In extra time, he finished off his hat-trick to bring his season total to six goals in five games.
On Saturday, Erling Haaland notched a hat-trick as Manchester City thrashed Fulham 5-1 to keep their perfect Premier League record intact. Son Heung-min also scored three goals as Tottenham defeated Burnley 5-2.
But as evidenced by the Blues’ 1-0 home loss to Nottingham Forest, Chelsea’s significant investment in the transfer market has yet to pay off.
Similar to the first several games of the season, City never really got out of second gear and were good enough for the three points.
Pep Guardiola, the manager of the English champions, was absent because he is recuperating in his native Catalonia after having back surgery.
Prior to Julian Alvarez’s goal-line conversion of Haaland’s cross after 31 minutes, the home team had not attempted a shot on goal.
Tim Ream’s goal from a corner gave Fulham instant retaliation as Joao Palhinha was absent due to the failure of his deadline-day transfer to Bayern Munich on Friday.
In contentious circumstances, City required a set-piece of their own to retake the lead.
Manuel Akanji, who was in an offside position, leapt over the ball, but Nathan Ake’s header was upheld.
After the interval, Haaland erupted. With a smooth finish off Phil Foden’s through ball, he became the player to reach 40 Premier League goals the fastest, in just 39 matches.
The Norwegian then put the weekend’s missed penalty at Sheffield United behind him and slid home from the line.
He finished off his hat trick in stoppage time to bring his season total to six goals in five games.
Son excels for Tottenham
Spurs have had an outstanding start under Ange Postecoglou and are only two points behind City.
At Turf Moor, Lyle Foster gave Burnley the lead four minutes into the game.
Richarlison was replaced by Son, who quickly showed that Postecoglou had pulled off another brilliant move by giving Son a more prominent position.
Before Cristian Romero’s thundering strike gave the visitors the lead in first-half injury time, the Tottenham captain’s clever chip had brought the score even.
James Maddison’s looping goal from the edge of the box brought the score to 3-1 before Son seized the spotlight and scored twice in the next three minutes to complete his hat-trick.
Chelsea Still Lacks Tooth Despite Her Billions
Pochettino, Mauricio
In less than a year, Chelsea has spent more than £1 billion ($1.3 billion) on new players thanks to their spending on deadline day. This spending is part of a consortium led by Todd Boehly.
Last month, Moises Caicedo’s transfer from Brighton set the mark for the most money ever paid in a British trade.
But the solitary goal scored at Stamford Bridge, which embarrassed Mauricio Pochettino’s team, was due to the Ecuadorian international.
After Caicedo turned the ball over inside his own half three minutes into the second half, Anthony Elanga buried the ball.
fresh signing Cole Palmer was introduced in an attempt to change the momentum of the match, but Chelsea’s lack of a natural goalscorer—despite their significant investment—was once again made clear.
Chelsea is already eight points behind City thanks to Pochettino’s one victory in his first four games in charge.
As Brentford’s Bryan Mbuemo rescued a 2-2 draw, Bournemouth was denied their first victory under Andoni Iraola.
After a thrilling 2-2 draw in the noontime match between Sheffield United and Everton, both teams earned their first points of the year.
After Abdoulaye Doucoure gave Everton the lead early on, the Blades took the lead thanks to a debut goal from Cameron Archer and an own goal from Jordan Pickford.
Early in the second half, Arnaut Danjuma equalised, but Everton needed a miraculous performance from Pickford in the dying seconds to avoid suffering a fourth straight loss.
AFP
