Daryl Dike and Folarin Balogun came on as subs for their new teams, and Josh Sargent grabbed headlines, finally for the right reasons, in Norwich’s surprise win.
Manchester City 1 – 0 Chelsea
Zack Steffen was on the bench for Manchester City as Christian Pulisic’s 69 minute shift wasn’t enough to get a result for Chelsea against the Premier League leaders.
Pulisic was largely a spectator, though on the field, for Chelsea as it took a moment of brilliance from Kevin De Bruyne to separate the stalemate.
De Bruyne shrugged off N’Golo Kante in the midfield before curling a superb finish past Kepa for the game winner in the 70th minute.
City now sit top of the Premier League with an 11-point lead over second place Liverpool, Chelsea sitting in third.
Watch the game highlights here:
Norwich 2 – 1 Everton
Josh Sargent forced Everton into an own goal for Norwich’s first Premier League goal since November, in an important home win in their bid for survival.
Since their last Premier League goal on November 30 against Newcastle, Norwich have been outscored 16-0. Under-fire Everton boss (who has since been fired by the Toffees) Rafa Benitez knew it was win or bust, and Everton conceded twice in two minutes in the opening half.
The first came from Sargent’s work, as the American picked up possession out side before crossing in to the box, only for Michael Keane to direct it past his own goalkeeper in a missed attempt to clear.
Two minutes later, 20 year-old Adam Idah scored the game winner after poking past Jordan Pickford.
Everton would get their own rebuttal through Brazilian Richarlson with a bicycle kick in the 60th minute, but it was too little too late for Benitez and Everton.
Norwich will hope to continue on their winning ways as they are now only one point away from safety of the relegation zone as they take on Watford on Friday.
Watch the game highlights here:
Fulham 6 – 2 Bristol City
Antonee Robinson and Tim Ream went the distance in Fulham’s massive win over Bristol City.
The game was a tight affair through the opening half hour, as Bristol opened the scoring through Antoine Semenyo just seven minutes in after a clever dribble to get free. Aleksander Mitrovic however equalized the score in the 21st minute after a ball in from outside was nodded home from six yards out.
Bristol took the lead once more on the 29th minute as Semenyo laced a shot that went off both posts and in. Neeskans Kebano leveled the score for Fulham once again in the 31st minute after nodding home a Mitrovic assist on the goalline.
Fulham took the lead in the 36th minute and never looked back. Ream found Carvalho in the middle of the park and after a surging run he smashed his shot past the Bristol shot stopper in the 36th minute. Mitrovic scored a second and third in the 41st and 46th minute, completing a first half hat-trick to see the Cottagers through.
His first goal was a header off of a corner kick, but his second goal was a curled left foot effort across the face of goal from 16 yards out and into the top corner at the far post.
Kebano would finish off the scoring in the 57th minute after a divine first touch saw him turn and face goal to slot home past Max O’Leary.
Fulham are now two points clear at the top of the Championship table with a game in hand, and look to continue their winning ways on Tuesday against Birmingham.
Watch the game highlights here:
Accrington Stanley 1 – 1 Sunderland
Lynden Gooch went the distance for Sunderland as ten-man Accrington Stanley fought back for a draw.
The scoring started in the 48th minute through Aiden O’Brien as his deflected shot rose over the Accrington goalkeeper. Ross Sykes made it difficult for his team as the Accrington defender picked up a pair of yellow cards to get sent off in the 78th minute. The first card was for dissent, and his second for a professional foul.
The home team would not be denied after a direct ball from goalkeeper Toby Savin found Matt Butcher on a dead sprint up the field, and he squared the ball to Mitch Clark who had an empty net to tap in to. He was loosely marked by Gooch, who’s anguish was apparent after the goal.
Sunderland are in second place in League One and will face Portsmouth next Saturday.
Watch the game highlights here:
Notes
Falorin Balogun was a 67th minute substitute for Middlesbrough’s 2-1 win over Reading.
Daryl Dike was a 59th minute substitute in West Brom’s 1-0 loss at QPR.
Duane Holmes did not make the bench in Huddersfield’s 1-1 draw against Swansea.
Matthew Olosunde did not make the bench for Preston North End in their 1-1 tie against Birmingham.
Ethan Horvath was on the bench for Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 win over Millwall.
