London: Diego Costa made the difference with Chelsea overcoming a defensive West Bromwich Albion 1-0 to return to the top of the Premier League with their ninth victory in a row.
In other games on Sunday, Manchester United overcame Tottenham 1-0 and Southampton beat Middlesbrough by the same margin.
At Stamford Bridge, Spaniard Costa’s second-half strike sent the Blues three points clear of Arsenal, who had taken the overall lead on goals scored on Saturday after seeing off Stoke City 3-1 at the Emirates.
With the game heading for a stalemate, Costa seized on a defensive error to break the deadlock with a superb shot into the top left corner in the 76th minute.
It was the league top scorer’s 12th goal of the campaign, as many as he scored all last season.
Chelsea, who have now won nine Premier League games in a row for the fifth time in their history, have 37 points to Arsenal’s 34 after 15 games.
Antonio Conte’s men created very little in the first half against a stubborn side who had taken 10 points from their past four games but the introduction of Cesc Fabregas in the 74th-minute provided a breakthrough.
He played a long ball to the corner and hesitant West Brom defender Gareth McAuley was dispossessed by Costa who gave goalkeeper Ben Foster no chance.
“We knew it could be difficult to create chances, they played their game, had a plan and did it very well. But thanks to this man (Costa) once again we have three points,” Fabregas said.
“Every pass I make, he makes it special. Probably it will count as an assist but it was all him today. He fought for the ball … the game was asking for a change and it happened and I’m very glad for that.”
West Brom, with just one shot on target, hadn’t won at Stamford Bridge in the top flight since 1978. They are eighth with 20 points.
“It was a tough game and we prepared for this situation,” said Conte.
“We played with passion. West Brom is a tough team, a physical team who are difficult to break down.”
United shake off Spurs
At Old Trafford, Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s first Premier League goal earned Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United a much-needed 1-0 victory over high-flying Tottenham Hotspur.
The Armenian, who was carried off on a stretcher with 10 minutes to go after a heavy tackle left him clutching his ankle, blasted home on 29 minutes after Ander Herrera intercepted a sloppy Harry Kane pass in midfield.
Herrera fed the ball through and Mkhitaryan, a $31.44 million close-season buy from Borussia Dortmund who was left out in the cold earlier in the campaign, did the rest with a rocket of a shot over keeper Hugo Lloris.
The unmarked Victor Wanyama missed a good chance to grab an equaliser for Spurs following a free kick in the 56th minute, his header going inexplicably wide, while Paul Pogba struck the woodwork for United in the 64th.
The hosts remained sixth with 24 points, three behind fifth-placed Tottenham who might otherwise have overtaken Manchester City on goal difference.
United remain one of the two current Premier League teams that Kane, last season’s top marksman, has yet to score against.
The victory was United’s first at home in the league since September.
Sofiane Boufal strikes for Southampton winner
Southampton recovered from the disappointment of their midweek Europa League elimination to return to winning ways in the Premier League, beating Middlesbrough 1-0 at St Mary’s.
The winner came in the 53rd minute when Sofiane Boufal picked up the ball from James Ward-Prowse and unleashed an unstoppable left-foot shot into the net for his first league goal.
It was the one high point of a drab match which did much to explain why both teams average less than a goal a game this season. Neither side threatened in an uneventful first half noteworthy only for the booking of Dusan Tadic.
Southampton looked more potent after the interval, when the Serbian was surprisingly replaced by Nathan Redmond, and would have secured a more comfortable win had Jay Rodriguez not blasted over the bar late on.
Liverpool share the spoils with West Ham
Liverpool took the lead early but then had to come from behind in a roller coaster 2-2 draw with West Ham.
Anfield’s delight at the returning Adam Lallana’s clever opener on five minutes turned to despair when they fell apart spectacularly before the break.
Liverpool keeper Loris Karius, at fault for Bournemouth’s winner last week, let in a 20-metre free kick from Dimitri Payet despite getting a hand to the ball.
Defender Joel Matip then stumbled to allow a looping pass over his head for the on-running Michail Antonio to slot the ball beyond the stranded Karius in the 39th minute.
Third-placed Liverpool, though, did not have a trademark on mistakes and three minutes into the second half West Ham keeper Darren Randolph flapped at a cross from Sadio Mane, leaving Divock Origi a simple job to bag his fourth goal in as many games.
Jordan Henderson and Nathaniel Clyne went close to grabbing a winner for the home team but West Ham claimed the point they needed to climb out of the relegation zone.
Source: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/diego-costa-strike-sends-chelsea-to-top-of-table-as-united-beat-tottenham-20161211-gt8tbl.html
No comments:
Post a Comment