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London. — Chelsea extended their flying start to the season with a 3-0 win at London rivals Tottenham as both clubs paid an emotional tribute to their former striker Jimmy Greaves Yesterday.
Thiago Silva put Chelsea ahead early in the second half before N’Golo Kante bagged his first club goal since December 2019.
Antonio Rudiger rounded off Chelsea’s dominant display with a stoppage-time strike as Thomas Tuchel’s latest tactical masterclass paid rich dividends.
Tuchel’s unbeaten side sit top of the Premier League after winning four of their first five games.
Chelsea have only conceded one league goal so far this season despite a tricky fixture list that featured trips to Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal.
They face another test of their title credentials next weekend when champions Manchester City visit Stamford Bridge.
It was fitting that two of Greaves’ old clubs met on the day he passed away aged 81.
Hailed as “the finest marksman this country has ever seen” by Tottenham, Greaves is the club’s record scorer with 266 goals in 379 appearances between 1961 and 1970.
An image of Greaves wearing Tottenham’s famous white shirt was displayed on screens inside and outside the club’s north London stadium before kick-off.
In a moving tribute, several former Tottenham greats, including Greaves’ old teammate Martin Chivers, lined up on the touchline to join both teams and the 62 000 crowd in a minute’s applause.
Meanwhile, Jesse Lingard scored a stunning late goal and David de Gea saved a stoppage-time penalty as Manchester United beat West Ham United 2-1 in a dramatic Premier League match Yesterday.
West Ham had gone ahead on the half-hour mark with a deflected strike from Said Benrahma but the visitors responded quickly, Cristiano Ronaldo heading a Bruno Fernandes cross at Lukasz Fabianksi and following up to tap the ball into the net.
Substitute Lingard hit a thumping shot into the top corner in the 89th minute against his former club but West Ham were awarded a penalty moments later for a handball by defender Luke Shaw.
Mark Noble stepped up to take the penalty immediately after coming off the bench but De Gea guessed correctly and dived to turn his spot-kick away.
Manchester United are second in the Premier League standings with 13 points from five games while West Ham are eighth after suffering their first defeat of the season.
Elsewhere Brighton & Hove Albion secured a 2-1 home win over Leicester City Yesterday thanks to a controversial penalty and a Danny Welbeck header that put them third in the Premier League despite Jamie Vardy’s 150th goal in his 250th game for the Foxes. The visitors will feel hard done after a number of key decisions went against them, including the one to award Brighton the penalty that saw them open the scoring in the 35th minute.
A Brighton corner resulted in the ball being headed onto the arm of Leicester defender Jannik Vestergaard and the spot kick was confirmed by a VAR review despite the replay showing he was being fouled by Neal Maupay. — Supersport .com
Online Reporter