Premier League: Chelsea rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat Tottenham 4-3 on Sunday, moving to within four points of league leaders Liverpool after Arsenal drew with Fulham.
Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez celebrates with teammates after scoring the team’s third goal. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)(AP) Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez celebrates with teammates after scoring the team’s third goal. (AP Photo/Ian Walton)(AP)
Both Arsenal and Chelsea began the day seven points behind Arne Slot’s side, whose match this weekend was postponed due to stormy weather.
Arsenal had to settle for a 1-1 draw, but Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea, who played later on Sunday, staged a remarkable comeback at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski gave Spurs a two-goal lead within the first 11 minutes, but Jadon Sancho quickly pulled one back with a fine strike. The second half was dominated by the visitors.
Cole Palmer equalized with a penalty in the 61st minute, and Enzo Fernandez put Chelsea ahead 12 minutes later.
Palmer’s composed “Panenka” penalty provided the visitors with a two-goal cushion before Son Heung-min scored a late third for Spurs.
Chelsea, now in second place, have 31 points from 15 games, two points ahead of London rivals Arsenal. Liverpool, with a game in hand, lead with 35 points.
“The plan or the idea is to not let the players slow down,” Maresca told Sky Sports. “They cannot drop because they know another player is waiting to come in.”
Despite the impressive victory, Maresca, in his first season at Stamford Bridge, downplayed his team’s title prospects.
“Arsenal, (Manchester) City and Liverpool probably don’t slide like (Chelsea defender Marc) Cucurella did. To be serious, we are not ready, we are far from these teams but we focus on day-by-day and trying to improve the team.”
The defeat is a major setback for Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou, whose team recently thrashed champions Manchester City 4-0.
“It is a sore one, a painful one,” said the Australian, whose side now sits 11th in the Premier League table after their seventh defeat.
Earlier, Arsenal had a late winner disallowed for offside by a VAR review, ending their four-match winning streak in west London.
Raul Jimenez gave Fulham an early lead before William Saliba equalized with yet another Arsenal goal from a corner.
“We are very disappointed not to win the game — overall we absolutely dominated the game from start to end,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told the BBC.
“We did all the things that we wanted to do during the game and unfortunately we concede one goal in one shot. The way the team played, the way the team wanted to win, it was unbelievable.”
Arsenal were missing key defensive players Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori due to injury, and Fulham exploited a makeshift left side of Arsenal’s defense to take the lead.
Kenny Tete’s pass found Jimenez, who surged forward and scored brilliantly across David Raya into the far corner on 11 minutes.
Arsenal showcased their set-piece prowess by scoring twice from corners to beat Manchester United 2-0 in midweek.
Despite their preparations, Fulham couldn’t prevent Arsenal from scoring from a corner again.
Saliba poked home Kai Havertz’s header from close range for Arsenal’s 23rd goal from corners since the start of last season.
Another corner nearly led to a winner, but Thomas Partey missed when unmarked from another precise Declan Rice delivery.
Saka appeared to score a late winner, but Gabriel Martinelli had strayed offside before providing the cross.
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Leicester scored twice late to draw 2-2 with Brighton at the King Power Stadium.
Tariq Lamptey scored spectacularly with a long-range effort, and Yankuba Minteh seemed to secure three points for Brighton.
However, Jamie Vardy sparked the comeback in the 86th minute, setting up Bobby De Cordova-Reid to equalize in stoppage time.
Bournemouth also scored twice late to deny struggling Ipswich a first home win in the top flight for 22 years, securing a 2-1 victory at Portman Road.
