Chelsea slumped to another damaging home defeat against Brentford on Saturday as Eddie Nketiah hit a first Premier League hat-trick in a 5-0 win for Arsenal against struggling Sheffield United.Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea appeared to have turned a corner in recent weeks, taking seven points from their three previous fixtures, but their 2-0 loss means they have just one home win from their past 13 games in the league. Ethan Pinnock took advantage of non-existent marking to head the visitors in front shortly before the hour mark at Stamford Bridge after Chelsea had failed to capitalise on their first-half dominance.Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was embarrassed in added time after joining his team’s attack for a corner, failing to catch Neal Maupay in a race as he broke with the ball, allowing Bryan Mbeumo to score in an empty net to compound home fans’ woes.The result means Brentford leapfrog Chelsea into 10th place in the table, pushing Pochettino’s men into the bottom half.Pochettino said on Friday that Christopher Nkunku is nearing a comeback from the knee injury that has prevented the £52mn signing making a competitive appearance yet for his new club. On this evidence, the French international’s return cannot come soon enough as Chelsea’s other new striker, Nicolas Jackson, again failed to fire.It was a different story for London rivals Arsenal, who roared back from 2-0 down to draw against Chelsea last week to preserve their unbeaten league record. Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta shuffled his pack – including dropping captain Martin Odegaard to the bench – for the visit of bottom club Sheffield United and Nketiah celebrated his recall to the starting line-up in style.Replacing the injured Gabriel Jesus as Arsenal’s target man at the Emirates Stadium, Nketiah proved he was up to the task as a swivelled finish gave the home side a 28th-minute lead. The England forward arrowed a shot into the top corner early in the second half and completed his treble with a stunning strike from distance just before the hour mark.Substitutes Fabio Vieira and Takehiro Tomiyasu added gloss to the scoreline with a penalty and a close-range finish as Arsenal moved up to second, two points behind Tottenham, who beat Crystal Palace on Friday.Newcastle missed the chance to close in on the top four after twice letting the lead slip in a 2-2 draw at Wolves. Callum Wilson took advantage of a blunder from Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa to open the scoring before Mario Lemina headed home from a corner to equalise. Wilson restored the Magpies’ lead in first-half stoppage time in controversial fashion.Fabian Schar went down under the most minimal of contact from Hwang Hee-Chan and referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot. Wilson converted the penalty, but Wolves were not to be denied a deserved point as Hwang’s quick feet and classy finish levelled the scores again 19 minutes from time. A share of the spoils leaves Newcastle three points off the top four and nine adrift of Tottenham.ResultsChelsea 0 Brentford 2 (Pinnock 58, Mbeumo 90+6); Arsenal 5 (Nketiah 28, 50, 58, Vieira 88-pen, Tomiyasu 90+6) Sheffield United 0; Bournemouth 2 (Semenyo 22, Billing 76) Burnley 1 (Taylor 11); Wolves 2 (Lemina 36, Hwang 71) Newcastle 2 (Wilson 22, 45+4-pen)Playing today (all times GMT): West Ham v Everton (1300), Aston Villa v Luton, Brighton v Fulham, Liverpool v Nottingham Forest (all 1400), Manchester United v Manchester City (1530)Played Friday: Crystal Palace 1 (Ayew 90+4) Tottenham 2 (Ward 53-og, Son 66)
October 28, 2023 | 11:45 PM