Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United enjoyed comfortable wins in the Premier League on Saturday as fans returned to stadiums after an eight-month absence.
Chelsea beat Leeds United 3-1 in front of 2,000 spectators at Stamford Bridge while Manchester United fought back from a goal down to win 3-1 at West Ham United — their fifth straight comeback victory on the road — in front of the same size crowd.
Clubs in less restricted areas of England were allowed to welcome back 2,000 fans but in higher risk places games carried on behind closed doors with Manchester City beating Fulham 2-0 and Everton held to a 1-1 draw at Burnley.
Chelsea moved top of the table as they came from behind to beat Leeds United 3-1 at home, set on their way by a fifth goal in four days from French forward Olivier Giroud.
Giroud, 34, marked his first league start of the season – reward for his four goals in Chelsea’s thrashing of Sevilla in the Champions League – by stretching to turn in a whipped cross by Reece James in the 27th minute.
That cancelled out a fourth-minute opener for Leeds by Patrick Bamford.
Chelsea went ahead in the 61st minute when Kurt Zouma jumped higher than everyone to power a Mason Mount corner into net and Christian Pulisic sealed the win in added time when he turned in a cross by Timo Werner.
The win pushed Chelsea up to top spot with 22 points, leap-frogging Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool who both have 21 and play on Sunday.
Manchester United moved up to fourth after recovering from a poor first-half display at West Ham.
Czech midfielder Tomas Soucek put the hosts ahead in the 38th minute, turning in at the back post after Declan Rice had headed on a corner.
CRUNCH MATCH
United were well below their best, forcing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to bring on Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes from the bench at the break and although the Norwegian had been hoping to rest his key players ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League crunch match in Leipzig, the move paid off.
Portuguese midfielder Fernandes set up Paul Pogba for the equaliser in the 65th minute, the French midfielder scoring with brilliant side-foot curler from outside of the box.
Mason Greenwood put United ahead with a superb short on the turn and Rashford completed the comeback in the 78th minute with a delicate chip.
Manchester City are fifth after first-half goals from Raheem Sterling and Kevin de Bruyne secured a comfortable home win over struggling Fulham.
Only a string of superb saves from Fulham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola denied City a bigger win after Sterling fired the hosts ahead and De Bruyne converted a 26th-minute penalty.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin cancelled out Robbie Brady’s opener as Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton earned a point at Turf Moor.
Burnley grabbed the lead in the third minute when Ashley Westwood fed Brady who drilled the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
Calvert-Lewin brought Everton level on the stroke of halftime, sliding in to meet a low cross by Richarlison for his 11th league goal of the season.
Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha scored twice on his return to the team following illness and Christian Benteke also grabbed a double in the second half as they cruised to a 5-1 win over 10-man West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Sunday.Furlong made amends later in the first half by setting up Conor Gallagher, who rolled in the equaliser for his second goal in as many league games.
But the game changed when promoted West Brom went a man down as Matheus Pereira was dismissed for kicking out at Patrick van Aanholt after a tussle, following the intervention of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
A 90th-minute goal from striker Jamie Vardy gave Leicester City a 2-1 win at Sheffield United in the Premier League on Sunday, lifting the Foxes back into the top four while leaving the Blades rooted to the bottom of the table.
Leicester moved up to third on 21 points from 11 games, while Sheffield United stayed in last place with one point, after stretching their winless league run to 14 games dating back to the end of last season.
Vardy netted a trademark winner as he raced clear through the middle and steered his shot past Sheffield United goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale after Oliver McBurnie had cancelled out an Ayoze Perez opener for the visitors.
Perez gave the Foxes a 24th-minute lead when he powered in a close-range volley but McBurnie equalised three minutes later as he headed home a John Lundstram corner.
The Premier League’s deadliest current double-act struck again as Son Heung-min and Harry Kane were both on target as Tottenham Hotspur beat Arsenal 2-0 to return to the top of the table on Sunday.Victory means Jose Mourinho’s side move two points clear of Chelsea who had claimed top spot on Saturday. They have 24 points from 11 games and are unbeaten in the league since losing on the opening day of the season.
Arsenal were ineffective in attack despite having almost 70% possession, although they did threaten in the second half with Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris making a couple of saves.
But Mikel Arteta’s side remain in 15th place with 13 points after their worst start to a season since 1981.
Mohamed Salah scored one and made another as Liverpool thrashed a hapless Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-0 in front of 2000 fans in the Premier League on Sunday on a night to forget for Wolves captain and former Reds player Conor Coady.The occasion marked a triumphant return to Anfield for Liverpool’s supporters, who had to watch on TV due to the COVID-19 pandemic as their club secured a first league title since 1990.
The win over a lacklustre Wolves lifted Liverpool back up to second in the table on 24 points, behind leaders Tottenham Hotspur, who beat Arsenal 2-0 in the North London derby earlier on Sunday, on goal difference. Wolves are 10th on 17 points.
The Kop roared its approval as the game got underway and the home fans did not have to wait long to cheer a goal following a moment of indecision by Coady.
The centre back, who came through Liverpool’s academy, attempted to chest the ball down in front of his own goal but instead allowed Salah to steal in and score in the 24th minute.
Coady’s evening went from bad to worse just before halftime when a penalty Wolves had been awarded for what looked like a foul on him by Sadio Mane was overturned by referee Craig Pawson following a video review.
That led to whistles and boos for Coady from the vocal fans in attendance, but that was soon forgotten as the Wolves defender failed to get a shot away when in on goal and moments later Georginio Wijnaldum made it 2-0 in the 59th minute.
The Dutch midfielder latched on to a Jordan Henderson long ball and scored with a brilliant curling effort, before Joel Matip headed a third from a pinpoint Salah cross eight minutes later.
A Nelson Semedo own goal rounded off the rout to the vociferous approval of the fans, whose last visit to the stadium was for a Champions League last-16 clash with Atletico Madrid, which they lost.
Southampton came from behind to beat traditional south coast rivals Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 in the Premier League on Monday as Jannik Vestergaard and Danny Ings cancelled out a Pascal Gross opener for the home side.
