Premier League: Sadio Mane’s double helps Liverpool crush Chelsea, Spurs crush Saints

Over $ 250 million (NZ $ 369.5 million) spent trying to catch up with Liverpool, and Chelsea are still far from the level of the Premier League champions.

Two months since Chelsea finished 33 points behind Liverpool, a 2-0 loss on Sunday (Monday NZT) to Jurgen Klopp’s side showed just how far the gap must be bridged.

Despite all the attacking options now available to Frank Lampard, the Chelsea manager was let down by a reckless foul from defender Andreas Christensen and another blunder from goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

What had been a lukewarm game tipped in Liverpool’s favor in first-half injury time when Christensen grabbed Sadio Mane from behind with both hands, dragging the winger and seeing red.

With a man advantage, an assertive Liverpool pressed immediately after the break, taking only five minutes to get in front.

READ MORE:
* Spanish star Thiago Alcantara adds a new dimension to Liverpool’s midfield
* Ten games that tell the story of Chris Wood’s career in the English Premier League so far
* Premier League: Gareth Bale returns to Tottenham to be ‘happy again’

An exchange between Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah ended with Mane heading to the net.

It took four minutes for him to double the lead, helped by Kepa.

The Chelsea goalkeeper stopped Fikayo Tomori’s backward pass before trying to clear Jorginho. He was easily intercepted by Mane, who fit into the net.

With spectators still banned from stadiums to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Chelsea players at least avoided the taunting chants from Liverpool fans.

A thigh problem in Jordan Henderson forced the Liverpool captain to retire at halftime, allowing Thiago Alcantara to enter for his debut.

The Bayern Munich recruit was a perfect fit on the wing, with his 75 more successful passes than any Chelsea player in the entire match, according to Opta.

The only blemish in the Spanish midfielder’s first appearance was knocking down former Leipzig striker Timo Werner, another of those arriving in the off-season of the Premier League from the Bundesliga.

But it was Jorginho who took the penalty, and was stopped by Alisson.

It’s two wins out of two for Liverpool at the start of the title defense. Chelsea are already three points from drift.

They are four stars leads the Spurs win

Son Heung-min was enabled four times by Harry Kane for his highest-scoring match in the Premier League when Tottenham beat Southampton 5-2.

After Kane demonstrated his vision and technique to produce more assists than he did in all of last season, the forward took fifth for Tottenham, who had to come back after Danny Ings’ first game for Southampton.

“We have a good relationship on and off the pitch,” said Son, who had not even scored a hat-trick before in the Premier League.

Opening the league season with a loss to Everton, Tottenham recorded their first win a day after Gareth Bale returned to the London club.

Both Kane and Ings had the first few matches ruled out by the VAR before the excess goals finally began.

Ings grabbed Kyle Walker-Peters’ ball overhead and found the bottom corner of Tottenham’s net in the 32nd minute.

Tottenham tied the stoppage time of the first half when Son finished coldly at the far post after Tanguy Ndombele released Kane.

Son took his second less than two minutes after the break when Kane played it deftly.

Son completed his first Premier League hat-trick in the 64th minute after landing a fly ball from Kane.

Kane became the first player to set up a Premier League teammate for four goals, crossing goalkeeper Alex McCarthy for Son.

Then the England captain put his name on the scoresheet by finding the rebound after Erik Lamela hit the post.

There was still time for a slightly frustrating ending for Tottenham when Matt Doherty was put on trial for driving in the box and Ings scored from the penalty spot in the 90th minute.

Maupay punishes the magpies

Neal Maupay scored two goals in the opening seven minutes as Brighton headed for a 3-0 win at Newcastle.

Aaron Connolly closed out the win with seven minutes to go before Brighton sent off Yves Bissouma for catching Jamal Lewis in the face with his studs in the 89th minute.

Maupay made the most of Allan Saint-Maximin’s reckless challenge to Tariq Lamptey inside the box to shoot the visitors with a penalty in the fourth minute, and the lead was doubled before the Magpies could restart.

Maupay appeared to be offside when the ball was passed to Leandro Trossard on the right, but he timed his run to find the Belgian’s cross and shot home when the flag was raised, only for a VAR review that compounded the misery of Newcastle in the seventh minute. .

Newcastle, who had lost Saint-Maximin through injury 12 minutes before the break, created nothing remarkable as the hosts tried to fight their way back into the game, without a single goal attempt.

Miguel Almiron replaced the ineffective Andy Carroll at halftime as Newcastle manager Steve Bruce sought to change both form and luck, and his team immediately looked more compact.

Jonjo Shelvey and Jamaal Lascelles missed the target with the first few attempts. Although Newcastle goalkeeper Karl Darlow had to save Trossard’s goal in the 57th minute, the Magpies were enjoying their best spell of the game and Brighton coach Graham Potter responded by sending imposing defender Dan Burn for Lamptey.

Brighton was unlucky enough not to extend their lead with 18 minutes to go when Trossard’s drift attempt came off the post, but Connolly secured the win as time ran out with a fine shot.

While Newcastle opened the season with a win last weekend, Brighton lost to Chelsea.

Wood on target in Burnley’s loss

Leicester sent a warning to their Premier League rivals when lightning from midfielder Dennis Praet sealed a 4-2 win over Burnley.

The victory at King Power Stadium left Leicester at the top of the opening table on goal difference.

Harvey Barnes, Erik Pieters’ own goal and James Justin helped show that the hosts overcame their disappointment from last season by missing the Champions League on the final day. Praet attacked the top corner from the edge of the area 11 minutes from time to add a fourth.

All Whites forward Chris Wood’s first goal against Burnley in the 10th minute briefly threatened to derail Brendan Rodgers’ team and, while Jimmy Dunne retired a goal, the Foxes were comfortable winners.

Leicester maintained its 100 percent record after a 3-0 win at West Bromwich Albion last week, the first time it has won the first two league games since 2015, when Leicester won a surprising title.