Sports

Mané mauls Chelsea; Son sinks Saints

Sports Desk, Sep 20 (efe-epa).- With two goals, Liverpool’s Sadio Mané showed Chelsea who the star of the Premier League is during a match that fell apart for the Blues, with Andreas Christensen being sent off and a huge mistake made by Kepa Arrizabalaga.

The match also saw the debut of Spaniard Thiago Alcántara, who signed with Liverpool on Friday.

Danish defender Christensen was sent off at the end of the first half, leaving Chelsea to play 45 minutes with one down, while the Spanish goalkeeper allowed Mané to score a second time when they were already up one-nil.

Chelsea took advantage of counterattacks to load the game on the left wing, from where Timo Werner started to attack.

The German had the only clear chance for Chelsea to get on the scoreboard when he fired, hitting the left post of Alisson Becker’s net.

It seemed Frank Lampard’s box was going to be happy for the second half, but just before the break, Christensen knocked down Mané as he went alone against Kepa’s goal.

While referee Paul Tierney gave him a yellow card, the VAR determined it should be a red, sending him off.

Tasked with holding out as long as possible and hoping for a miracle, Chelsea was faced with Liverpool hitting it as soon as they got out of locker room.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp jostled the bench, giving Alcántara his debut, replacing Jordan Henderson, and the formula worked quickly.

Roberto Firmino centered and Mané appeared at the penalty spot to finish off with a header.

With the score at 0-1 it seemed over, but Chelsea keeper Kepa made another bumble. After being criticized a day ago over another mistake, this time, he ended up handing the ball to Mané, who only had to push it into an empty net.

Chelsea came close to providing some excitement when Alcántara knocked down Werner, but Alisson stopped the ball and closed the game.

Liverpool have already had two wins in their first two games and are climbing to the top of the table.

Meanwhile, South Korean star Son Heung-Min scored four goals in a stunning attacking display as Tottenham Hotspur beat Southampton 5-2 at St Mary’s on Saturday.

Spurs overcame a lackluster opening period in which they struggled to keep the pace with the home team, who took the lead through striker Danny Ings with half an hour played.

Southampton, who were attacking in numbers and with menace, had opportunities to double their lead but failed to convert their chances.

Son punished their profligacy with Tottenham’s first clear chance after he was played in by Harry Kane just before half time.

The pair combined again soon after the restart, and continued to exploit Southampton’s high defensive line, with the South Korean’s well-timed runs and Kane’s pinpoint delivery leading to a further two goals for Son.

Kane also got in on the act, poking in after Erik Lamela’s shot hit the post.

Danny Ings got a second goal for the home team from the penalty spot in injury time. EFE-EPA

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