Tottenham Hotspur continued their struggling run in the ongoing season of Premier League after failing to fetch out full points against the last-ranked Watford on Wednesday. A late equalizer from Delle Ali rescued the Spurs from a major embarrassment in front of their home fans on the ninth match-day of this season’s English Premier League.
After Abdoulaye Doucoure’s sixth-minute goal off a Daryl Janmaat’s cross to take the visitors ahead, the match witnessed the home team owning lion’s share of possession but failing to see the back of the net. Ali came in rescue and scored the equalizer in 86th minute but not before a VAR controversy nearly ruled the goal out.
The Spurs forward capitalized on Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster’s mistake to fire the ball in an unguarded net. Following a review, the video assistant referee (VAR) gave the goal only for the big screen inside the stadium to disallow it. However, after a period of confusion, the goal equaliser was eventually given for the fans inside the stadium to erupt in wild joy.
Title-contender Manchester City, on the other hand, closed in their gap with table-topper Liverpool after returning to the winning track. They beat Crystal Palace 2-0 for a much-needed away victory after getting defeated by Watford in their last fixture.
Palace’s goalkeeper stood strong under the woods to deny Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan. But two quick goals in the dying minutes of the first half from Gabriel Jesus and Silva meant the defending champions moved five points closer to the Reds.
Leicester City came back strongly after conceding a first-half lead against Burnely to defeat them 2-1 at the King Power Stadium. Chris Wood opened the scoring for the tourists to take them 1-0 up in the 26th minute.
But Jamie Vardy netted a late first-half equalizer for both the teams to head into the tunnel on equal footing. Youri Tielemans scored another one for the Foxes in the 74th minute to put them in the driving seat. Late into the second half, Burnely forward Woods scored again but was denied by the VAR.
Riding on a Marcos Alonso strike, Chelsea managed a hard-fought 1-0 win against a spirited Newcastle United defence. Despite dominating the match thoroughly, the Blues failed to create clear-cut chances in front of a frustrated home crowd at the Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea’s new goal-scoring sensations Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount came close to give their team the lead but were denied by the Newcastle keeper Martin Dúbravka and the goalpost respectively. But Alonso’s angled drive in the 73rd minute saw the fans heaving a sigh of relief and the Blues finding the fourth spot in the table.
In other matches, Everton defeated West Ham United 2-0, while Aston Villa snatched a 2-1 victory against 10-man Brighton. Wolves failed to register a win against Southampton after being held 1-1. Norwich City and Bournemouth, on the other hand, played a goalless draw.