Chelsea end City unbeaten run

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Salah hat trick sends Liverpool top of Premier League

LONDON, Dec 8, (Agencies): Chelsea inflicted the first Premier League defeat of the season on champions Manchester City as goals from N’Golo Kante and David Luiz earned the home side an unlikely 2-0 victory on Saturday.
Chelsea had been run ragged by a clearly superior City side until Luiz produced a pinpoint 50-metre pass to Pedro in the 44th minute. Pedro found Willian and the ball fell to Eden Hazard who sent it across goal where Kante thumped it into the back of the net.
It was the Frenchman’s first goal since the first game of the season and Chelsea’s first shot on target.
Luiz headed home Chelsea’s second in the 78th minute from a corner by Hazard, the ball looping into the net past the stranded Ederson to confirm City’s first league defeat since April.
City arrived at Stamford Bridge after seeing their closest title rivals Liverpool leapfrog them with a thumping 4-0 win at Bournemouth. Chelsea climbed to third on goal difference with Tottenham Hotspur set to play Leicester City later on Saturday.
Bournemouth 0, Liverpool 4
Liverpool delivered a clear sign they intend to push Manchester City all the way in the Premier League with an emphatic 4-0 victory at Bournemouth that was capped by a hat trick from Mohamed Salah.
This victory, the Reds’ fifth consecutive league win, secured with the additional help of a Steve Cook own-goal, extended Jurgen Klopp’s side’s unbeaten start to the league season.
It also moved them one point ahead of City at the top of the table, hours before Pep Guardiola’s side take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Salah’s contribution was central to Liverpool’s success – the Egyptian has struggled to match his outstanding levels of last season but with 10 league goals to his name, he is now hitting his stride.
He may have benefited from a close offside decision for the 25th-minute opener that gave Liverpool a half-time lead, but the finishes for his two second-half goals were outstanding.
Overall, Liverpool manager Klopp could be satisfied with the manner in which his side eased their way to victory ahead of the midweek Champions League meeting with Napoli.
Liverpool had demonstrated resilience to win on Wednesday against a physical Burnley side whose approach drew an angry reaction from Klopp.
Joe Gomez was a casualty of the trip to Turf Moor, suffering a broken leg in a challenge with Clarets defender Ben Mee, and with a testing week ahead Klopp named Trent Alexander-Arnold among the substitutes and named James Milner at right-back.
Bournemouth’s hopes of halting Liverpool’s progress suffered a blow when Callum Wilson, the England international who has scored eight league goals this season, was ruled out with a hamstring injury.
The home side certainly felt Wilson’s absence during the periods of the game when they pushed Liverpool onto the back foot.
But defensive errors, combined with a dubious offside decision for the opening goal, meant they had little chance to impose themselves on a Liverpool side that never had to find top gear to secure three points.
The opening period suggested Klopp’s side would again have to work hard for victory. Salah and Roberto Firmino took time to make an impact, with the Egyptian spurning the first real chance of the game when he sliced wide from close range.
And had David Brooks shown more composure when he was sent clear on Liverpool’s goal in the 24th minute, the early momentum would have been in favour of the home side.
As it was, Liverpool responded immediately, taking control with some help from the assistant referee.
Salah and Firmino combined well 25 metres out, before the Brazilian fired in a shot at keeper Asmir Begovic. The Bosnia international should have done better than parry the ball into the middle of the penalty area, allowing Salah to react first and fire high into the net from close range.
Eddie Howe’s players pointed out that Salah had been in an offside position but their complaints were dismissed, although TV replays suggested they had a case.
From that point in the game, Liverpool tightened their grip, particularly after the restart.
It helped the Reds’ cause that Salah was gifted the chance to add a second three minutes after the restart when Steve Cook lost the ball near the halfway line. Firmino released the Egyptian, who ran 40 metres before placing the ball beyond Begovic.
A bad afternoon for Cook got worse when he diverted the ball past Begovic and into his own goal as he attempted to cut out a left-wing cross from Andy Robertson.
And Salah produced the best goal of the game to wrap up the victory in the 77th minute after collecting Adam Lallana’s through ball. The forward outpaced Cook and rounded Begovic twice to complete his treble.
Man Utd 4, Fulham 0
Jose Mourinho answered his critics – for the time being at least – as his Manchester United side recorded their biggest league victory in 13 months with a 4-1 win over Fulham.
Ashley Young, with his first goal in over 12 months, Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku shot United into a commanding first-half lead.
But they struggled to add to that advantage after the break, even after Fulham were reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, moments after Aboubakar Kamara had pulled a goal back from the penalty spot.
Eventually, United were able to do so, completing the rout in the 82nd minute when Marcus Rashford beat Fulham keeper Sergio Rico at his near post with a curling shot from the edge of the area.
Young struck early, receiving a short pass from Rashford and beating Denis Odoi far too easily as he cut into the Fulham area.

There was still much for Young to do to beat Rico but the former England international lofted a superbly weighted finish into the top corner to give the visiting keeper no chance.
The second goal, just before the half-hour, was far more routine although no less impressive given the speed with which United launched a devastating counter-attack.
Lukaku slipped the ball down the left wing for Rashford and the England forward picked out Mata, arriving speedily into the Fulham area, with a perfect pass which his Spanish teammate steered left-footed into the corner.
There was time for United to add a third in the 42nd minute, from a clever corner routine that saw Mata and Jesse Lingard exchange passes before the former crossed into an empty six-yard area where Lukaku gratefully converted the easiest of chances.
Mourinho made four changes to the side that drew with Arsenal in midweek, meaning he has made a league-high 50 changes over the course of the 16-game season.
But there was still no starting place for Paul Pogba, widely criticized for his performance in last weekend’s draw at Southampton and benched for the much-improved midweek display against the Gunners.
Yet there was little wrong with the way in which United, so often accused of starting games slowly, set about handling Fulham.
Even before Young’s opening goal, teenage full-back Diogo Dalot sent over a couple of dangerous right-wing crosses that Fulham were forced to defend.
A first-time volley from Young also threatened, while Rico made a magnificent diving stop to keep out a sensational long-range shot from a Rashford free-kick while David De Gea’s only first-half action was a routine stop from a hopeful Aleksandar Mitrovic attempt.
A three-goal lead for United was fully merited on balance and forced Fulham manager Claudio Ranieri into a double half-time substitution with Luciano Vietto and Kamara thrown on.
Not that matters improved for the Premier League’s bottom club. Within minutes of the restart, Rico parried a powerful Rashford shot and Lukaku planted the rebound wide and, moments later, the keeper showed quick reflexes to beat Lukaku to a Dalot cross with his goal again at the striker’s mercy.
Ander Herrera also missed a glorious chance, shooting wide from Mata’s pass, before Fulham pulled a goal back in the 67th minute.
United claimed Kamara had fouled Phil Jones as he collected a pass but referee Lee Probert judged Herrera had tripped the Fulham substitute, who took and scored the resulting penalty himself.
Hopes of a Fulham fightback were short-lived, however, with Zambo Anguissa collecting a second yellow card, for fouling Rashford, within a minute and reducing his team to 10 men.
With that extra-man advantage, Lukaku, Rashford and Scott McTominay all wasted glorious chances for more goals.

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