Chelsea suffered fresh frustration after blowing the lead in a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace, while Newcastle beat Tottenham 2-1 as Manchester United and Liverpool prepared for their Premier League showdown on Sunday.
Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea have won only once in the first three league games of the Italian’s reign after a chaotic close-season.
Beaten by Manchester City on the opening weekend, Chelsea powered to a 6-2 win at Wolves last weekend before scraping into the UEFA Conference League group stage after a 2-1 loss at Servette on Thursday.
Former Leicester boss Maresca insists his expensive Chelsea rebuild, featuring a host of new signings, is ahead of schedule despite their inconsistent start.
Jadon Sancho’s loan move from Manchester United was the final piece in Chelsea’s overhaul since last term and the winger was introduced to the crowd before taking his seat in the director’s box next to Blues co-owner Behdad Eghbali.
But Sancho can’t have been impressed by his new team as they failed to kill off Palace after Noni Madueke picked out Cole Palmer and his pass was slotted home by Nicolas Jackson in the 25th minute.
– Isak fires Newcastle –
Maresca was furious after Palace midfielder Will Hughes avoided a second yellow card for a foul on Palmer.
Looking for their first point this season after defeats against Brentford and West Ham, Palace made the most of that escape to drew level in the 53rd minute.
England midfielder Eberechi Eze unfurled a superb curling finish that flashed past Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez from 20 yards.
Eze’s eye-catching goal and a late close-range miss by Jackson ended Chelsea’s run of 14 successive wins against Palace in all competitions.
At St James’ Park, Wilson Odobert, Pape Sarr and Pedro Porro all wasted good chances for Tottenham in the early stages.
Newcastle took the lead in spectacular fashion in the 37th minute when Lloyd Kelly pulled the ball back to Harvey Barnes, who unleashed a sublime volley into the far corner from 10 yards.
Tottenham equalised in the 56th minute as Newcastle defender Dan Burn accidently diverted the ball into his own net while trying to clear after Brennan Johnson’s cross eluded Nick Pope, who had weakly parried James Maddison’s shot in the build-up to the goal.
Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali came on for his first Premier League appearance in over 10 months after his ban for breaching betting rules.
The Magpies went back in front in the 78th minute when Jacob Murphy ran onto Joelinton’s defence-splitting pass and laid on a tap-in for Alexander Isak.
Unbeaten Newcastle’s second win in three league games condemned Tottenham to a first defeat this term, with the north London derby against Arsenal next up after the international break.
Liverpool travel to Old Trafford in Sunday’s late game as Reds boss Arne Slot gets his first taste of the bitter rivalry with United.
Hired from Feyenoord to succeed Jurgen Klopp in the close-season, Slot has overseen 2-0 wins against Ipswich and Brentford in his first two games.
Slot’s fellow Dutchman Erik ten Hag is already under pressure at United after their 2-1 defeat at Brighton last weekend.
AFP
