Graham Potter’s impressive start as Chelsea manager continued as Mason Mount’s double gave his side a 2-0 victory at struggling Aston Villa on Sunday.
Chelsea are unbeaten in six games since Potter replaced Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge and the win at Villa was their fifth in a row in all competitions.
They were given a helping hand by their hosts on Sunday with Mount cashing in on a horribly misguided defensive header by Tyrone Mings in the sixth minute.
Villa responded well and created several good chances before the break but were frustrated by Chelsea’s keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga who made a series of saves including a miraculous one to deny Danny Ings an equaliser.
Any hope of Villa salvaging something from the game disappeared in the 65th minute when Mount’s dipping free kick deceived keeper Emiliano Martinez.
Victory left Chelsea in fourth place with 19 points from nine games, four behind London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Villa are 16th, one point above the relegation zone.
Arsenal hold off hungry Leeds to stay top of Premier League
Arsenal handed Leeds United their first home loss of the season with a frantic 1-0 victory at Elland Road on Sunday to remain top of the standings following their best ever start to a Premier League season.
In a match that was suspended for 38 minutes shortly after kickoff due to a power cut at the stadium, Arsenal were under intense pressure from an energetic Leeds side who pressed hard in a frenetic first half.
Bukayo Saka opened the scoring for Arsenal against the run of play in the 35th minute when he latched on to Martin Odegaard’s through-ball to smash his shot over keeper Illan Meslier’s head from a narrow angle.
Leeds had an opportunity when William Saliba handled the ball in the box, with VAR asking referee Chris Kavanagh to take a second look before a penalty was awarded, but Patrick Bamford’s strike went wide to give Arsenal a huge let-off.
Leeds were awarded another penalty when Kavanagh sent off Gabriel in added time for kicking out at Bamford, but a VAR check revealed the striker had pushed him to the ground first and the referee reversed the decision.
Arsenal failed to produce anything of note in the second half but did enough to stop the waves of Leeds attacks and take all three points. Leeds are 15th in the table.
Newcastle frustrate Man Utd and misfiring Ronaldo
Manchester United and an unusually goal-shy Cristiano Ronaldo were unable to find a way past Newcastle United at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday in a 0-0 draw that kept both teams in the top six.
Showing a passion and solidity sometimes lacking from their hosts, Eddie Howe’s Newcastle had the best chance of the game with an extraordinary double header from Joelinton in the first half that came first off the crossbar then off the post.
Newcastle’s Callum Wilson also had a strong penalty shout denied.
Feted before the game for reaching 700 club goals in his career, Ronaldo twice had the ball in the back of the net. But he was offside for the first, while the second was disallowed when he cheekily nicked the ball off Newcastle to stroke the ball into the net after claiming a free kick had been taken.
Ronaldo has only scored twice this season for Manchester United, with some pundits already declaring the twilight of his brilliant career.
The result left Manchester United fifth on 16 points, with Newcastle sixth on 15 points with one more game played.
Rice strikes to earn West Ham draw at Southampton
Declan Rice drilled home a curling effort from outside the penalty area to secure West Ham United a point in a 1-1 Premier League draw at Southampton on Sunday.
Skipper Rice expertly bent in his 64th-minute effort to give the visitors a deserved share of the spoils after Romain Perraud had put the Saints ahead in the 20th minute.
The draw ended a run of four successive defeats for Southampton but the point and performance did little to ease the pressure on beleaguered manager Ralph Hasenhuttl.
They remained in the bottom three on eight points while West Ham moved up to 11th position with 11 points from their opening 10 games of the season.