Chelsea icon Frank Lampard scored for Manchester City to end his old club’s perfect start to the league season, while Leicester City came from 3-1 down to beat Manchester United 5-3 on a remarkable day in the Premier League on Sunday.
Lampard, Chelsea’s record scorer with 211 goals in his 13 years at Stamford Bridge and still looking out of place in City’s light blue shirt after years in Chelsea’s royal blue, came on as a late substitute and scored to give the champions a 1-1 draw against the league leaders, but he did not celebrate the goal that earned his side a point.
He left the pitch to a standing ovation from the Chelsea fans, as well as applause from the City supporters.
Earlier, United, who raced into a 2-0 lead at Leicester City and then led 3-1 with 33 minutes to play, ended up beaten 5-3 in a game that will live on as one of Leicester’s most unlikely victories of modern times.
The shocks did not stop there, with West Bromwich Albion winning 1-0 at Tottenham Hotspur for their first league win of the season and Crystal Palace, also without a league win, came from behind to beat Everton 3-2 at Goodison Park.
While the most dramatic events of the day unfolded at Leicester’s King Power Stadium, the most poignant personal event took place at the Etihad Stadium, when Lampard, on a short-term loan at City from his Major League Soccer side New York City, replaced Aleksandar Kolarov with 12 minutes to play and City trailing Chelsea 1-0.
City were also down to 10 men following the 66th-minute dismissal of Pablo Zabaleta for a foul on Diego Costa and they were also a goal down to Andre Schurrle’s 71st-minute far-post tap-in following a swift break.
Enter Lampard. Not only is he Chelsea’s all-time top scorer, but he is also third on their all-time appearance list, but when James Milner crossed, Lampard struck and his low volley flew past Thibaut Courtois for City’s equalizer.
“It’s a really difficult one. I’d be unprofessional if I came on and didn’t do my job, so I’m mixed with it,” Lampard told Sky Sports. “The Chelsea fans were singing my name and it was an emotional day. It’s not how I expected to say goodbye to the Chelsea fans. I woke up this morning and didn’t know what I wanted from today, so I’m glad it’s out of the way. I guess this is a happy medium.”
Manchester United led 2-0 and 3-1 at the King Power Stadium, but finished with 10 men and no points after Leicester’s astonishing fightback.
United were 2-0 up inside 16 minutes with a header from Robin van Persie and a brilliant chip from Angel di Maria. Leonardo Ulloa headed Leicester back into the game in the 17th minute, before Ander Herrara back-heeled United 3-1 up after 57, but Leicester then replied with four unanswered goals — a David Nugent penalty after 62 minutes, an equalizer from Esteban Cambiasso after 64 minutes, the fourth from Jamie Vardy after 79 minutes when he broke into space and the fifth from Ulloa with another penalty after 83 minutes which saw young United defender Tyler Blackett red-carded.
“It was absolutely brilliant,” man-of-the-match Jamie Vardy said. “We had done our research this week and their attacking options are frightening, but the diamond formation they play leaves a lot of space behind the fullbacks and we looked to exploit that.”
Manchester United had beaten Leicester in nine of their past 10 league meetings, and drawn the other, since Leicester last beat United in the league in January 1998.
“I cannot say that I am happy,” stunned United manager Louis van Gaal told the BBC. “In the world of football, these matches happen. I was a coach at Barcelona in my first year and we were 3-0 ahead, with 15 minutes to play, and we lost 3-4. It is not good because we have the game in our pocket and gave it away. Not because of Leicester, we gave it away and I don’t like that.”
In the other early match, West Bromwich Albion climbed off the bottom of the table when they won their first game of the season, 1-0 at out-of-sorts Tottenham Hotspur, who started the season well, but have now lost their past two home matches.
The only goal at White Hart Lane was headed home by James Morrison after 74 minutes.
Everton, like Spurs, played in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday and, like Spurs, lost at home.
Romelu Lukaku gave Everton a ninth-minute lead, before goals from Mile Jedinak from the penalty spot, Fraizer Campbell and Yannick Bolasie put Palace ahead.
Leighton Baines scored a late penalty for Everton, who have now won only three of their past 10 games.
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
In-form teenager Mirra Andreeva on Thursday crashed out of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, after going down in straight sets to fellow Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last 16. World No. 7 Andreeva, who already has two titles under her belt this season, lost 6-3, 6-2 against the 22nd-ranked Alexandrova in just over an hour. The 17-year-old Andreeva had defeated her elder sister Erika in the previous round on Wednesday, but Alexandrova quickly took control as she claimed her fourth win over a top-10 player this season. The 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva in February became the youngest winner of a WTA
RSS