Sports

Jonathan Cook’s World Game Wrap-Up

Posted on | Posted by Jonathan Cook

Tuchel and Conte sent off

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel and his Tottenham Hotspur counterpart Antonio Conte both received red cards in the aftermath of a spiteful 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues were the better side and twice went in front – through Kalidou Koulibaly and Reece James – only for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to pull one back and Harry Kane to spoil the celebrations with a stoppage time equaliser.

Tuchel was already annoyed that referee Anthony Taylor had allowed Hojbjerg’s goal to stand – he pointed to a foul in the build-up – and was furious when Kane headed home from a corner, as Cristian Romero had not been punished despite yanking Marc Cucurella’s hair.

The Blues boss then went nose-to-nose with Conte after the final whistle and players and staff from both clubs were on hand to separate the pair.

Forest get first win

Nottingham Forest celebrated as if they had already secured their Premier League status for another season after digging deep to beat West Ham United at the City Ground.

Twenty-three years after their last Premier League victory, Forest were grateful to record signing Taiwo Awoniyi for his first goal, and goalkeeper Dean Henderson, who pulled off several saves including denying Declan Rice’s penalty.

Said Benrahma rattled the Forest crossbar and Neco Williams cleared Kurt Zouma’s effort off the line but the home side survived to claim a first Premier League win since beating Leicester City in 1999.

De Bruyne firing

Manchester City continued their pursuit of a third successive Premier League title with a comfortable stroll at the Etihad Stadium.

Erling Haaland set up the opener for Ilkay Gundogan but was rarely seen as Kevin De Bruyne hit top gear in a 4-0 win over Bournemouth.

De Bruyne scored City’s second goal before Phil Foden made it 3-0 with just 37 minutes gone. Bournemouth’s misery was complete when Jefferson Lerma steered the ball into his own net with 11 minutes to play.

Gabriel Jesus on fire

Arsenal fans are starting to believe that Gabriel Jesus can be the catalyst for a Gunners surge after two goals on his home debut.

The former Manchester City man had a fine first game in an Arsenal shirt away to Crystal Palace a week ago and was even more impressive at the Emirates.

His two goals, including a fabulous first, and two assists were at the heart of a 4-2 victory over Leicester City.

Arsenal missed out on an automatic UEFA Champions League place to their north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur by two points last season.

But with Gabriel Jesus in this kind of form, the Gunners, who opened last season with defeats to Brentford and Chelsea, look capable of breaking back into England’s top four.

Brentford sink United

Manchester United slumped to the bottom of the Premier League for the first time in 30 years in embarrassing fashion – and things could get worse.

A 4-0 loss to Brentford, with all four goals scored in the first half, condemned United to a second successive defeat of the season with Liverpool their next opponent.

Brentford’s victory, which came courtesy of goals from Josh Dasilva, Mathias Jensen, Ben Mee and Bryan Mbeumo, was their biggest Premier League victory.

Handed the opener by a blunder from United goalkeeper David De Gea, Brentford made United look second rate, piling the pressure on new manager Erik Ten Hag.

The Dutchman is the first Manchester United manager since John Chapman in 1921 to lose his first two competitive matches in charge.

United take on Liverpool at Old Trafford next week.

Ralph revives Saints

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s second-half changes rescued Southampton from a second successive defeat as Leeds United blew a two-goal lead at St Mary’s Stadium.

The pressure was building on Hasenhuttl after Leeds attacker Rodrigo scored twice to put the visitors in a commanding position – this on the back of the Saints’ heavy opening day defeat to Tottenham.

But the introduction of Adam Armstrong and Joe Aribo resulted in the former setting up the latter to pull a goal back for Southampton before another substitute, Sekou Mara, set up Kyle Walker-Peters for the equaliser.

Lukaku on target

Just as he had done three years ago, Romelu Lukaku started life at Inter Milan with a goal against Lecce.

Lukaku was making his second “debut” for Inter after returning to Italy on loan from Chelsea, where he scored eight goals in 26 Premier League games last season.

And the Belgian striker wasted no time getting amongst the goals, heading home less than two minutes into his return to Serie A.

But a satisfying return was only complete when Denzel Dumfries scored a late winner for Inter after Assan Ceesay had levelled for Lecce.

Italian champions AC Milan were also given a scare before they sprung to life against Udinese. Rodrigo Becao put the visitors ahead at the San Siro before a swift and decisive response.

Ante Rebic scored twice and Theo Hernandez and Brahim Díaz were also on target in a 4-2 win.

Lift-off in La Liga

There was no goal for Robert Lewandowski on his Barcelona debut but an early sign that his Bundesliga success will quickly translate to goals in La Liga.

The Polish striker, who scored 344 goals for Bayern Munich before his recent move to Barcelona, found the net early against Rayo Vallecano only to see it ruled out for offside.

This was the first time in eight years that Lewandowski had failed to score in the first game of the season.

The 33-year-old was one of four new Barcelona signings to feature in the goalless draw against Rayo Vallecano with Raphinha, who signed from Leeds United, Andreas Christensen (Chelsea) and Franck Kessie (AC Milan) all registered to play just 24 hours before kick-off.




Recent Articles