Saturday, October 2, 2021 at 5:56 PM• Jeroen van Poppel • Last update: 18:08

Chelsea prevented loss of points in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon in the final phase. Thomas Tuchel decided to rotate his line-up again at home against Southampton and was saved by Timo Werner’s late winning goal: 3-1. Chelsea is therefore at least for the time being in the lead. Leeds United managed to leave the relegation zone thanks to their first win of the season against Watford (1-0). Newcastle United also saw their concerns heightened with a defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers (2-1). The relegation bust between Burnley and Norwich City ended goalless.

Chelsea v Southampton 3-1
It took Chelsea, where Hakim Ziyech remained on the bench for the entire game, nine minutes to open the score. A corner by Ben Chilwell was headlong in time by Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Trevoh Chalobah finished off at the far post with a gliding header: 1-0. Then James Ward-Prowse and Loftus-Cheek tried in quick succession from the drop kick on behalf of Southampton and Chelsea respectively, dangerous attempts that went just wide. Chelsea saw two goals disallowed at the end of the first half. First Romelu Lukaku’s good shot was undone for offside, then Werner saw a header canceled due to a light foul by César Azpilicueta.

There it is anyway! ?? After a brilliant attack through substitute Ross Barkley, Timo Werner scores his first league goal of the season ?? Chelsea seems to keep the 3 points in their own house #ZiggoSport #PremierLeague #CHESOU pic.twitter.com/JeN8ygGFB2

— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) October 2, 2021

Southampton started the second half strongly and forced a penalty after exactly an hour of play when Chilwell tackled Tino Livramento’s feet. The penalty was completed flawlessly by Ward-Prowse: 1-1. Chelsea had a huge opportunity twenty minutes before the end for Werner, who broke through in the penalty area after a heel from Lukaku but encountered a brilliant reflex from Alex McCarthy. Ward-Prowse was sent off with a red card thirteen minutes before the end after a hard tackle on Jorginho’s Achilles tendon, after which Chelsea still grabbed the win. Azpilicueta suddenly put the ball in front of the goal from the right and saw it being tapped in by Werner: 2-1. The pressure from the Londoners also resulted in a third goal. Lukaku hit the crossbar, Azpilicueta hit the post, after which Chilwell hit from a difficult angle: 3-1. McCarthy appeared to have turned the attempt, but goal-line technology gave Chelsea a goal.

Leeds United – Watford 1-0
In the first half it was mainly one-way traffic towards Ben Foster’s goal, with more than sixty percent possession and ten attempts. Watford could therefore count themselves lucky with only a 1-0 deficit at half time. It was Diego Llorente who worked the ball in from close range after a corner in the eighteenth minute. More goals were ultimately not scored at Elland Road, although goalkeeper Ilan Meslier got away well when he made a mistake after a corner from Danny Rose. A foul by Christian Kabasele prevented the 1-1 from taking place. Crysencio Summerville was not part of the Leeds match squad. William Troost-Ekong was in the starting line-up for the visitors.

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Newcastle United 2-1
Wolverhampton opened the score after twenty minutes of play via Hwang Hee-chan. The South Korean beat goalkeeper Karl Darlow with a shot into the long corner. Five minutes before half time, Francisco Trincão forgot on behalf of the Wolves double the margin when he hit the crossbar from a detached position. From the counterattack, the home team immediately got the lid on the nose. Jeff Hendrick scored the surprising equalizer with a low shot from outside the box. After an hour of play, Hwang Wolverhampton took the lead again. As with the opening goal, the attacker was served by Raúl Jiménez and outwitted Darlow this time with a low slider. Both teams failed to create opportunities that were missed.

Burnley v Norwich City 0-0
Why both teams were still looking for their first win was also reflected on the field in the first half. No significant chance was created, although Burnley, where Erik Pieters remained on the bench, unsuccessfully claimed a penalty twice. After the break, Norwich hit the crossbar via a shot by Mathias Normann. The home team became dangerous through a cross by Johann Gudmundsson, who just couldn’t get in by Dwight McNeil at the far post. In stoppage time Matthew Lowton could have given Burnley the win, but his header went just over.