Chelsea hit back as Alonso sinks Arsenal

Chelsea recovered from the shock of blowing a two-goal lead against Arsenal as Marcos Alonso’s late strike sealed a 3-2 win, while Harry Kane ended his August hoodoo in Tottenham’s 3-1 victory over Fulham yesterday. Maurizio Sarri’s side raced into a 2-0 lead in the London derby before Arsenal drew level in a thrilling first half at Stamford Bridge. Pedro swept home with a cool finish in the ninth minute after woeful Arsenal defending and Alvaro Morata crashed in the second 11 minutes later.
Although Arsenal were rocky at the back, they were dangerous going forward and Henrikh Mkhitaryan got one back with a low strike after 37th minute. Alex Iwobi nabbed Arsenal’s equaliser with a clinical effort in the 44th minute.
But Chelsea bounced back from that blow, dominating the second half before Spanish defender Alonso finished off substitute Eden Hazard’s pass in the 81st minute. Chelsea’s second successive win under new boss Sarri lifted them to the top of the Premier League with a 100% record, while Arsenal remain without a point under their new manager Unai Emery after back-to-back losses.
Hazard later told his boss Maurizio Sarri he is desperate to return to the starting line-up. Hazard has started on the bench for Chelsea’s opening two games of the Premier League season after the Belgium playmaker only returned to training earlier this month following the World Cup. But Hazard is pining for a place in the team from the start and he believes his impact as a substitute against Huddersfield and now Arsenal underlines his case.
“It is better to be on the pitch than watching on the bench, but the boys when they are playing they did well so I am just happy for the win,” Hazard said. Linked with Real Madrid throughout the close-season, Hazard has been told he is not for sale.
Asked about Sarri’s impact in his first weeks at Stamford Bridge, Hazard said he admires the Italian’s commitment an attacking style and hopes to feature even more prominently soon.
“He is the kind of manager who wants the ball, to control the ball. I can’t say a wrong thing about that,” he said. I want to play and have the ball at my feet. We have players who can do something magic. “He is a great manager, like we had before.”
Bournemouth also have maximum points from their opening two games as Eddie Howe’s men came from behind to win 2-1 at West Ham. Everton’s £50-million signing Richarlison continued to quieten queries of his price tag with the winner as Southampton were defeated 2-1 at Goodison Park, while Leicester saw off Wolves 2-0 despite a red card for Jamie Vardy.
After becoming the first Premier League side since the introduction of the summer transfer window to fail to sign a player, Spurs were dealt another blow off the field in midweek with the news their new 62,000-capacity stadium won’t be ready until at least October.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men will therefore host another two home fixtures against Cardiff and Liverpool at Wembley. Lucas Moura curled home his first Premier League goal to give Spurs the lead, but Aleksandar Mitrovic deservedly headed Fulham level early in the second half.
Tottenham may still be suffering a World Cup hangover with the majority of their stars enjoying barely a week of pre-season training after their efforts in Russia. But it was two of England’s World Cup heroes who produced the goods as Kieran Trippier curled home a wonderful free-kick before Kane finally ended his wait to score in the opening month of the season at the 15th attempt in the Premier League. “We dominated the first 30 minutes and created a lot of chances, but in the Premier League if you drop your level it can let in the other team,” Pochettino said.
In contrast to Spurs, West Ham splurged nearly £100mn in the transfer market to back new manager Manuel Pellegrini but still have no points to show for it after a second-half surrender to Bournemouth.
Marko Arnautovic’s penalty gave the hosts a half-time lead. Two goals in six minutes turned the game on its head, though, as Callum Wilson and Steve Cook made it two wins from two for the Cherries. Everton’s revolution under Marco Silva gained more momentum at Goodison with Richarlison scoring his third goal in two games. A well-worked free-kick freed up Theo Walcott to open the scoring before the Brazilian headed home a Walcott cross to double Everton’s advantage.
Wolves shared the points in a four-goal thriller with Everton last weekend, but despite much hype and expectation after a summer of heavy investment, they remain winless after losing 2-0 at 10-man Leicester. A spectacular own goal from Matt Doherty and a deflected James Maddison strike put the Foxes in command. However, victory came at a cost for Leicester as England international Vardy was shown a straight red card 20 minutes from time for a late lunge on Doherty and now faces a three-game ban.
Cardiff and Newcastle both registered their first point of the season in a drab 0-0 draw in the Welsh capital in a missed opportunity for both sides.
English Premier League results
Cardiff 0 Newcastle 0; Chelsea 3 (Pedro 9, Morata 20, Alonso 81) Arsenal 2 (Mkhitaryan 37, Iwobi 41); Everton 2 (Walcott 15, Richarlison 31) Southampton 1 (Ings 54); Leicester 2 (Doherty 29-og, Maddison 45) Wolves 0; Tottenham 3 (Moura 43, Trippier 74, Kane 77) Fulham 1 (Mitrovic 52); West Ham 1 (Arnautovic 33-pen) Bournemouth 2 (Wilson 60, Cook 66)
Today: Brighton v Manchester United (1500 GMT), Burnley v Watford (1230 GMT), Manchester City v Huddersfield (1230 GMT)
Tomorrow: Crystal Palace v Liverpool