THE LONDON STADIUM — Tottenham continued their habit of collecting points that were missed last season by taking one against a resurgent West Ham. There was a contentious VAR call, an own goal, a debutant from a club-record signing and plenty in between on a frantic night in east London.
Nobody wants to have the dreaded VAR chat anymore, but this is the fourth season that the technology has been in use in the Premier League and issues still persist. On this occasion it was a question of timing: three minutes and 56 seconds passed from Peter Bankes awarding Tottenham a penalty to taking it away again.
Harry Kane thought he’d earned an immediate shot at redemption after missing his first Premier League spot-kick in four years at the City Ground when his header hit Aaron Creswell’s outstretched forearm. That moment will have to wait, Creswell spared courtesy of getting his face in the way first. “A lucky escape,” admitted Joe Cole in the BT gantry.
When Peter Bankes trundled over to the pitchside TV of doom, everybody in the stadium knew what was coming. Ivan Perisic’s arms were outstretched in anguish, awaiting the inevitable result. Antonio Conte gesticulated with the animated energy of someone who has just spotted a traffic warden lurking with intent besides their car. West Ham fans around the ground partied like it was 1966.
Spurs went in front regardless and had their trusted ally “own goal” to thank. Thilo Kehrer might have envisaged a more productive start to his West Ham career, following up a penalty concession on his London Stadium debut against Brighton with an own goal on his second outing in front of his new fans. But the goal wasn’t about him; it was about Dejan Kulusevski.
When Spurs splurged a club-record £60m fee on Richarlison, there were some who predicted that he would waltz straight into Conte’s front three alongside the big two. Clearly, those people hadn’t been paying attention to Kulusevski last season.
Player ratings
West Ham (4-3-3)
Lukasz Fabianski – 7
Vladimir Coufal – 7
Thilo Kehrer – 6
Kurt Zouma – 6
Aaron Cresswell – 6 (Ogbonna 6)
Declan Rice – 7
Tomas Soucek – 7
Pablo Fornals – 7 (Emerson N/A)
Jarrod Bowen – 6
Said Benrahma – 6 (Paqueta 6)
Michail Antonio – 7
Tottenham (3-4-3)
Hugo Lloris – 5
Davinson Sanchez – 6
Eric Dier – 6
Ben Davies – 6
Emerson Royal – 7
Yves Bissouma – 6
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 6
Ivan Perisic – 7
Dejan Kulusevski – 7 (Richarlison 6)
Son Heung-min – 6
Harry Kane – 7
The Swede has been one of Tottenham’s most impactful signings of the last decade and his twinkle toes were imprinted all over the opener. Receiving the ball on the right wing he sucked three West Ham players into his sphere before disguising a cute touch into Kane’s path to cross for Kehrer to tap in before Son Heung-min could reach it.
But West Ham rallied and grabbed an equaliser that was met with a roar that nearly lifted the roof off.
Classy assist from Antonio,
Elegant finish from Soucek!
Before the game, Spurs had paid tribute to their long-serving captain Hugo Lloris for his decade of service to the club, the Frenchman having signed from Lyon on 31 August 2012. Given the build-up, his role in West Ham’s equaliser was sadly inevitable. The Frenchman shanked an attempted pass straight out of play and from the resulting throw-in Tomas Soucek slammed home a close-range volley, via a superb flick from Michail Antonio. Happy 10 years, Hugo.
How BT Sport’s pundits reacted to the penalty decision
Peter Crouch: “Well Cresswell takes a huge risk first and foremost jumping like that with his hands in the air.
“If this header goes straight onto Cresswell’s hand then it’s a definite penalty but the fact they’ve got away with it is because it’s hit his face and then gone onto his arm.
“If you jump like that and it hands the hand directly it’s a definite handball.”
Kane’s header hit Cresswell’s arm but connected with his head first (Photo: AP)
Joe Cole: “The ref took his time and that’s what VAR is there for. West Ham got away with one there for sure.
“There has to be a line where it’s black and white and the rules are that if it hits a body part before his hand then it’s down to the referee’s discretion.”
From that point onwards, the game descended into peak Premier League ping pong. The final stages were dominated by spurned West Ham chances and Tottenham’s flickering counter-attacking threat. Pablo Fornals missed when he should have scored, Davinson Sanchez – of all people – attempted an overhead kick. New boys Emerson Palmieri and Lucas Paqueta left a prime shooting opportunity to each other which neither took. And then in the final seconds, Jarrod Bowen squirted a cross-shot across the goal-line that somehow avoided a teammate’s toe.
And then it was done. A game halted for what seemed an eternity ending in a flash. West Ham will feel that it was a missed opportunity but are at least seemingly back on track. For Spurs, it was a result that consolidated their position in third place.
Conte: I think in England it is better to cut off VAR
Conte insisted that the decision to reverse the penalty award in the first half was incorrect and called for VAR to be scrapped from the Premier League.
“I don’t like to comment on refereeing decisions. I never did this in England,” Conte said. “But today I want to comment on the referee’s decision because it was right!
“I said to him at the end of the first half but with a smile, I said ‘you have taken the right decision and then the VAR called you’. The VAR for sure, embarrassed the referee because to make him change a right decision I think was really really strange.
“For managers and players, I think to accept the mistake of the referee during the game is ok because the referee decision can sometimes be positive and sometimes be negative but at the end of the season there is always a balance.”
He added: “I think in England it is better to cut off VAR for the crowd but also for us. For me, my players and coaches of all the clubs, you accept the referee’s decision positive or negative because they are a human mistake.”
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Man City 6-0 Nottingham Forest(Haaland 12′, 23′, 38′, Cancelo 50′, Alvarez 65′, 87′)
ETIHAD STADIUM — I think it’s probably going to work out OK, on balance. You can fret about your Bundesliga tax. You can worry about how Manchester City will reinvent their attack to accommodate him. You can make the point that he picked up a few injuries last season. But these are all small speed bumps intended to stop an armoured tank. Erling Haaland is not a man who seems to be consumed by self-doubt. Or anything other than the relentless pursuit of goals, quite frankly.
How do we love thee? Let us count the ways (but fear not if you forget anything for there will be countless other chances to wax lyrical). Haaland is a physical freak, a striker who isn’t just able to win battles against those tasked to stop him but to bully them into submission. And when he has done that, forced those defenders to back off a little after the bruising, he delights in the space he has been afforded.
The statistics are silly already, but may well go stratospheric. Haaland has nine goals in his first five Premier League matches and was taken off before the 80th minute in two of them. We knew that he had little problem with barely touching the ball but coming alive when it did come his way; the Bundesliga taught us that. But the efficiency of his forward play is astounding to witness in person. It does some disservice to the quality of service, but he really is a ball magnet.
Not that Haaland was bought to beat promoted teams at home. He is the intended final piece of the Champions League jigsaw, the football robot designed to be the difference-maker to whichever super club is lucky enough to make him theirs. But that only makes evenings like these more impressive, when Pep Guardiola adjusts a few of the wires, checks the oil levels and road tests his Striker 3000 against a poor, defenceless beast. Haaland scored a second hat-trick in five days before being brought off for a rest.
9 – Erling Haaland has scored nine goals in his first five @premierleague appearances, a new competition record, surpassing Mick Quinn and Sergio Agüero (both 8). Incredible. pic.twitter.com/t2mrT5bWWZ
These are not the evenings on which Nottingham Forest’s Premier League future will be decided. They will leave chastened, a little embarrassed by the gap to the best, but they should not be surprised nor disheartened. They cannot afford to be; Forest play Bournemouth, Leeds and Fulham in September, either side of an international break during which Steve Cooper can have a mini second preseason.
That does not mean that they are easy. Forest seemed to put so much effort into chasing the ball – often with little success – that they looked out of puff when they got it. Passes went astray, defenders were flustered and Brennan Johnson and Morgan Gibbs-White, nominally a front two, ran this way and that, that way and this, but barely saw the ball. I hope those in the away end enjoyed themselves before and after the game, because the middle wasn’t much fun.
But then that is the lot of the promoted club, no matter how much money you have spent and no matter how highly-rated your manager may be. They arrived to put up a fight and they walked into a whirlwind. They asked a group of high-end Championship central defenders to deal with a freak who may well become the blueprint by which the next football megastar is judged. If it’s any consolation, he might well do it to every team in this league.
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Arsenal 2-1 Aston Villa(Jesus 30, Martinelli 77′ | Luiz 74′)
EMIRATES STADIUM — His face betrayed not a flicker of emotion. Beneath the icy façade Steven Gerrard was broiling. The equalising goal he was celebrating just minutes earlier was stripped of consequence by a rapid Arsenal counter. This monument of a player at Liverpool is a manager in trouble at Aston Villa. The fans are on his back. His team lacks identity. And Erling Haaland’s lethal gaze is trained on Villa Park next.
No sample is small enough in the Premier League. One win in five at the start of this season might not have carried the jeopardy it does were it not for what had come before. Assailed from all sides by Villans fed up with unimaginative, flat football that has yielded just 11 wins in 32 matches since his arrival from Rangers, Gerrard desperately needed to take a chunk out of the Premier League’s only 100 per cent-ers.
A negative result against Manchester City on Saturday will have the Gerrard out chorus ringing ever louder in the ears of Villa chief executive Christian Purslow. Despite a fondness for Gerrard that goes back to their shared days at Anfield, Purslow cannot be happy with the leaden football played under the once swashbuckling midfielder.
The supporters are no longer persuaded by Gerrard’s super serious deportment. The authority he displayed as a player has not carried forward to management. It is not enough to jump into tackles, as Villa did here, often with unwarranted violence. The courage required is that on the ball. There was too little of that at the Emirates.
Player ratings
Arsenal
Ramsdale 7, White 6 (Tomiyasu 5), Saliba 7, Gabriel 7, Tierney 7, Lokonga 6, Xhaka 6, Saka 6 (Holding5), Odegaard 7 (Smith Rowe 5), Martinelli 7, Jesus 8 (Nketiah 5)
It takes a lot to put Gerrard on the seat of his pants but Emi Buendia managed it with another errant pass. Shaking his head, Gerrard spun on the heels of his shiny city shoes and headed straight for the bench. One of the many difficulties Gerrard is finding is how to get a turn out of his No 10s. Philippe Coutinho made way for Buendia here after his own underwhelming contributions this term. Though Buendia runs about the paddock a lot none of it is convincing. And like many of his team-mates, Buendia appears terrified of making a mistake and as a consequence makes plenty.
It could be worse. He could be Tyrone Mings. Mings is no chicken, yet he was as helpless as one when Gabriel Jesus stole into the Villa coop like the fox he is to wreak havoc. Mings, the principal conduit for the anger and frustrations of his struggling manager, was just too slow to react when Emiliano Martinez spilled the ball. On his toes, Jesus left Mings wading through treacle to poach the simplest of goals.
Mings is all you want in a defender when the ball is in the air or the action is in front of him. When he has to react to a random variable like the one presented by Martinez, the body of Apollo is more hindrance than help. Neither Mings nor Buendia would hear the final whistle.
Gerrard looked on arms folded, a manager struggling to impact events. What he needed was 10 minutes of himself at his peak driving at the Arsenal defence with those marauding runs that defined him. Villa were marginally more menacing after the break, finding the net via Douglas Luiz. Gerrard celebrated with a double-fisted salute only to walk into a body blow from Gabriel Martinelli three minutes later.
Five out of five confirmed Arsenal as the champions of August. They have been feeding on easy meat thus far. Sunday’s visit to Old Trafford ought to tell us more about the potential of Arsenal to keep City honest.
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The WhatsApps begin to light up around 6am – and don’t stop until the deadline ticks past 11pm. From unsolicited clips packages sent by hopeful agents to the phantom medical slots that most clubs will book in anticipation of any last minute deals, deadline day for football clubs is a whirlwind of conversations, claims and theories that occasionally turn into actual business.
This year, industry insiders feel there is scope for cash rich Premier League clubs to move the needle on 1 September. While there won’t be any earthquakes to match Cristiano Ronaldo confirming his return to Manchester United 12 months ago, English clubs have the funds to lure overseas talent and – in the phrase beloved by all sporting directors and football executives – be “alive to possibilities”.
Chelsea, Newcastle and Everton were cited in football circles as clubs still prowling the market. Southampton are locked in talks for Cody Gakpo. Leeds United have money for the right striker. Even Arsenal could add a final flourish to what has been a decent transfer window.
While more sober heads usually prevail, even the clubs that pride themselves on being methodical and meticulous in their recruitment planning will hold early morning huddles where they discuss whether they can opportunistically “nick” long-term targets.
“The bulk of the business has been done now, but the intensity of the agent calls definitely steps up. There are a lot of intriguing things being put to you because everyone knows that Premier League clubs have the guaranteed TV money,” one director of football told i.
Overseas deals are more difficult to do and if you hear of left-field links emerging in the late afternoon you can probably discount them. Since Brexit changed the way English football operates, clubs have a mountain of paperwork to plough through that can’t be done in a matter of hours. Indeed no deal is ever truly “last minute”.
The nature of the industry – and the proliferation of analysts, scouts and sporting directors who contribute to recruitment decisions – dictates that all the pieces of the transfers signed off on the final day of the window have been put in place long before those frantic hours before the deadline arrives.
Some will ask why any multi-million pound investment is left until the final hours of the transfer window when they have the whole summer to do business. Phil Giles, Brentford’s director of football, once explained it in simple terms.
“You’re never working on just one deal, you’re working on three or four. You have your preferred one over here and it’s a classic thing of spinning plates,” he said.
“You’re trying to do your preferred one but if that’s not possible and they’ve gone elsewhere you have to flip onto the next one and you try to get that done in time.”
This year clubs have tried to factor a winter World Cup into their thinking. There are only 10 weeks to go until Qatar and that gives clubs a break over December and the latter weeks of November, and planning for the winter window has already begun.
While many will be watching for top flight moves, it is in the lower reaches of EFL where the game-changing deals might be done. An onslaught of loan moves is anticipated for fringe and young players who have been waiting to see what opportunities crop up.
One recruitment official told i that the “bottom has fallen out of the market”. Clubs in the Championship want to hire players but can only afford 20 per cent or less of their monthly wages.
“You’ve left it all summer to get a better deal but in the end you probably buckle and the player goes,” they said. “Those moves can transform clubs in League One and League Two.”
What time does the transfer window close?
The transfer window for clubs in the Premier League and EFL will close at 11pm on Thursday 1 September.
Clubs in Scotland have an extra hour to do their business while the transfer windows across Europe close at different times.
Deadline day times across Europe (all BST):
5pm: Germany’s Bundesliga
7pm: Italy’s Serie A
11pm: Premier League, EFL and Spain’s La Liga
Midnight: Scottish Premiership and France’s Ligue 1
5 deals to look out for on deadline day
Cristiano Ronaldo to Napoli: Nothing has changed in terms of Ronaldo wanting to leave Manchester United but there is no obvious escape route. Napoli looks like the only realistic option, but odds overwhelmingly favour him staying.
Youri Tielemans to Newcastle or Arsenal: Leicester are open to selling the Belgium midfielder, who is in the final 12 months of his contract. Newcastle could clinch a deal for £25m to add a final flourish to another impressive transfer window.
Cody Gakpo to Southampton: PSV Eindhoven forward looks like the next cab off the rank in the Eredivisie. Southampton are pushing for the move but Leeds could yet rival them as they look to add firepower.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Chelsea: The Blues’ approach could best be described as “scattergun” this summer. They remain interest in the former Arsenal striker, who is available for the right price.
Idrissa Gana Gueye to Everton:Everton will add to their midfield with moves for Gueye and James Garner in the final 24 hours of the transfer window to sign off a hectic summer.
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Leeds United are making a concerted effort to land a striker as part of what Jesse Marsch predicts will be an industrious final few hours of a transformative summer transfer window.
A first offer of £17m for Wolves’ Hwang Hee-chan has been turned down and the two clubs remain apart on valuation. i understands Leeds are looking at other options, with PSV Eindhoven’s Cody Gakpo on their list.
Few clubs in the Premier League has overseen an overhaul like Leeds’ this summer. They cashed in on star assets Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha and re-invested in players who had been scouted methodically to take the team in a different direction.
Tyler Adams, Brenden Aaronson and Luis Sinisterra have all made an immediate impact in the Premier League, while Marc Roca and Rasmus Kristensen have also shown promise.
But there is a feeling in West Yorkshire that they remain a striker light, which was emphasised by an injury to Rodrigo in Tuesday’s fractious draw against Everton.
“Everyone is trying the best that they can,” Marsch said of Leeds’ efforts. Hwang has “been on our list from the beginning”, he added of a player he has worked with before. Whether they can meet Wolves in the middle with the two clubs some £8m apart on valuation is another matter.
If there is an element of worry that Leeds still look a bit shot shy – and vulnerable to injuries – there is perhaps the need to trust the hierarchy after a summer in which they seem to have emerged stronger than last season’s relegation battle despite two high-profile sales.
“I can only say thanks to Andrea [Radrizzani] and Victor [Orta] and Angus [Kinnear] and everyone trying to find ways to improve our squad,” Marsch said of his owner, director of football and CEO.
Marsch knows Hwang from his time in the Red Bull system (Photo: Reuters)
“But they have done a great job and you can see we have a good team. I’m really, really happy with the progress we’re making. We have so much more to do but I like our team a lot.”
The club are certainly open to “last minute deals” but it looks like no more than a 50-50 chance of landing a forward.
It felt like a quaint way to communicate given the ferocity of the 24/7 transfer media but perhaps the most revealing message out of Elland Road this week was buried in page 11 of Leeds’ matchday programme.
CEO Angus Kinnear’s notes were a rebuttal of accusations Leeds are doing things “on the cheap”, emphasising a sizeable commitment to increasing their wage bill. He wrote “90 per cent” of their first choices have been secured.
“I know supporters are perplexed that, after demonstrating we have the means and will to make one record breaking offer for a striker [Charles De Ketelaere], we have not secured a player in that position,” he wrote.
“The rationale is straightforward: we believe we have three striking options that are better than the majority of our peers [two proven international number nines and a player widely regarded as the best emerging young striking talent in the league] and will only supplement this with an exceptional addition rather than a warm body.”
Kinnear also took a swipe at Newcastle United’s £25m offer for Jack Harrison which “based on its value, was only for his right leg”.
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It was the kind of gesture that might have sparked a thousand theories before Frank Lampard brought the speculation to an abrupt end in the following hours.
A goodbye gesture? No chance. A week on from when the departure, in the words of one insider, had started to move inexorably closer this felt more like confirmation of a growing love affair between Gordon and his public than the end of it.
Largely those have revolved around how £60m feels like the English player premium in action, with even a section of the Everton fans theorising that they might be better off cashing in on what looks like a big price for a developing talent and using the money to quicken the pace of their rebuild.
Midweek opponents Leeds have done just that. Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha went and a whole new team and ethos has arrived at Elland Road. Perhaps a club that desperately needs a reset like Everton should have rolled the dice and done the same?
There is no doubt that they toyed with the idea at Goodison Park. Gordon never put in a transfer request but it was felt he had made his preference for a move to Chelsea and Champions League football clear.
That fee is a heck of a lot for a rough diamond in need of polishing and who could have blamed them if they took the cash?
Goodbye gesture? No chance. Gordon gives his shirt to a young Everton fan at Elland Road (Photo: Reuters)
Like the housing market, transfer fees this summer have to be seen to be believed. Will Gordon ever be worth £60m again?
That Everton have gone in a different direction means funds for a new striker are limited. Lampard said afterwards the club “aren’t desperate” for a new forward now Neal Maupay has arrived but with questions over Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s fitness and Salomon Rondon’s future, he might be a tad optimistic there.
Instead the onus is on Lampard, who was always dead against a Gordon sale, and Everton to develop the player into the star that can help lift a club that has gone five without a win and only stayed up by the skin of their teeth last season.
If there is a big deal to be done before Thursday’s deadline, Lampard made it clear Everton won’t be the focus. “I’m very confident [Anthony will be our player]. The deadline [for selling him] has passed,” he said in a fascinating press conference at Elland Road.
“He’s too important a player [to sell], he’s shown his worth. What good what it do us to do anything with Anthony [Gordon] now? We’re trying to do something here, it’s a process. Can we trust [in that]? Can we build on that? He’s a good player, that’s why we want to keep him.
“He’s a very good player, he’s going to get better and better. I’m really pleased with his performance and attitude, he’ll have learned a lot in the last two weeks.”
Everton will be in the market until the final hours of Thursday’s deadline. But those expecting major surgery might be disappointed. “We’ll see,” was what Lampard said of a new striker. They are working on loans.
“It’s not been an easy window,” he admitted. “We know we need to adjust the squad. It’s given us a difficult start because we’re playing without a striker. It’s probably held us back from getting points we deserve because the performances have been good.”
This transfer window is phase one of a long-term project. Lampard pointed to Leeds as a club that had their ducks in a row to develop quicker than Everton.
“Bringing in players like Onana with huge energy gives us hope,” he said. He acknowledged that thus far, he’d had to dilute his principles to work with what he’s got.
“Can we play in different ways? Hopefully with players we’re bringing in, yes.”
ELLAND ROAD — Leeds and Everton escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth last season, but there was enough bite in this full throttle Premier League contest to suggest both have brighter days ahead.
Jesse Marsch’s remodelled side played the better football, created more chances and swarmed their visitors with their trademark intensity. They should have won but there was succour for both managers, such was the resolve Everton’s exhibited in adversity. They remain winless and in truth have a lot of hard work ahead – but they would absolutely have lost this game last season.
Help is on the way for the Toffees. While the game was going on Idrissa Gana Gueye – whose return to Goodison Park has been “close” so many times this transfer window that it’s become an internet in-joke for long-suffering Blues – was on a private plane heading for Merseyside. He will sign a two-year deal for £8m and likely be joined by at least one more striker as Everton look to wheel and deal into the final hours of the transfer window.
Last week momentum was definitively with Chelsea in what some in the corridors of power at Goodison Park felt was the deal of the century at an eye-watering £60m. Lampard was among those in a position of power who demurred – and a glorious first half Gordon goal backed up his manager’s judgement.
However high Chelsea raise the bar in the next 48 hours – and they may yet do so after a lacklustre defeat at Southampton – the England under-21 forward might just be the closest thing to priceless given Lampard’s Everton rebuild is still in its embryonic phase.
It just had to be him…
With his name in the headlines over a potential transfer, Anthony Gordon scores for Everton again pic.twitter.com/9VSqTzofcH
There are some green shoots. Everton rolled their sleeves up when the going got tough, on and off-the-field. When the two teams brawled after Gordon and Rasmus Kristensen butted heads in the second half it said it all that James Tarkowski was the first to rush into the melee. That wouldn’t have happened last season either.
An effervescent Leeds probably paid the price for a slow start that was only partly redeemed by a stirring second half.
Luis Sinisterra’s first Premier League start saw him dart about attempting to make things happen but he was largely on his own in that endeavour for much of the first half. Everton deliberately sat deep, absorbing the pressure and disrupting the home side’s rhythm before preying on Leeds’ defensive vulnerability. It was effective if not attractive, and had the desired effect of really winding up a raging Elland Road.
Player ratings
Leeds (4-3-2-1)
Meslier 5
Kristensen 8
Koch 6
Llorente 5
Struijk 6
Adams 7
Roca 7
Sinisterra 7 (Klich 64, 6)
Aaronson 7 (James 76, 6)
Harrison 6
Rodrigo 5 (Gelhardt 32, 5) (Bamford 76, 6)
Everton
Pickford 6
Patterson 8
Coady 7
Tarkowski 7
Mykolenko 7
Davies 6
Onana 7
Iwobi 8
McNeil 6
Gray 6
Gordon 7
Everton are certainly more streetwise under Lampard. The softest of touches in last season’s Premier League, they looked at their most comfortable when turning this contest into a war of attrition, getting under Leeds’ skin and drawing the sting from the home crowd. From as early as a quarter of an hour into the contest, there was no rush to take goal kicks.
An agitated Marsch did not like it much. He prowled his technical area making a visible point about the time wasting, pointing to his over-sized smart watch in an effort to remind Darren England to allow for the extra time. Perhaps that was deflecting the attention from his own side’s wastefulness. Rodrigo – withdrawn in the first half in visible pain after dislocating a shoulder – was the prime culprit, holding back his run when Jack Harrison had spring Everton’s deep-lying backline.
A different Leeds emerged after the break. They laid siege to the Everton defence but Sinisterra’s long-range effort that tricked Jordan Pickford was their sole reward. It felt like a skinny dividend for such a positive performance.
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Southampton 2-1 Chelsea (Lavia 28’, Armstrong 45+1 | Sterling 23’)
Southampton leapfrogged Chelsea in the Premier League table after battling back to a 2-1 home win that exposed more issues for Thomas Tuchel.
With the transfer window open until Thursday evening, whether Chelsea go back into the market remains to be seen, but in the absence of Reece James, N’Golo Kante, and a recognised No 9 – on a night Anthony Gordon was on target at Leeds – they were outplayed and outmuscled by an industrious Southampton side.
Chelsea had capitalised on their fast start when Raheem Sterling scored his third goal in four days, adding to Saturday’s double against Leicester when breaking the deadlock midway through the first half at St Mary’s.
The lead lasted all of five minutes, however, as Southampton hit back against the run of play when a corner found Romeo Lavia on the edge of the area.
The summer signing from Manchester City needed one touch to set himself, and the second was a powerful effort from 18 yards out which Edouard Mendy could only get a palm to. In doing so, Lavia became the first player born in 2004 to score a Premier League goal.
The match was then turned on its head before half-time, with Southampton waltzing past Chelsea’s midfield and taking the lead when Armstrong met Romain Perraud’s low cross with a strike that deflected past Mendy.
The most pressing issue for Chelsea was the fact they were getting overrun in midfield, and with Kante injured and expected to miss the next few weeks, Tuchel sought to address this when replacing Ruben Loftus-Cheek with Mateo Kovacic.
Thomas Tuchel (left) will be glad to have Mateo Kovacic back (Photo: PA)
All the while, Billy Gilmour and summer signing Carney Chukwuemeka were on the bench, a reminder that Chelsea are not short on midfielders but rather struggling to find a combination that works.
Nevertheless, Kovavic coming on for 45 minutes – having enjoyed his first 15 minutes of the season against Leicester – was a welcome sight, although initially it did little to break Southampton’s stride as the hosts sought a third goal.
Eventually, Tuchel opted for a triple substitution, bringing on Ben Chilwell, Christian Pulisic and Armando Broja, but still it was Southampton who looked the more likely score.
In the end, Southampton held on and withstood Chelsea’s late advances, with the Saints moving up to seventh in the table and the Blues now eighth after two wins, one draw and two defeats to start the season.
Chelsea ‘too easy to beat’ – Tuchel
Tuchel did not hold back after full-time, bemoaning that his side are “too easy” to beat.
“It is not enough to win away matches, it is not enough to play 20-25 minutes on the level we want. It is too easy to put us off balance, to beat us, to confuse us. It is too easy. It happened against Leeds. We need to understand why and find solutions,” he said.
“We lose concentration, we lose our plan and lose consistency, it is too easy to beat us.
“A lot of key players are injured, it is something I don’t really understand. You can always lose football matches and I am humble enough to admit this but in a match where you are in the lead there is no need to give away half chances. To have no answers in the second half was disappointing.
“We need to have answers, we need to step up and play a level higher if needed. We struggled to do this.”
Meanwhile, asked is something special is brewing, Southampton boss Ralph Hassenhuttl told BBC Sport: “Yes. I said it from the first day that we have the feeling that we have a team that is young but there is a lot of empty space on the hard disk and they can learn. They have fun working hard, they have fun running a lot and, when the moment comes, they have fun scoring goals.
“We have won one time away at Chelsea since I was here, that was four years ago but at home not for a while and it was time to take something.”
Southampton player ratings
Gavin Bazunu – Could do nothing to stop Sterling from opening the scoring, but was on hand to deny Chelsea on a couple of occasions in the first half. 6/10
Kyle Walker-Peters – A decent outlet for Southampton down the right and put in a number of good crosses. 7/10
Armel Bella-Kotchap – Has already impressed this season and continued to prove why Southampton may well have bought a gem from Bochum. Held his own against Sterling and Havertz and was arguably man of the match. 8/10
Mohammed Salisu – A couple of long throws tested Chelsea, while he almost headed in a third for Southampton before Silva cleared it off the line. 6/10
Romain Perraud – Replacing Moussa Djenepo, his efforts to deny Sterling midway through the first half were in vain. Enjoyed his time attacking, however, with Azpilicueta a target to expose. 7/10
James Ward-Prowse – Southampton’s first goal came from his corner, with his delivery typically on point throughout. 7/10
Romeo Lavia – Scored the first goal of his senior career when quickly composing himself on the edge of the area and firing in an effort too strong for Mendy to keep out. Picked up a knock in the second half. 7/10
Adam Armstrong – Got the better of Azpilicueta early on but failed to seize the opportunity. Got the goal he deserved late in the first half when meeting Perraud’s cross. 7/10
Ibrahima Diallo – In for his first start ahead of Joe Aribo, was on hand to thwart Chelsea’s advances on numerous occasions. 6/10
Mohamed Elyounoussi – Early tester for Mendy, and showed great hustle early in the second half to frustrate Kovacic as Southampton sought to preserve their lead. Almost headed in a third. 7/10
Che Adams – Was up for the physical battle against Silva and Koulibaly from the get go, winning Southampton corners and free-kicks and displaying quality hold-up play throughout. 7/10
Subs:
Joe Aribo – On for Lavia just before the hour-mark. 6/10
Moussa Djenepo – On at left-back with 20 minutes remaining. 6/10
Lyanco – Late sub. n/a
Chelsea player ratings
Edouard Mendy – Could only get a weak palm to Lavia’s leveller and had no chance of denying Armstrong. 6/10
Cesar Azpilicueta – With Reece James ill and not in the matchday squad, Chelsea’s club captain started from the off, and it was his half-clearance which Lavia latched onto for the equaliser. Was second-best against Armstrong moments later, and was neither here nor there when Southampton attacked down his side and scored their second. Was targeted again in the second half before being replaced by Chilwell. Did not enjoy the best of nights. 4/10
Thiago Silva – Rarely put a foot wrong despite Chelsea falling 2-1 down in the first half, and made a vital goal-line clearance to flick away Salisu’s header. 6/10
Kalidou Koulibaly – A busy evening for Chelsea’s centre-backs, and Koulibaly amended his own error after a sloppy pass in the second half, although no real standout moment. 6/10
Marc Cucurella – Showed plenty of drive down the left, and somehow blocked Elyounoussi’s header with the score at 2-1. A nuisance, and he clearly enjoys it, but not his team’s night. 6/10
Ruben Loftus-Cheek – Did little in the first half and jogged around without a purpose when Southampton took a 2-1 lead. Came off at half-time, and footage showed him with an ice pack on his right knee on the bench in the second half. 5/10
Jorginho – Too easily passed for Southampton’s second goal, struggled in the DM role and missed his regular midfield team-mates N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic. At least Kovacic was on the bench, which Jorginho eventually made his way to when replaced in the second half. 5/10
Mason Mount – Was central to Chelsea’s bright start early on, but ran out of steam as the visitors toiled. 6/10
Raheem Sterling – After his double on the weekend, his first attempt against Southampton was too timid despite doing well to work the space. Was caught between shooting and playing it over to Havertz moments later, but was eventually tackled by Bella-Kotchap, although it was not long before Sterling tapped in for the lead. 7/10
Kai Havertz – Squandered a half-chance when Chelsea led 1-0, and headed well over when getting ahead of Walker-Peters. Chelsea need a No 9 to covert those chances, and it proved to be his last touch of the night. 5/10
Hakim Ziyech – Starting amid reports of a loan move back to Ajax before the transfer window closes, and did little to suggest Tuchel will continue to play him – or keep him. 5/10
Subs:
Mateo Kovacic – Was given plenty of half-time instructions, including from Tuchel, after Chelsea’s poor end to the first half. Busy on the ball but nothing really came from it. Nevertheless, a welcome 45 minutes for Chelsea. 6/10
Christian Pulisic – Came on in the second half. 6/10
Ben Chilwell – Part of the triple sub. 6/10
Armando Broja – A warm welcome in the second half for the player who spent last season on loan at Southampton. 6/10
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If you were otherwise engaged on Bank Holiday Sunday, here’s a brief synopsis of events: Richarlison came off the bench and provided a sumptuous outside-of-the-boot cross for Harry Kane to settle the contest; moments later he received a square pass from Ryan Sessegnon and flicked the ball up with the same part of his right foot before completing three kick-ups; he was then clattered by Brennan Johnson with Neco Williams landing on top of him as the ball broke free; Spurs earned a free-kick and Johnson was booked.
“That’s what you get for showboating at this level,” Martin Tyler said. “But it does wind people up,” interjected Jamie Carragher. “You can’t just go and boot people, you can’t do that but what’s he doing? He’s made a real impact since he came on and taken the game away from Nottingham Forest. The game’s won. He just winds people up that lad. He winds me up!”
Carragher has previous with the Brazilian after imploring him to “get up!” during a Merseyside derby towards the end of last season, but shared a joke and a little cuddle with him after the game on Sunday. Others, though, were seemingly less willing to forgive and forget.
“I wouldn’t want my players to do that, what Richarlison did,” said a miffed Steve Cooper. “If that is accepted at Spurs that is nothing to do with me, but it wouldn’t be accepted here.”
After a round in which 30 Premier League goals were scored, Erling Haaland claimed his first match ball in England and Liverpool joined the exclusive 9-0 club, Richarlison’s “antics” seemed to be the joint-most important issue of the weekend alongside Arsenal’s exuberant celebrations after beating Fulham. At least according to Talksport.
Gabby Agbonlahor called the Spurs forward “disrespectful”, Jermaine Pennant described his keepy-uppy act as “cheap, ugly and horrible” and Darren Bent warned him to “expect the consequences” of his actions.
Over on Twitter, Dietmar Hamman was another dissenting voice. “Nothing to do with showboating. Should have been booked for unsportsmanlike conduct and restarted with free kick to Forest,” he opined. “Cry more,” came the ever-so-slightly immature, albeit amusing, response from Richarlison.
While some defended Richarlison, including Ally McCoist and perhaps surprisingly Graeme Souness on the same radio station, the sweeping reaction was one of negativity.
By insisting that he had “no problem” with Johnson and Williams “going for” Richarlison for his act of treachery, Bent was feeding into an unhelpful – and dated – narrative that surrounds the English game; that clattering an opponent for daring to keep the ball in the air for a couple of seconds is somehow more moral than the act itself.
Imagine if Johnson’s lunge had resulted in Richarlison sustaining a serious injury. Tottenham would have lost an important player for a period of time, as would Forest with Johnson being penalised for endangering an opponent. And all for the sake of a few kick-ups in a game that was all but over.
Surely at its core football is meant to be about entertainment? Players should be encouraged to express themselves rather than forced to become joyless robots.
But there was also a point to Richarlison’s showmanship. It was done in an attempt to help see his side over the line, by wasting a few more valuable seconds. That he was fouled and earned a free-kick for his team in the process only made his time-wasting ploy more successful.
A hypothesis frequently put forward for England’s failings at international level is that they are less “streetwise” than other nations, lacking the same kind of win-at-all-costs mentality. When England ran down the clock during their Euro 2020 semi-final against Denmark, eking out precious second after second, it was held up as an example of how that mindset is slowly changing.
And yet when a Brazilian delves into his box of tricks, it is seen as a heinous crime against the English game. The hypocrisy is obvious.
“He juggled with the ball, no?” a nonplussed Antonio Conte said. “It’s a game and you are under pressure. I think it’s okay. I don’t think he wanted to show disrespect to Nottingham Forest, a really good team with a great history.”
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A full round of Premier League fixtures will take place this midweek after being squeezed into the calendar due to the upcoming winter World Cup in Qatar.
Managers and players have been critical of the league’s intense schedule from now until November, including Tottenham defender Eric Dier who says the arrangement of games “doesn’t make sense”.
“We knew the last three weeks wouldn’t represent what the season is going to be like but now it really starts,” Dier said. “There’s a lot of games.
“I think it’s strange that we’ve had one game a week for three or four weeks, and then suddenly you’re playing midweek games until November.”
The relentless churn of matches will also keep Fantasy Premier League managers on their toes and with that in mind here is the main team news ahead of Gameweek 5:
Pep Guardiola dropped another hint that Erling Haaland could be rested for Manchester City’s game against Nottingham Forest by stating that his understudy Julian Alvarez is ready to step in.
“When Erling doesn’t play, he’s [Alvarez] going to play,” Guardiola said on Tuesday. “We are all of us really impressed for his pace, for the sense of the goal, for the work ethic, for many things.”
When pressed on whether Haaland would play against Forest, Guardiola replied: “You will see tomorrow.”
Patrick Vieira was non-commital on whether Wilfried Zaha and Tyrick Mitchell would return to Crystal Palace’s starting line-up for the visit of Brentford but did confirm that both players have trained this week after missing Saturday’s defeat to City.
“We have to wait and see tomorrow because they did some training. They did individual and some team training and we have to wait and see how they will recover tomorrow.”
Newcastle could be without Allan Saint-Maximin for their trip to Liverpool after the winger was seen clutching his hamstring shortly after scoring a wonder-goal against Wolves.
The Frenchman appeared to tweak a muscle in injury time after having a shot to win the game parried to safety by Jose Sa.
“We’ve got Maxi (Allan Saint-Maximin), who is a worry for us at the moment,” Eddie Howe admitted. “It was late in the game, off the back of his sprint to try and save the goal.”
Bruno Guimaraes is set to miss the trip to Anfield but Howe sounded pleased about his progress from a knock.
“He’s doing well,” he said. “I don’t know about this game coming up, but hopefully not far after if he doesn’t make this game. He’s very positive, in good spirits and desperate to get back and be involved. He’s a big player for us and we have to get him back as soon as possible.”
Oleksandr Zinchenko and Thomas Partey were both absent for Arsenal’s comeback victory against Fulham on Saturday and Mikel Arteta has confirmed the duo will remain unavailable for Wednesday’s game against Aston Villa.
“I don’t think so,” he replied when asked whether they could return. “We still have to make another scan, especially on Thomas, to see the length but I don’t think they will be available. It is a similar area [to the one that kept Partey out last season], but hopefully not as bad.”
Richarlison has made a big impact as a substitute for Spurs in recent matches and could be pushing Son Heung-min for a starting place given the South Korean’s subdued start to the campaign.
“Now every time he’s playing, for 20-30 mins, playing very well,” Antonio Conte said after the Brazilian provided an assist for Harry Kane against Nottingham Forest. “For sure in the next games you will see him in the starting 11.”
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The Premier League can be an unforgiving, helpless place for a manager. Bournemouth have lost three of their four league matches this season against last year’s top two and the only team in England with a perfect league record; they won the other. Scott Parker has been sacked. It is the earliest sacking of a promoted manager in the history of English top-flight football.
There will be sympathy for Parker – much of it is reasonable. The 9-0 loss to Liverpool on Saturday was wretched and contained no reason for anything other than abject despair. But then every promoted club faces this reality: the holding of breath when you face an elite club and become acutely aware that the opposition could score every time they venture forward. The financial inequality in the Premier League provides a thick natural ceiling and no floor. Anyone can still beat anyone; that’s not the point. This is a game of averages and they are weighted against you.
Parker’s record suggests that he has been badly short-changed. He was appointed as the manager of a club that had finished sixth in the Championship and took them to automatic promotion in his first season. He developed Dominic Solanke into a prolific striker, converted Philip Billing into a creative, goalscoring central midfielder and overcame the loss of Arnaut Danjuma by bringing through academy graduate Jaidon Anthony.
He used a central defensive pairing of Lloyd Kelly and 36-year-old Gary Cahill and made them the meanest defence in the division. He has, to be blunt, paid for promotion and yet he would probably have been sacked if Bournemouth had not gone up anyway. That leaves so little wiggle room that you struggle to take in a breath.
But that is only part of the story here. Parker has not been sacked for Bournemouth’s results during this or last season, nor even the style of play (which was, at times, criticised during his tenures at Bournemouth and Fulham). Bournemouth’s statement on Parker’s departure makes no reference to the team’s performance on the pitch. Instead, Parker is the victim of his own honesty and misguided attempts to engineer transfer activity.
After Saturday’s thrashing at Anfield, Parker was asked for his thoughts. Managers in his situation typically pull for cliches: “It is my job to pick the players off the floor”; “everything that could go wrong, did”; “this league is unforgiving but it demonstrates the standards we need to reach”; “this is the time to stick together, work harder and longer and improve”.
Parker deliberately chose not to do that. Not only did he ignore the easy-to-reach epithets, he chose to use that interview to attack the club’s transfer policy. Parker insisted that the club could not be competitive with the current squad. Rather than express his shock at such a heavy defeat, he did the opposite. Parker used an interview with national media to suggest that these types of results could well be repeated. It was a bold strategy.
We have heard that missive over Bournemouth’s lack of competitiveness before. At the end of July, six days before the new season started, Parker told the local newspaper: “It’s clear that we are lacking in a lot of areas at this present moment in time. That’s just very clear. We need to work out whether we want to give ourselves a chance of being competitive this year. At the moment, that is not the case.”
If you were a player in Parker’s squad, how would that make you feel? Just before the season began, you were being told that your manager thought that you weren’t good enough for what would follow. With five days remaining in the transfer window, and with your confidence broken by the heaviest loss of your careers, the same message was repeated. When you needed protection and guidance, your manager chose deflection and self-preservation.
You can understand Parker’s frustration, of course. Nottingham Forest finished below Bournemouth last season and have spent freely to try and engineer a survival bid. Fulham have spent twice as much as Bournemouth this summer. Parker has been given five new signings, but the squad does look weak. But if those were Parker’s reservations, they should have been saved for private conversations with his seniors. Telling your players that they are unfit for purpose is no sensible man-management methodology.
That interview was the primary cause of Parker’s sacking. The club’s statement refers not to the record defeat but of “showing belief in and respect for one another” and the desire to run the club sustainably. If Parker was limited by Bournemouth’s past transfer mistakes, so too was Jason Tindall before him. Tindall sold players for fees totalling £85m after relegation and did not spend a penny on transfer fees. Promotion for Bournemouth was financial salvation; they have made it clear that they are not prepared to take the same risks again.
And so Parker chose to play a game of brinkmanship to force the issue. He presumably hoped to generate transfer window frustration amongst supporters that generated support for his cause. That interview was not a call-to-arms, as is typical. It was a back-me-or-sack-me message to those who employed him. And they have swiftly taken one of those options.
Is that harsh? Maybe. Do results alone make a sacking reasonable? Absolutely not. Will Bournemouth’s owners pay the price for their relative parsimony with relegation? Quite probably – although the same could well have happened had they spent an extra £50m.
But whether Parker likes it or not, whether the sympathy flows in his direction or otherwise, those are the club’s decisions to make. Managers are not omnipotent. You are the head coach of the team but you are also an employee of a club and its most public face. Tell the club that they don’t know what they’re doing and you better hope that you have enough goodwill in the bank.
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