CITY/LIVERPOOL/CHELSEASHARE PREMIER LEAGUE SUMMIT

It was a dramatic day of football in the Premier League on Saturday, December4, 2020 after the three title contenders namely Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City shared the Premier League summit in the space of a few hours. Also, Newcastle United remembered how to win a Premier League game, while Brighton and Hove Albion became the outright draw specialist in the division.

West London giants Chelsea started the day at the Premier League summit andhad dropped to third by the end of the day courtesy thedisappointing 3-2 comeback defeat at London rivals West Ham United in the early kickoff.Jarrod Bowen and substitute Arthur Masuakuscored in the second half to hand the Hammers an important victory that ended their three-match winless run. Chelsea had led at the break through goals from Thiago Silva and Mason Mount either side of the West Ham equaliser from Manuel Lanzinivia a spot kick.

Liverpool left it late, but they were able to take advantage of the defeat suffered by Chelsea. They replaced Chelsea at the summit after Belgian substitute Divock Origi came off the bench to give Liverpool a 1-0 victory at stubborn Wolves in one of the three afternoon kickoffs. Wolves frustrated Liverpool throughout the game until the 94th minute when Origi broke their resolve. With the late win, Liverpool moved one point ahead of Chelsea.

Defending champions Manchester City had the opportunity to usurp both Chelsea and Liverpool at the summit when they faced Watford in the late kickoff. The Citizens didn’t pass up the opportunity as they secured a 3-1 win over their hosts. Raheem Sterling and in-form Bernardo Silva scored in the first quarter of the game for a two-nil lead at the break before Portugal international Silva completed his brace for the third City goal in the second half. Cucho Hernandez then scored a consolation goal for the Hornets. With the win over Watford, Manchester City were able to end the day at the summit and they would be there for at least one week until the next round of games next weekend.

In the other two afternoon kickoffs, French striker Neal Maupay scored in the 98th minute to rescue a 1-1 draw at Southampton who had taken a first half lead through young Albanian strike Armando Broja, while Newcastle United became the last professional team to record a win in England this season with the 1-0 home victory over fellow bottom three team and it was enough to lift them off the bottom on goal difference.

Star striker Callum Wilson scored the only goal for Newcastle United five minutes from the interval and for Brighton, they now have the most draws after the Saints clash with eight ahead of Burnley, Southampton, Newcastle United and Crystal Palace.