the deadlock in the favour of the home side, but within two minutes Ruben Neves evened the scores with a curling effort after arriving late onto the ball.
It was only Wolves’ sixth goal of the Premier League season but did enough to earn the Old Gold a point despite the late sending-off of Diego Costa for a needless headbutt. Yes, we know!
BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION 4-1 CHELSEA
Chelsea suffered a big blow in their quest for a top-four spot with a punishing defeat to Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton.
Leandro Trossard opened the scoring but then Chelsea became their own worst enemies, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek turning the ball into his own net from a corner and then Trevoh Chalobah getting in the way of Pervis Estupinan’s cross aimed for Kaoru Mitoma.
Kai Havertz’s header soon after the break gave the Blues a hope, but Pascal Gross finished off the rout in stoppage time.
CRYSTAL PALACE 1-0 SOUTHAMPTON
Palace continued their quiet ascent of the Premier League table with a narrow win at Selhurst Park.
Odsonne Edouard scored from Tyrick Mitchell’s cross in the stand-out moment of the game as Patrick Vieira’s side went level on points with ninth-placed Liverpool. Saints knocked on the door in the second half but Stuart Armstrong and Che Adams both missed decent chances as their three-game unbeaten stretch came to an end.
NEWCASTLE UNITED 4-0 ASTON VILLA
Miguel Almiron’s great run of form continued as Aston Villa were hammered on another great afternoon for the Magpies.
It started when Ashley Young handled Almiron’s shot in first-half stoppage time and Callum Wilson netted the spot kick. The striker had a second when rising unmarked to finish off Kieran Trippier’s cross, then Joelinton put the result beyond doubt after Wilson so nearly grabbed his own third.
Almiron then delivered his piece de resistance, curling a wonderful shot past Robin Olsen, albeit with a slight deflection. Only the crossbar then denied Wilson as he tried absolutely everything to complete a treble.
*18+ | BeGambleAware
