Champions Chelsea have returned to the top of the Premiership after a comfortable 4-0 win against West Brom at Stamford Bridge.
Frank Lampard opened the scoring after 23 minutes, firing home after Didier Drogba created space. Joe Cole doubled the lead just before half-time profiting from good work by Shaun Wright-Philips as both players took the opportunity to impress. Chelsea took a 3-0 lead after the break as Drogba scored from close-range, before Lampard grabbed his second to complete the rout. Blues Manager Jose Mourinho gave summer signings Wright-Philips and Michael Essien their first starts and was pleased with the result.
“We played well. We looked very confident and compact, there were no defensive problems and we used the ball very well,” said Mourinho.
Arsenal defeated Fulham 4-1 at Highbury to recover from their loss to Chelsea at the weekend.
Arsenal Captain Thierry Henry scored twice in the win over Fulham to take his goals scored for Arsenal up to 184 just one goal behind Highbury legend Ian Wright. Arsenal had to battle for the victory against a confident Fulham side.
Lauren missed an early penalty after Zat Knight brought down Henry. It was Fulham though, who took the lead after Claus Jensen scored a looping effort over Jens Lehmann. The Gunners were level 10 minutes later with a Pascal Cyan header. The lively Jose Antonio Reyes then found Henry who finished clinically against Fulham keeper Tony Warner. Henry then dinked the ball over the impressive Warner, making it 3-1, after being set-up by new signing Alexsander Hleb. Cygan then claimed his second after a defensive mix-up to complete the victory.
Tottenham lost their winning start to the new season after a stalemate against 10 men Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. Spurs coach Martin Jol rested key players Edgar Davids, Michael Carrick and Jermain Defoe with an eye on the clash with Chelsea game at the weekend.
Blackburn missed a host of chances as Tottenham struggled to cope. Shefki Kuqi, Ryan Nelsen and Andy Todd spurned good opportunities for the home side. Rovers were reduced to 10 men with Lucas Neill dismissed after a challenge on substitute Edgar Davids. Tottenham failed to find a winner and had to settle for a 0-0 draw.
Jol was upbeat despite the result.
“We couldn’t create chances for ourselves. We didn’t play well enough to score a goal so I’m satisfied with the point,” he said.
Newcastle have yet to win this season after going down 2-0 at Bolton. Manager Graeme Souness will be under increasing pressure following last night’s defeat at the Reebok stadium.
Bolton beat a woeful Newcastle side comfortably thanks to goals from El-Hadji Diouf and Liverpool transfer target Stelios Giannakopoulos. The Magpies have yet to score this season and went 1-0 down after Diouf headed in at the far post. Stelios secured victory for Wanderers with a simple tap in on 50 minutes.
Souness was unhappy with performance of his side.
“We’ve played three games and tonight is the worst we’ve played so far. To get a result here you need to scrap,” he said.
