Izuchukwu OkosiPremier League, EPL, champions Manchester City pipped a resilient Leicester City 1-0 on Saturday afternoon which saw them temporarily climb to the top of the Premier League.
Graham Potter returned to his former club Brighton for the first time since his move to Chelsea to replace Thomas Tuchel, but the outcome was not what the manager wanted.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe Seagulls raced into a 2-0 lead within 15 minutes through Leandro Trossard and a Ruben Loftus-Cheek own-goal.
A rampant Brighton took advantage of Potter’s decision to start with just two defenders and capitalised on their frailties at the back to make it 3-0 by half-time through another own-goal, this time by Trevor Chalobah.
READ ALSO: EPL: Leaders Arsenal Lose Winning Streak, Held By Southampton
Chelsea started the second half with a promise, and Kai Havertz’s early goal raised hopes of a comeback but Brighton held on firmly and a Pascal Gross goal in injury time added gloss to their victory.
It was almost poetic that Roberto De Zerbi’s first win as Brighton boss and his predecessor Potter’s first loss as Chelsea manager came in this game. The result sees the Blues slip out of the Champions League places into fourth while Brighton moved into seventh.
Elsewhere, unlike their London neighbours, Tottenham Hotspur were successful in mounting a comeback.
Antonio Conte’s side was 0-2 down at Bournemouth through goals from Keiffer Moore and Lewis Cook. But goals from Ryan Sessegnon and Ben Davies brought Spurs back on level terms and had the Cherries pegged back in their box for the last quarter of the game in search of a winner.
Their pressure bore fruit, with Uruguayan Rodrigo Bentancur scoring in injury time to help Spurs take all three points. Spurs were winless in their last three games and Saturday’s result will ease the pressure on Conte.
Tottenham now sit just two points behind Arsenal in third. Bournemouth, who have lost their last three games, sit in 14th.
Newcastle made it three wins in a row as striker Callum Wilson netted twice against Villa, the first from the penalty spot, and Miguel Almiron continued his incredible scoring run.
Wilson headed his second in the 56th minute and three minutes later Joelinton pounced on a rebound from a Wilson shot to extend the lead. Almiron scored his sixth goal in six games after 67 minutes with a superb curling finish.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
Follow Us