Chelsea were held to yet another 0-0 draw by Liverpool on Tuesday in their first match since sacking coach Graham Potter with the Blues showing the same inability to turn chances into goals that led to the manager’s downfall.
The fourth goalless stalemate in a row between the two teams – including last season’s FA and League Cup finals which Liverpool won on penalties – summed up the problems that have hamstrung the two English heavyweights this season.
Chelsea dominated much of the Premier League encounter but spurned one opportunity after another. Joao Felix and Mateo Kovacic went close in the opening minutes followed by chances that went untaken by Kai Havertz in another toothless display for the Blues who have scored only 29 times in 29 league games.
Reece James, restored to his more dangerous role as a marauding right wing-back by Chelsea’s interim head coach Bruno Saltor, and Havertz had the ball in the net either side of halftime, but both efforts were ruled out.
Liverpool sought to make Chelsea pay for their profligacy at the end of the first half with their first moments of danger, including a rasping shot by Fabinho that Blues defender Wesley Fofana deflected wide with a glanced header. Felix and Kovacic wasted further chances for Chelsea in the second half.
The draw left Liverpool in eighth place in the league table, seven points behind Tottenham Hotspur in the fourth Champions League qualifying spot having played a game less than Spurs. Chelsea stayed stuck in 11th place.
Leeds out of bottom three after comeback win over Forest
Leeds United came from a goal down to beat fellow Premier League strugglers Nottingham Forest 2-1 at a raucous Elland Road and move out of the relegation zone on Tuesday.
Forest, who began the game in 16th place, started in confident fashion and Orel Mangala gave them the lead in the 12th minute with a well-worked goal.
But Leeds responded in superb fashion and were ahead before the end of a rip-roaring opening half.
Jack Harrison smashed in a rebound to bring the hosts level in the 20th minute and in first-half stoppage time Luis Sinisterra beat Forest keeper Keylor Navas with a clinical low shot after cutting in from the left.
Leeds continued to play on the front foot in the second half and deservedly took a crucial victory that fired them up five places in the congested lower reaches of the table.
They are in 13th place with 29 points from 29 games played, two points clear of the relegation zone, while Forest’s worrying slide continues.
Steve Cooper’s side are now winless in eight league games and sit in 17th position with 27 points, the same as three other clubs, and only out of the bottom three by virtue of a better goal difference than Bournemouth.
Teenage scorers give Brighton precious 2-0 win at Bournemouth
Teenage striker Evan Ferguson scored with a clever back-heel as Brighton & Hove Albion kept their Champions League qualification hopes alive with a 2-0 Premier League victory over struggling Bournemouth on Tuesday.
Ferguson, 18, produced an audacious shot on 28 minutes as he flicked Kaoru Mitoma’s low cross into the net to score his fourth goal of the season.
The visitors added a second in injury-time at the end of the game when Pascal Gross fed another teenager, 19-year-old Julio Enciso, who easily beat Neto in the home goal for his first strike for the club.
Brighton are in sixth place in the table with 46 points from 27 games, four points behind Newcastle United in third, while Bournemouth remain in the bottom three with 27 points from 29 matches.
Bournemouth’s best chance of the game fell to Hamed Traore, who found himself one-on-one with Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele in the first half but put his shot wide.
Brighton midfielder Gross saw his shot superbly saved by Neto, but the visitors were left counting the cost of the three points after injuries to key midfielders Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo forced them from the pitch.
Bournemouth are away at fellow strugglers Leicester City on Saturday, while Brighton travel to fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur in what could turn out to be a key battle for the Champions League places.
Aston Villa add to Leicester’s woes with 2-1 win
Aston Villa plunged Leicester City deeper into relegation danger on Tuesday with a 2-1 away win in the Premier League after the home side played the last 20 minutes with 10 men and had a late penalty hope ruled out by VAR.
Bertrand Traore scored the 87th-minute winner for the visitors with a curled shot into the top corner moments after he came on against their 19th-placed opponents who sacked manager Brendan Rodgers at the weekend.
Midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was sent off in the 70th minute after collecting a second yellow card of the evening for a foul on Ashley Young.
Ollie Watkins had put Unai Emery’s Villa ahead in the 24th minute, the on-form forward sidefooting into the bottom left corner after being fed through by Emiliano Buendia.
A quick VAR check confirmed that the goal, Watkins’s 11th in the league this season and in his 100th Premier League appearance, was good.
Harvey Barnes equalised 11 minutes later, a right-footed shot off the inside of the post, to lift the restless crowd in the King Power stadium.
Leicester, surprise champions in 2015-16, have not won a game in all competitions since Feb. 11 and have lost seven of their last eight.
Rodgers departed on Sunday, a day after a 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace, with Adam Sadler and Mike Stowell taking over as caretaker managers.
Aston Villa, who moved up to seventh place, have now won 10 of their 16 games since Spaniard Emery took over from the sacked Steven Gerrard in October.
