Mauricio Pochettino on Sunday urged Chelsea to “believe in the process” after Michail Antonio’s superb strike and Enzo Fernandez’s penalty miss condemned the Blues to a 3-1 loss against West Ham United.
After the previous weekend’s 1-1 draw against Liverpool, Pochettino’s side wasted a lively performance as they paid the price for sloppy defending and wasteful finishing at the London Stadium.
Antonio blasted West Ham’s decisive second goal after halftime and Lucas Paqueta added a late penalty to leave Pochettino still waiting for his first English Premier League win since taking charge in the summer.
Photo: Reuters
Chelsea’s Carney Chukwuemeka had scored an eye-catching first-half equalizer to cancel out Nayef Aguerd’s early opener for West Ham, but the turning point came when Fernandez’s penalty was saved by Alphonse Areola just before halftime.
Antonio netted soon after the interval and Chelsea could not respond, despite Aguerd’s dismissal for a second booking midway through the half.
Paqueta, reportedly the subject of an FA probe into betting breaches, applied the knockout blow in the final seconds.
“Teams like us, we need to get the right balance. I think there were a few actions we didn’t manage well and we conceded,” Pochettino said. “We create many chances and should have won the game with our first half. It was the frustration when we miss the penalty. We were playing well and we didn’t get the reward. Disappointed, but this is only the beginning. We need to believe in the process.”
Earlier on Sunday, Aston Villa won for the first time this season as they routed Everton 4-0 to erase the bitter taste of the previous weekend’s thrashing at Newcastle United.
Tipped to improve on last season’s strong finish, Villa were hammered 5-1 on Tyneside in a shockingly bad start to their campaign, but Unai Emery’s side got back on track in the Villa Park sunshine as goals from John McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Leon Bailey and Jhon Duran brushed aside woeful Everton.
Emery will hope Villa’s biggest victory of his reign kick-starts a season in which they are to compete in Europe for the first time in 13 years after qualifying for the UEFA Europa Conference League.
“Today we were very, very angry to get our performance at home and to forget last week’s match,” Emery said. “We needed to react like we did. We did a lot of things good, but there are some moments we can do better.”
Everton have less lofty ambitions after narrowly avoiding relegation last season and Sean Dyche’s men already look destined for another grim fight for survival.
Beaten 1-0 at home by Fulham the previous weekend, Everton have lost their opening two games in tame fashion.
It is only the third time Everton have been beaten in their first two league matches without scoring a goal and the first since 1955-1956.
As if that was not bad enough, Dyche also had to contend with the sight of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Alex Iwobi both coming off injured.
“I won’t make any excuses. Really soft goals changed the feel of the stadium and the feel of our performance,” Dyche said. “Villa had more edge. They were far better than us. That was not good enough. It was way off where we want to be.”
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday poured in 35 points as the Thunder grabbed a bounce-back 118-108 victory in Portland to push their NBA-best record to 37-8. The Thunder, surprised by the short-handed Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, fended off a late surge from the Trail Blazers to snap their four-game winning streak. Jalen Williams scored 24 points and Isaiah Joe added 16 off the bench. Center Isaiah Hartenstein, back after a five-game absence with a calf injury, added 14 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a big block. The Western Conference leaders were under pressure late as Portland, trailing by 15 heading
The Golden State Warriors on Wednesday withstood Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 52-point outburst to beat the Western Conference leading Thunder 116-109. Andrew Wiggins scored 27 points and Warriors superstar Stephen Curry scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half as Golden State erased a double-digit deficit and pulled away late for the victory. “We just stayed solid,” said Curry, who entered the contest mired in a shooting slump and had just four points on one basket in the first half. “Just all-around effort.” The Thunder, fueled by 31 first-half points from Gilgeous-Alexander, led by as many as 14 in the
Ousmane Dembele on Wednesday scored a hat-trick as Paris Saint-Germain romped to a 4-1 win at VfB Stuttgart and qualified for the UEFA Champions League knockout stages. PSG were at risk of elimination after a disappointing league stage, with three losses and a draw, but were utterly dominant against an outclassed Stuttgart side as they confirmed their place in the playoffs. With six minutes gone, Bradley Barcola headed PSG in front after Desire Doue stood a cross up at the back post following a corner. Stuttgart probed for an equalizer, but PSG hit on the counterattack, Dembele tapping a Barcola pass into an
RSS