Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday powered to the top of the English Premier League with an impressive 2-0 win against Manchester City, while Chelsea are up to second place after their victory at Newcastle United.
Manchester United remain well off the pace in ninth, but did manage their first home win in the Premier League in seven games as Bruno Fernandes’ twice-taken penalty saw off lowly West Bromwich Albion 1-0.
Spurs ended the day on top of the table for the first time in six years as goals from Son Heung-min and Giovani Lo Celso saw off a toothless City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Tottenham took the lead after five minutes as Son ran onto Tanguy Ndombele’s lofted pass, beat the City offside trap and slotted a cool finish under Ederson for his 11th goal of the season.
City dominated possession, but struggled to create chances and were cut open again for Spurs’ second with just their second shot on target. Lo Celso came off the bench to score just 35 seconds after his introduction as he raced onto Harry Kane’s sublime pass to slot past Ederson.
On the one-year anniversary of Jose Mourinho’s appointment as manager, Tottenham are unbeaten in their last eight league games since losing to Everton on the opening weekend, sparking hopes of a genuine title challenge.
“The players gave everything and followed a strategy. They were amazing,” Mourinho said. “We found a way to play and it was magnificent to see them play how they did.”
Tottenham, who last won the top-flight title in 1961, lead Chelsea by two points with the two set to face each other next weekend.
City are languishing in 11th place, eight points behind the leaders, albeit with a game in hand.
City manager Pep Guardiola extended his contract at the Etihad Staduim to 2023 this week, but his side look a shadow of the swaggering outfit that won successive league titles in 2018 and last year.
Twelve points from eight games is City’s lowest total at this stage of a Premier League campaign since 2008-2009.
“We had more chances than them, but we lost. Mourinho’s teams are like this, you make a mistake and they punish you on the counterattack,” Guardiola said.
Chelsea maintained their fine form as Federico Fernandez’s first-half own goal and Tammy Abraham’s strike sealed a 2-0 win at St James’ Park.
Manger Frank Lampard’s side are unbeaten in nine games in all competitions and have not lost in their last six league matches.
The visitors’ pressure was rewarded in the 10th minute when Mason Mount whipped in a low cross and Fernandez turned it into his own net under pressure from Ben Chilwell.
Chelsea put the result beyond doubt in the 65th minute when Timo Werner accelerated away from the Newcastle defense and slipped a pass to Abraham, who guided his shot in off the post.
BUNDESLIGA
AFP, BERLIN
Erling Braut Haaland netted four goals and Youssoufa Moukoko on Saturday became the youngest player in Bundesliga history as Borussia Dortmund routed Hertha BSC 5-2 to trim Bayern Munich’s lead at the top of the table to just one point.
It was the first time the 20-year-old Haaland had scored four goals in a game for Dortmund since his January debut, with all of them coming in the second half.
“I drank a Red Bull at halftime, I got some wings and everything was good,” Haaland said.
Meanwhile, one day after his 16th birthday, Moukoko is the youngest player in Bundesliga history.
“He’s only just turned 16 — that is amazing,” Haaland said of Moukoko. “He has a big career ahead of him.”
Dortmund’s romp in Berlin moved them second in the standings, behind defending champions Bayern who stayed top despite a 1-1 home draw with Werder Bremen.
LA LIGA
Reuters, MADRID
Atletico Madrid on Saturday pulled off their first La Liga win over Barcelona in more than a decade as Yannick Carrasco capitalized on a blunder from Barca ’keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen to secure a 1-0 victory at an empty Wanda Metropolitano.
Belgian winger Carrasco broke the deadlock at the end of the first half, pulling off a classy backheel to knock the ball through the legs of Ter Stegen and keep his composure in front of goal after the German had charged out of his area.
Lionel Messi had won the fixture last season with a late solo goal, but the Barca captain had a match to forget this time, appearing hesitant in front of goal.
The win moved Atletico up to second in the standings, level on 20 points with leaders Real Sociedad, while Barca are down in 10th place with 11 points after a third defeat in eight league games.
Kylian Mbappe struck from the penalty spot as Real Madrid beat a dogged CA Osasuna 1-0 on Tuesday to make a winning start in Spanish La Liga under new coach Xabi Alonso. The France striker, last season’s European Golden Shoe winner, scored early in the second half, after he was fouled in the area by Osasuna defender Juan Cruz. It was enough to seal the points in Alonso’s first game in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Madrid now unbeaten in their opening fixture of a league campaign since 2008. “You can see that Kylian wants to do even more
TO THE TOP: After securing the international title on Saturday, Team Taiwan were to face Las Vegas to potentially win their 18th Little League World Series championship A team from Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School won the Little League Baseball World Series’ international title on Saturday by defeating Aruba 1-0 in the annual baseball tournament held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Taiwan team, competing under the name Chinese Taipei, were after press time last night to face a team from Las Vegas, Nevada, which beat a team from Fairfield, Connecticut, in the US championship 8-2. Taiwan are seeking to win their first Little League Baseball World Series title since 1996. “Really haven’t taken a moment to data dump right now on Taiwan,” Nevada manager T.J. Fescher said. “They’re a
‘CATASTROPHE’: Despite losing several key forwards in the summer transfer window, Bayern were up 3-0 in the first half before Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in the second Harry Kane hit a hat-trick, Michael Olise a double and newcomer Luis Diaz also scored as Bayern Munich made a “statement” against RB Leipzig 6-0 at home in the Bundesliga season opener on Friday. Bayern’s big-money arrivals, all brought in from the Premier League across the past three seasons, were dominant as the Bavarians begun their title defense in style. Olise scored twice in the first half, either side of a Diaz strike. Not to be outdone, Kane scored three goals in the second half — with two assists coming from Diaz, to bring Bayern’s total to 6-0. Kane told the Bundesliga
Kevin de Bruyne is to lead SSC Napoli’s Serie A title defense today when he makes his full debut at promoted US Sassuolo, but the champions head into the new season rocked by a long-term injury to star striker Romelu Lukaku. De Bruyne was, alongside aging icon Luka Modric, the big new name to arrive in Italy this summer and fans were hoping his linkup with Belgium teammate Lukaku would push Napoli to success both at home and in their return to the UEFA Champions League. The 34-year-old has suffered from hamstring injuries which caused him to miss significant chunks of the
RSS