Premier League

CHELSEA’S awful run of form continued as the Blues lost to bottom of the Premier League Southampton at Stamford Bridge.James Ward-Prowse scored the only goal of the game just before half-time, curling in an absolute trademark peach of a free-kick past the outstretched hand of Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Chelsea boss Graham Potter with his head in his hands after watching Chelsea lose 1-0 at home to SouthamptonCredit: Reuters
The Saints had the better chances in the first-half and deserved to hold on for all three points in a spirited performance that will be a huge bonus in their fight for survival.
Chelsea started like a rabbit caught in the headlights – almost conceding from a Benoit Badiashile mistake in the first minute – and didn’t improve much from there.
Under-pressure Graham Potter had made six changes before the game as he sought to end the Blues’ dreadful spell, but it did no use as Southampton dominated the opening half.
Potter then mixed it up at half-time, bringing on Raheem Sterling and Wesley Fofana – and later Mykhailo Mudryk, Kai Havertz and Conor Gallagher – but while the Blues huffed and puffed, they never came close to blowing the Southampton door down.

James Ward-Prowse scored the only goal of the game with a brilliant trademark free-kickCredit: Getty
There was almost comically poor finishing from Chelsea, with Mason Mount’s missed header and Raheem Sterling twice looking like it was easier to score.
There was also an extremely worrying stoppage when Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta took a boot square in the face from Sekou Mara’s attempted overhead kick.
The Spaniard was down for almost 10 minutes and received oxygen before leaving the Stamford Bridge pitch on a stretcher and with his neck in a brace.
Chelsea have now won just two of their last 11 in the Premier League and Blues fans certainly let their team know how unhappy they are, with full-time boos the loudest noise on a poor day at Stamford Bridge.
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Here, Tom Sheen gives his view on the men in Blue after their 1-0 defeat to Southampton.
Kepa Arrizabalaga – 6/10
Made himself big to save Badiashile’s skin in the first minute and stop a brilliant chance for Kamaldeen Sulemana.
Could do nothing about another perfectly placed James Ward-Prowse free-kick and then made himself big as Walcott fired a cross in.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 6
Had a decent game overall but made a crucial error, giving away the foul on the edge of the box from which Ward-Prowse scored – the Chelsea captain knew his mistake immediately, as he slammed his head on his hands as soon as giving the foul away.
Worryingly, was down for several minutes and carried off on a stretcher in a neck brace and oxygen mask after taking a boot to the face from Sekou Mara.
Kalidou Koulibaly – 3
Dragged off at half-time after a woeful performance in which he was bullied by Paul Onuachu, losing both the physical and technical battle.
Blocked a shot off the line within two minutes but it was all downhill from there.
Kalidou Koulibaly had an awful afternoon and was hooked off for Wesley Fofana at half-timeCredit: Reuters
Benoit Badiashile – 5
Almost gifted Southampton a goal in the opening minute as he was lazily caught by Sulemana trying to overplay at the back.
Certainly performed better than his centre-back partner, but this was probably Badiashile’s worst peformance in Blue.
Ben Chilwell – 5
Always a willing runner and an outlet but the quality of his delivery was seriously lacking today.
He had half a dozen chances to cross, from open play and from dead-balls, and not one really found their mark.
Enzo Fernandez – 4
After a bright start to his Chelsea career, it came crashing back to Earth a bit today.
Southampton’s midfielders swarmed him every time he touched the ball and he looked overwhelmed, failing o pick out even one of his trademark passes. Very disappointing.
Mateo Kovacic – 6
Out-performed his midfield partner both in his defensive and offensive work, with a couple of nice early passes and important defensive actions.
However, like Enzo, Kovacic was out-battled and out-played by the Southampton midfield, who overrun Chelsea.
Noni Madueke – 5
Had a couple of extremely bright moments, with his electric run in the opening stages bringing about a shot on target and corner, as well as a neat pass round the corner for an Azpilicueta shot.
The raw, random nature of his game often seems to confuse his team-mates.
Joao Felix – 3
Wow, this was a horror afternoon for the highly-touted Portuguese, who had made such a promising start to life in Blue.
Nothing he tried came off for him today, he lost possession numerous times and his set-piece delivery was absolutely shocking.
Joao Felix endured an awful afternoon against SouthamptonCredit: Reuters
Mason Mount – 4
Back in the side after a spell on the sidelines. But while Mount, who had a giant banner unfurled in his honour before kick-off, huffed and puffed, he showed little quality in the final third.
Started the second half as the central striker and completely missed a header when alone in the box – one of Chelsea’s best chances to that point.
David Fofana – 3
A first Premier League start for the 20-year-old striker and while he certainly offered more running than Kai Havertz has offered recently, he looks way too raw to be a regular at the moment.
Chelsea’s desperate search for a striker goes on.
Subs:
Raheem Sterling – 6
Chelsea’s only real bright spark, his introduction and direct style raised both the crowd and the rest of the team when he was introduced at half-time.
However, had two decent chances to score, one from a cut-back and one a header but both were blocked in almost comical fashion as groans went up around the ground.
Raheem Sterling provided a spark when he came on but couldn’t find an equaliser for ChelseaCredit: Getty
Wesley Fofana – 6
Another bright spark from the bench, Chelsea will be glad to have the the defender back as he dealt with the threat of the Southampton forwards much better than Koulibaly managed in the first 45.
Trevoh Chalobah – N/A
Came on to replace the hurt Azpilicueta, but had little to do as Chelsea piled forwards.
Conor Gallagher – 5
Given very little time but fashioned one decent chance, as he went on a mazy run and fired a cross-cum-shot at Bazuna, who pushed it away.
Mykhailo Mudryk – 4
You’ve got to do more as an £80million-plus player coming on with your side a goal down.
Kept losing the ball and late on, when he had a decent chance to hit a volley, could only drag it wide.
Kai Havertz – 4
A couple of nice runs to get into some dangerous situations but, as has been the case all season, picked the wrong option at the crucial time.
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Walking off down the tunnel without acknowledging the fans was not appreciated either, as boos went up around Stamford Bridge.
Subs not used – Bettinelli, Gallagher, Zakaria, More

IT HAS taken 12 months, but Chris Wood’s dream of being a title-deciding hitman might not be too wide of the mark after all.Not in the way the much-travelled striker thought, mind.
Chris Wood tapped in at the back post to levelCredit: Getty
Pep Guardiola’s title hopes suffered a big dentCredit: Reuters
Yet come the end of the season, perhaps the strike which decides where the Premier League flag is flying.
Yet if it hadn’t been for the most embarrassing and awful miss of Erling Haaland’s career, Wood’s moment to remember would have been totally irrelevant. But more of that later.
First, the moment that made Wood a Forest hero – and probably an even bigger one 140 miles south at the Emirates.
A year ago Wood had just gone to Newcastle as part of the Toon revolution, with the initial aim of keeping them in the top flight.

This season the target was way different – like shooting them towards the summit. And one which died when he was farmed out on loan to Forest last month.
Wood was making only his third appearance since moving to the City Ground, and City – for all they were only a goal to the good – were strolling it when he came off the bench on 79 minutes.
Yet five minutes later he was tapping in the unlikeliest of levellers that earned Forest an unbelievable point, and left Pep Guardiola stony-faced and slumped on the touchline.
All over the field City’s players were absolutely shell-shocked. And none more than Haaland, the deadliest hitman in Europe, but yesterday guilty of the biggest clanger.
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Keeper Kaylor Navas spilled Phil Foden’s low drive and the Norwegian should really have buried the first rebound instead of striking into the ground and against the bar.
No matter, you thought, when it came back to him for a second time and he steadied himself… before driving into the rafters of the stand from bang in front.
For half a second there was total silence around the ground, before Forest fans erupted in a mixture of laughter and roars. City supporters were simply stunned into silence.
And how costly it ultimately proved, as chance after chance went begging and you began to suspect that for all their dominance, maybe it would indeed be one of those days.
I’ll say it was, as Brennan Johnson burst down the right, Morgan Gibbs-White took over to drill in a cross, and there was Wood to sidefoot home.
Even then it needed confirmation of VAR before they could celebrate fully. But boy, didn’t they do just that.
For Guardiola, it was the icing on a pretty miserable afternoon, which had seen him yellow carded for a rant at fourth official Josh Smith.
Pep had lost the plot when Haaland tumbled in the box after Joe Worrall laid the merest of right hands on him, and ref Scott waved away the penalty claims.
Given the size and strength of the City forward, he certainly did seem to go down very easily. Yet he was also in behind the Forest man, so why do so if he could have stayed up?
But it really was one of those days for City. One in which they enjoyed 87 per cent of possession in the first half, albeit hardly peppering the Forest goal.
Erling Haaland was unable to find the netCredit: Getty
The Norwegian blasted over a sitter from close rangeCredit: Reuters
Back in August, they had rattled in half a dozen as Steve Cooper’s side struggled to find their feet back in the top flight.
This time it took City until a couple of minutes before the break to find a way through. Mind you, what a cracker it was…even if it was hardly Costa Rican keeper Navas’ finest hour.
Foden, back in the starting line-up for the first time in a month – and boy, wasn’t he making up for lost time – drifted a corner that was glanced to Jack Grealish on the right.
Grealish dithered and danced his way to the edge of the box, before rolling a cute square ball to Bernardo on his left, some 25 yards out.
He couldn’t have struck it better and it arrowed beyond a flailing Navas – although above his right arm, rather than the top corner, and he should at least have got a hand to it.
Not that even the most one-eyed of Forest fans could argue Guardiola’s men didn’t deserve it.
And for so long, it only seemed a case of how many would it end up, as Forest were left to fight a stubborn resistance, yet City struggled to find a way through.
Rodri headed a gimme wide from bang in front, while Bernardo had whistled a long-ranger just wide in an ominous portent of what was to come.
Then Foden broke behind everyone as Ilkay Gundogan picked him out, yet tried to tee up Haaland for a tap-in, with only Navas to beat.
But when he side-footed a ball left, Brazilian Felipe – Forest’s outstanding performer – got his reward for refusing to give up on a lost cause, and booted it behind.
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To be fair, no one in a red shirt gave it up as a lost cause either. And boy, didn’t they get a handsome reward in the end?
The pendulum, you could say, has very much swung back in Arsenal’s favour once again…
Bernardo Silva blasted in the opening goalCredit: Reuters
The result could have ramifications at both ends of the tableCredit: PA More

RUBEN SELLES did not even warrant a mention on the official team sheet but nobody at Chelsea will forget his name for a long time now.Southampton’s wannabe manager went down a storm on his audition for the job full time by winning his first Premier League game in charge.
Ward-Prowse scored one of his trademark free kicksCredit: Getty
The midfielder led his team to an unexpected winCredit: EPA
And the backbone his team showed in withstanding a second half onslaught suggests his position might not be temporary for long either
A characteristic free-kick striker by James Ward-Prowse condemned Chelsea to yet another frustrating weekend and another game without scoring a goal.
Chelsea were roundly booed off at half time. And despite a massive upturn in the second still look disjointed and dishevelled most of the time until they were jeered off at the end too.
Potter’s American bosses are keen to point out they are with him for the long haul but there must come a point when they need to put results before the long term vision.
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Chelsea have won only one game this year now. Southampton can celebrate their first league double over them since 1988. 
Potter and his team were booed off the pitchCredit: Reuters
Blues chairman and his sidekick Behdad Egbhali love data – analyse that.
Chelsea started with a striker in David Datro Fofana, took him off at half time and Potter tinkered with his team throughout but still could not find a way to beat the Premier League’s bottom club.
And there was a serious body blow when captain Cesar Azpilicueta was carried off on a stretcher in a serious condition after taking a kick flush in the face 17 minutes from time. 
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Azpilicueta was taken off on a stretcher after taking a kick to the faceCredit: Reuters
The Spaniard applauded fans on his way off the pitchCredit: Getty
The spirit Southampton showed in clinging on for an entire half when the club is in a state of flux was in stark contrast to the dreary and soulless football from Potter’s team – at least in the first half.
The introduction of Raheem Sterling, back from injury, after the break ignited Chelsea but that again only serves as an indication of how this record-spending club is struggling to gel.
Sterling is a relative old-hand having arrived last summer, with eight new players signing in the meantime. Yet still nobody to put the ball in the back of the net. Kai Havertz has scored only once in ten games now in his makeshift role up front.
While Selles led his team in celebration in front of the jubilant away end, Chelsea’s players sheepishly trudged around the centre circle before sloping off down the tunnel in embarrassment.
Former fitness coach Selles is auditioning for the role and according to his fans on the south coast can make players run through brick walls for him.
He took charge of one EFL game back in November after Saints sacked Ralph Hasenhuttl and is back in charge following the axing of Nathan Jones. The solution may have been under the club’s noses all the time.
Chelsea ended up superior as far as the stats are concerned with more shots and more possession but luckily football is not just a numbers game.
When the chance came for a snatch at goal. There is always one man Southampton can turn to in skipper James Ward-Prowse.
As soon as Stuart Armstrong was upended by Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta 25 yards from goal there was an air of inevitability about what happened next.
Curling a shot over the wall to beat Kepa at his right hand post was still a tough take but Ward-Prowse has radar vision from a dead ball.
Sterling’s return was really when Saints’ players earned their match fees and confirmed claims that Selles is Mr Motivator.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles laid down in front of a ferocious Sterling shot to block a goalbound ball on 68 minutes.
Three minutes after that came a magnificent rearguard action from Romain Perraud to deny Sterling again.
Sub Kai Havertz escaped down the left wing and dropped a cross to the far post where Sterling had brilliantly evaded his marker.
The diving header was heading for goal at 100mph only for Perraud to throw a leg in the eway and divert the shot to safety.
But it was the sight of the French defender pummeling his chest and high-fiving team-mates that gave the clearest indication of just what it meant to him and Southampton to still be clinging onto the lead for their caretaker boss.  
When it comes to commitment and putting your body on the line here are few who can compete with Azpilicueta. Chelsea’s long-serving skipper has won it all in 11 years at the club and can usually roll with the knocks.
Yesterday though, a kick in the face from Sekou Mara with 17 minutes left was just too much to take.
The Spaniard took the forward’s boot flush in the face from an overhead kick and he was knocked out cold. Play was held up for almost ten minutes for treatment before he left the field on a stretcher.
Applauded off by both sets of fans, ref David Coote added 12 minutes of time during which it was frenetic stuff.
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Interim boss Selles marked his first game in charge with a winCredit: AFP
The eventual final whistle triggered an angry reaction from Chelsea fans who have seen their team score only six games in the last 14 games now.
Sadly for Selles, Southampton’s epic victory is a welcome boost but they remain at the foot of the table. More

EVERTON captain Seamus Coleman scored the winner against Leeds from a ridiculous angle.The Toffees are waist-deep in a relegation scrap but are reaping the rewards of a new manager bounce under Sean Dyche.

Seamus Coleman put his foot through the ball from a tight angleCredit: Getty
The strike secured a win for the relegation-threatened ToffeesCredit: Alamy
And captain Coleman inspired Everton to a 1-0 win over Leeds at Goodison with a bizarre goal.
The Irishman charged down the right and fired in at a ridiculous angle, catching Leeds shot-stopper Illan Meslier flat-footed.
But fans have been left wondering whether Coleman meant his goal.
One said in Twitter: “Seamus Coleman channeling his inner Roberto Carlos.”
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Another tweeted: “On the slow motion he puts his laces through it, doesn’t try to curl it away from goal.
“100 per cent meant to do it.”
A third weighed in, saying: “Doubt it’s a cross there’s no-one there.”
Interestingly, Coleman has scored two goals across his last 97 appearances in the Prem; both of them were scored against Leeds.
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The three points lifts Everton up to sixth in the Premier League.
Bournemouth also got a 1-0 win at Wolves, helping push West Ham and Leeds into the relegation zone. More