 |
| Romain Perraud of Southampton closes down Raheem Sterling of Chelsea during the Premier League match between Southampton FC and Chelsea FC at Friends Provident St. Mary’s Stadium on August 30, 2022 in Southampton, England. |
Thomas Tuchel urged
“soft” Chelsea to toughen up after a shock 2-1 defeat against
Southampton plunged his spluttering team into Premier League turmoil on
Tuesday.
Tuchel’s side blew the lead at St Mary’s after Raheem Sterling put them ahead midway
through the first half. England forward Sterling bagged his third goal in two
games with a close-range strike in the 23rd minute. But Chelsea had squandered
a host of chances before Sterling’s opener and, not for the first time in
Tuchel’s reign, their profligate finishing came back to haunt them.
Romeo Lavia equalised in the 28th
minute with his first goal for Southampton, curling home from the edge of the
area after Chelsea failed to clear a corner.
Adam Armstrong put Southampton ahead on
the stroke of half-time as he took Romain Perraud’s pass and drilled a
deflected shot past Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy.
Chelsea, beaten 3-0 at Leeds in
their previous away fixture, were unable to muster a response as they slipped to
a second defeat from their last three games.
“Soft, soft, soft defending.
There is no need to give shots away. Just toughen up as a team and show a
different mentality,” Tuchel said.
With just two wins from their
first five matches, the Blues are already five points behind leaders Arsenal,
who play their game in hand against Aston Villa on Wednesday.
Despite a significant
close-season spending spree, which is set to continue with several more
signings mooted before Thursday’s transfer deadline, Chelsea are struggling to
find any sustained momentum at present.
While it is too early to write
them out of the title race, Tuchel will be concerned by his team’s latest
sloppy display — with key mistakes at both ends of the pitch — having already
criticised them publicly after the Leeds loss.
“It is too easy to put us
off balance, to beat us, to confuse us. It is too easy. It happened against
Leeds. We need to understand why and find solutions,” Tuchel said.“We lose concentration, we
lose our plan and lose consistency. I don’t understand why we have so many
injuries.“In a match where you are in
the lead there is no need to give away half-chances. To have no answers in the
second half was disappointing.”
Everton frustrated
Everton’s wait for a first win
this season goes on after Luis Sinisterra’s first league goal for Leeds earned
a 1-1 draw at Elland Road.
Frank Lampard‘s team went ahead when Alex Iwobi’s incisive pass was flicked through the legs
of Diego Llorente by Anthony Gordon, whose clinical finish
capped a superb move in the 17th minute.
But Colombia winger Sinisterra
marked his first start for Jesse Marsch’s men in memorable fashion with a
composed finish from Brenden Aaronson’s pass in the 55th minute.
Fulham ended Brighton’s unbeaten
start to the season with a 2-1 win at Craven Cottage that lifted them to sixth
place.
Fourth-placed Brighton had won
three of their first four games, but Marco Silva’s promoted side broke the
deadlock in the 48th minute through Aleksandar Mitrovic‘s fifth goal this season.
Neeskens Kebano provided the pass
and Serbia striker Mitrovic tapped in at the far post for his 100th league goal
for the Cottagers.
Fulham doubled their lead seven
minutes later as Brighton defender Lewis Dunk diverted Andreas Pereira’s
cross into his own net.
Alexis Mac Allister converted a 60th minute penalty for
Brighton after Pervis Estupinan fouled Bobby De Cordova-Reid.
Yoane Wissa’s late leveller
rescued Brentford in their 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace.
Wilfried Zaha showed why Arsenal and
Chelsea have been linked with him as the Ivory Coast forward gave Palace the
lead with a brilliant strike from the edge of the area after 59 minutes.
But Wissa was left unmarked to
equalise with a close-range header in the 88th minute.
Share this content:
