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Thu, Dec 26, 2024 | Jumada al-Aakhirah 25, 1446 | DXB
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English Premier League: Brentford sink wasteful Chelsea in West London derby
Nketiah hat-trick fires Arsenal to 5-0 win over Sheffield United as Bournemouth claim their first win of the season against Burnley
Chelsea also lost to its London rival last season (2-0) and the season before (4-1), - AP
Even after spending $1 billion on players, Chelsea still cannot get a point off Brentford at Stamford Bridge.
It's now three straight Premier League wins for Brentford in away matches against Chelsea after a 2-0 victory on Saturday, secured by second-half goals from Ethan Pinnock and Bryan Mbeumo.
Elsewhere at the Emirates Stadium., Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah ended his scoring drought in stunning fashion with a hat-trick in his side's 5-0 home thrashing of hapless Sheffield United.
Philip Billing's stunning second-half strike helped Bournemouth claim their first Premier League win of the season against fellow strugglers Burnley.
Chelsea's Pinnock headed in a cross from Mbeumo in the 58th minute for a goal that was against the general run of a play.
Mbeumo added the second in the fifth minute of stoppage time, tapping into an empty net at the end of a fast break with Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez having gone up for a corner and unable to get back in time.
Arsenal's Takehiro Tomiyasu celebrates scoring their fifth goal after strikes from Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior and Eddie Nketiah - Reuters
Chelsea also lost to its London rival last season (2-0) and the season before (4-1), which was the first year Brentford played in the Premier League.
Despite its unprecedented and wild spending spree over the last three transfer windows, Chelsea is in the bottom half of the standings and is now behind Brentford, whose signings are mostly cut-price and based purely on statistics.
Chelsea has only won one of its six league games at home this season, and that was against promoted Luton.
“There was a big defensive focus on stifling them, staying in the game, just trying to frustrate them,” Pinnock said. "We knew the longer the game went on the more we could grow into it.”
The 24-year-old Nketiah, who made his full England debut this month, had not scored for the Gunners since August and had recently lost his place in the starting line-up.
But he found bottom club United's over-worked defence much more to his liking as he grabbed his first Arsenal hat-trick.
Nketiah, in for the injured Gabriel Jesus, broke the deadlock in the 28th minute with a fine finish after a pass by Declan Rice and made it 2-0 shortly after halftime with an emphatic strike after United keeper Wes Foderingham failed to intercept Bukayo Saka's corner.
The best was saved until last though with Nketiah smashing an unstoppable shot into the top corner just before the hour before retrieving the ball and holding it aloft.
A Fabio Vieira penalty in the 88th minute, given by referee Tim Robinson after a VAR check following a foul on Vieira by Oliver Norwood, and a stoppage-time goal from close range by Takehiro Tomiyasu completed the rout.
Victory pushed Arsenal up to second place with 24 points from 10 games, two behind Tottenham Hotspur.
It was a familiar story for promoted Sheffield United who have managed only one point from their opening 10 games and face a long, hard winter ahead in their bid to stay up.
They failed to have an effort on target throughout the contest and the spotlight will now fall inevitably on under-pressure manager Paul Heckingbottom.
Results
Chelsea 0 Brentford 2
Arsenal 5 Sheff Utd 0
Bournemouth 2 Burnley 1
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