JEAN-PHILIPPE MATETA a salvaged a late point for Crystal Palace as Chelsea’s winless streak in the Premier League extended to four contests with a 1-1 draw.
Cole Palmer’s 13th goal of the season opened the scoring at Selhurst Park, where the visitors dominated in the first half.
They were unable to find the finishing touch on a number of chances, however, and came to regret it when the Frenchman levelled in the 82nd minute.
Once-relegation-threatened Palace have now picked up 14 points from their last 10 top-flight contests.
Chelsea hit the front on 14 minutes when Chris Richards was outsmarted by Jadon Sancho who drove down the left and cut in, slipping the ball to Palmer, who slotted through the legs of Palace captain Marc Guehi.
The Blues were firmly in the drivers’ seat, Nicolas Jackson missing chances in either half to double their advantage, while Palace’s best chance came from a set piece when Richards’s header forced a good save from Robert Sanchez.
Mateta drew the sides level in the 82nd minute, when Sarr charged up through the centre of the pitch and laid off to Eze.
He in turn squared to Mateta, who comfortably finished from five yards out, the goal standing after a VAR check to rule out a handball in the build-up.
Erling Haaland struck twice as Manchester City secured back-to-back wins for the first time since October with a 4-1 victory over West Ham.
Vladimir Coufal put through his own net and Phil Foden also got on the scoresheet as the champions rediscovered their scoring touch in their first Premier League outing of 2025.
Savinho set up three goals in a fine individual display that will have further lifted spirits at the Etihad Stadium after last week’s triumph at Leicester ended a run of just one win in 13 games.
Pep Guardiola’s side did not have things all their own way, however, with Niclas Fullkrug’s consolation hinting at what might have been for the visitors.
Yet despite some positive Hammers play, coming after last week’s 5-0 hammering by Liverpool, the end result will have done little to ease the pressure on manager Julen Lopetegui.
Aston Villa got their Premier League top-four ambitions back on track with a 2-1 win over Leicester.
Villa’s quest for a second successive year in the Champions League has been hamstrung by inconsistency this season, but they kicked off 2025 with an important three points.
Leon Bailey chose a good time to score his first goal of the season 14 minutes from time after Ross Barkley’s opener had been quickly cancelled out by Stephy Mavididi.
Victory moved Unai Emery’s men to within four points of fourth-placed Chelsea as they now break for FA Cup action.
The table makes much more miserable reading for Leicester, who remain in the bottom three after a fifth successive defeat.
Bryan Mbeumo scored twice as Brentford thumped sorry Southampton 5-0 for their first Premier League away win of the season.
Cameroon forward Mbeumo, linked with a potential January move to Arsenal, piled on the misery for rock-bottom Saints after Kevin Schade had fired the Bees ahead.
Keane Lewis-Potter and Yoane Wissa added insult to injury in stoppage time at the end of another thoroughly miserable afternoon for Southampton.
The new manager bounce they were looking for after replacing Russell Martin with Ivan Juric has turned into more of a new manager thud after a third straight defeat since the Croatian was appointed.
They remain stuck on six points from 20 matches and look not only doomed to relegation, but also in serious of danger of breaking Derby’s unwanted record of collecting only 11 points over an entire Premier League season.
Everton’s goalscoring woes continued in a 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
Sean Dyche’s team look increasingly like being drawn into a relegation fight as they failed to produce a shot on target in 90 minutes, as their poor run extended to one goal scored in their last five Premier League games.
Their inability to trouble their hosts was made to look almost comical by the ease with which Bournemouth cut through them again and again, and another assured display made it five wins in eight for Andoni Iraola’s side.
The winning goal 13 minutes from time encapsulated everything Everton were not. Milos Kerkez sent a finely-calibrated cross into the box where it arrived at the perfect height for David Brooks to skip into the air and, with the kind of confidence that his team’s brilliant season so far imbues, volleyed beyond Jordan Pickford into the far corner.
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Chelsea stutter again in draw at Palace; Man City end long wait for back-to-back wins
Crystal Palace 1-1 Chelsea
JEAN-PHILIPPE MATETA a salvaged a late point for Crystal Palace as Chelsea’s winless streak in the Premier League extended to four contests with a 1-1 draw.
Cole Palmer’s 13th goal of the season opened the scoring at Selhurst Park, where the visitors dominated in the first half.
They were unable to find the finishing touch on a number of chances, however, and came to regret it when the Frenchman levelled in the 82nd minute.
Once-relegation-threatened Palace have now picked up 14 points from their last 10 top-flight contests.
Chelsea hit the front on 14 minutes when Chris Richards was outsmarted by Jadon Sancho who drove down the left and cut in, slipping the ball to Palmer, who slotted through the legs of Palace captain Marc Guehi.
The Blues were firmly in the drivers’ seat, Nicolas Jackson missing chances in either half to double their advantage, while Palace’s best chance came from a set piece when Richards’s header forced a good save from Robert Sanchez.
Mateta drew the sides level in the 82nd minute, when Sarr charged up through the centre of the pitch and laid off to Eze.
He in turn squared to Mateta, who comfortably finished from five yards out, the goal standing after a VAR check to rule out a handball in the build-up.
Manchester City 4-1 West Ham United
Erling Haaland struck twice as Manchester City secured back-to-back wins for the first time since October with a 4-1 victory over West Ham.
Vladimir Coufal put through his own net and Phil Foden also got on the scoresheet as the champions rediscovered their scoring touch in their first Premier League outing of 2025.
Savinho set up three goals in a fine individual display that will have further lifted spirits at the Etihad Stadium after last week’s triumph at Leicester ended a run of just one win in 13 games.
Pep Guardiola’s side did not have things all their own way, however, with Niclas Fullkrug’s consolation hinting at what might have been for the visitors.
Yet despite some positive Hammers play, coming after last week’s 5-0 hammering by Liverpool, the end result will have done little to ease the pressure on manager Julen Lopetegui.
Aston Villa 2-1 Leicester City
Aston Villa got their Premier League top-four ambitions back on track with a 2-1 win over Leicester.
Villa’s quest for a second successive year in the Champions League has been hamstrung by inconsistency this season, but they kicked off 2025 with an important three points.
Leon Bailey chose a good time to score his first goal of the season 14 minutes from time after Ross Barkley’s opener had been quickly cancelled out by Stephy Mavididi.
Victory moved Unai Emery’s men to within four points of fourth-placed Chelsea as they now break for FA Cup action.
The table makes much more miserable reading for Leicester, who remain in the bottom three after a fifth successive defeat.
Southampton 0-5 Brentford
Bryan Mbeumo scored twice as Brentford thumped sorry Southampton 5-0 for their first Premier League away win of the season.
Cameroon forward Mbeumo, linked with a potential January move to Arsenal, piled on the misery for rock-bottom Saints after Kevin Schade had fired the Bees ahead.
Keane Lewis-Potter and Yoane Wissa added insult to injury in stoppage time at the end of another thoroughly miserable afternoon for Southampton.
The new manager bounce they were looking for after replacing Russell Martin with Ivan Juric has turned into more of a new manager thud after a third straight defeat since the Croatian was appointed.
They remain stuck on six points from 20 matches and look not only doomed to relegation, but also in serious of danger of breaking Derby’s unwanted record of collecting only 11 points over an entire Premier League season.
Bournemouth 1-0 Everton
Everton’s goalscoring woes continued in a 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
Sean Dyche’s team look increasingly like being drawn into a relegation fight as they failed to produce a shot on target in 90 minutes, as their poor run extended to one goal scored in their last five Premier League games.
Their inability to trouble their hosts was made to look almost comical by the ease with which Bournemouth cut through them again and again, and another assured display made it five wins in eight for Andoni Iraola’s side.
The winning goal 13 minutes from time encapsulated everything Everton were not. Milos Kerkez sent a finely-calibrated cross into the box where it arrived at the perfect height for David Brooks to skip into the air and, with the kind of confidence that his team’s brilliant season so far imbues, volleyed beyond Jordan Pickford into the far corner.
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