News APP

NewsApp (Free)

Read news as it happens
Download NewsApp

Available on  gplay

This article was first published 6 years ago
Rediff.com  » Sports » EPL PHOTOS: Chelsea go to third after victory over Southampton

EPL PHOTOS: Chelsea go to third after victory over Southampton

December 16, 2017 23:20 IST
Get Rediff News in your Inbox:

Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday

Chelsea's Marcos Alonso celebrates with Tiemoue Bakayoko and Gary Cahill after scoring their first goal against Southampton at Stamford Bridge, in London

IMAGE: Chelsea's Marcos Alonso celebrates with Tiemoue Bakayoko and Gary Cahill after scoring their first goal against Southampton at Stamford Bridge, in London. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

Chelsea consolidated third place in the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Southampton at StamfordBridge on Saturday, thanks to a Marcos Alonso goal.

 

Alonso scored the only goal of the game by curling a long-range free kick past goalkeeper Fraser Forster and into the bottom corner in the third minute of first-half injury time.

Chelsea dominated the match for long periods and would have won by a greater margin had Forster not made a string of impressive saves.

Southampton improved after sending on Charlie Austin for Manolo Gabbiadini in the second half but they were unable to snatch an equaliser.

The result extended a poor run of form for Mauricio Pellegrino's side, who have now gone five matches without a win in the Premier League and have dropped to 12th in the standings.

Ozil volley gives Arsenal 1-0 win over Newcastle

A blistering first-half volley by Mesut Ozil gave Arsenal a 1-0 home win over Newcastle United on Saturday and lifted them into the Premier League's top four while it also piled more misery on the struggling Magpies.

The result lifted Arsenal to fourth place on 33 points from 18 games, one ahead of surprise package Burnley and five behind third-placed Chelsea, with Newcastle, on 15 points, plunging into a relegation scrap.

Germany midfielder Ozil unleashed an unstoppable shot past visiting goalkeeper Rob Elliot in the 23rd minute as Arsenal celebrated their 10th successive top-flight win over Newcastle, who have now taken one point from their last nine league games.

Alexis Sanchez had a shot blocked by a visiting defender and following an aerial duel, the ball fell kindly to Ozil who showed a touch of class to crash his effort into the top corner.

Arsenal's first league win in four games pleased their manager Arsene Wenger, who singled out Ozil and talented 20-year old left back Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who produced another fine performance for the Gunners.

The dominant home side missed several chances in either half while the visitors came close against the run of play in the 56th minute, when Arsenal keeper Petr Cech parried a fierce low shot by Spanish striker Joselu.

Maitland-Niles nearly scored in the first half after a darting solo run, with Sanchez and Jack Wilshere also coming close before Joselu had another dangerous shot deflected wide at the other end.

Benteke scores first of season as Palace win at Leicester

Crystal Palace's Christian Benteke fouls Leicester City's Kasper Schmeichel (left) 

IMAGE: Crystal Palace's Christian Benteke fouls Leicester City's Kasper Schmeichel (left). Photograph: Carl Recine/Action Images via Reuters

Christian Benteke put a difficult week behind him to score his first goal of the season as CrystalPalace won 3-0 at LeicesterCity to climb out of the Premier League's bottom three on Saturday.

Wilfried Zaha also struck before halftime and Bakary Sako was on target in stoppage time as Palace ended an eight-month wait for an away league victory.

A week after being castigated for ignoring team orders to take, and miss, a stoppage-time penalty in a 2-2 draw with Bournemouth, Benteke made amends to put Palace in front with a glancing header from Andros Townsend's whipped in cross.

It was Palace's first away goal of the season.

Leicester failed to muster much of a response and were punished for their lacklustre approach five minutes before halftime when Benteke played in Zaha who out-foxed Ben Chilwell before drilling a low shot past Kasper Schmeichel.

The hosts did improve after the break and Riyad Mahrez was denied a goal when Palace keeper Julian Speroni made a superb save to keep out the Algerian's powerful low shot.

Vicente Iborra had a headed goal correctly ruled out for a push on the hour and Leicester suffered a further blow a minute later when birthday boy Wilfred Ndidi received a second yellow card for a dive and was sent off.

Benteke was denied from close range by Schmeichel but with confidence soaring, Palace made it an afternoon to remember for their travelling fans when Bakary Sako fired home clinically in stoppage time after Ruben Loftus-Cheek's assist.

Palace moved to 14th position with 17 points from 18 games while Leicester, who had won their previous four games to move into eighth spot, have 26 points.

Huddersfield end away drought in style with win at Watford

Elias Kachunga got a controversial early goal and Aaron Mooy scored twice as HuddersfieldTown beat Watford 4-1 in the Premier League on Saturday to record their first away win since the opening day of the season.

Kachunga, who was carried off on a stretcher with a knee injury minutes after his goal, appeared to be offside when he prodded home from close range following a Huddersfield corner in the sixth minute but the flag stayed down despite Watford's protests.

Australian Mooy added a second goal midway through the first half before Watford captain Troy Deeney all but ended his team's hopes of a comeback when he was shown a straight red card for a challenge from behind on Collin Quaner.

Laurent Depoitre put the visitors 3-0 up with a well-taken goal soon after the interval before Huddersfield lost their skipper Jonathan Hogg to a second yellow card that briefly evened up the contest.

Abdoulaye Doucoure pulled one back for Watford with a sweetly struck half-volley through a crowd of bodies as the home team cranked up the pressure but the midfielder gave away a penalty in the dying minutes and Mooy converted for his second goal.

Murray misses penalty as Brighton draw 0-0 with Burnley

Brighton and Hove Albion striker Glenn Murray missed a first-half penalty as his side drew 0-0 at home to Burnley on Saturday to extend their run of Premier League games without a victory to seven.

The Seagulls, who have not won in the league since beating Swansea City 1-0 away on Nov. 4 and who have only scored one goal in their last six games, began slowly but went on to dominate the first half.

Anthony Knockaert hit the post midway through the first half, and striker Murray should have given the home side the lead when he was awarded a penalty after tangling with James Tarkowski, but he smashed the spot kick over.

Burnley improved considerably in the second half, forcing Brighton keeper Mathew Ryan to make a number of smart saves, but despite a late assault from the home side neither team could break the deadlock and the game finished scoreless.     

Get Rediff News in your Inbox:
Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE 2024

INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE 2024