Premier League: Crisis-hit Chelsea beat Norwich as Leeds and Watford lose again
On a day when Chelsea were plunged into turmoil by the UK Government freezing owner Roman Abramovich's assets, they rebounded on the pitch, winning 3-1 at Norwich as the Canaries' relegation rivals Leeds and Watford also lost again.
Norwich 1-3 Chelsea
Infogol xG: 1.04-1.85
Chelsea overcame the chaos of a turbulent day off the pitch to grind out a 3-1 win at Norwich and stay in the driving seat for Champions League qualification.
The Blues took to the field at Carrow Road hours after learning owner Roman Abramovich had been sanctioned by the UK Government and had his assets frozen.
It meant Chelsea required a special licence to fulfil this midweek clash, but goals by Trevoh Chalobah, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz still clinched all three points to keep Norwich bottom of the table and five points from safety.
Boss Thomas Tuchel would have preferred a more comprehensive victory, with Teemu Pukki’s 69th-minute penalty setting up a nervy finale before Havertz’s late strike, but it was a welcome result at the end of another dramatic day for the club, which Abramovich had put up for sale last week amid Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine.
Southampton 1-2 Newcastle
Infogol xG: 2.06-0.97
January signings Bruno Guimaraes and Chris Wood scored their first Newcastle goals to help fire Eddie Howe’s side to a sixth win in seven games with a 2-1 win over Southampton at St Mary’s.
Wood ended his longest goal drought - 14 games - in more than six years to cancel out Stuart Armstrong’s goal before Guimaraes bagged the winner with a sublime piece of solo skill.
The visitors had goalkeeper Martin Dubravka to thank for putting more daylight between them and the bottom three.
The Slovakian made two excellent saves in the closing minutes, first clawing away Mohammed Salisu’s header and then tipping Armstrong’s long-range effort over the crossbar.
Wolves 4-0 Watford
Infogol xG: 1.34-0.53
Watford’s dwindling Premier League survival hopes suffered another blow as a dreadful opening 21 minutes saw them beaten comfortably at Wolves.
A 4-0 defeat at Molineux leaves Watford with just one win from their last 16 Premier League outings, with Roy Hodgson’s side three points from safety with 10 games remaining.
Everton in 17th have a superior goal difference and three games in hand as an early strike from Raul Jimenez, a Cucho Hernandez own goal and a Daniel Podence effort saw Wolves coasting with less than a quarter of the game gone – and a fine Ruben Neves chip rounded off a commanding display late on.
Three defeats on the bounce for the home side never looked like becoming four as they maintain hopes of securing European qualification at the end of the season.
Leeds 0-3 Aston Villa
Infogol xG: 0.22-1.17
Aston Villa inflicted a club record-equalling sixth successive league defeat on Leeds as Steven Gerrard’s impressive side won 3-0 at Elland Road.
Philippe Coutinho’s deflected effort gave Villa an interval lead and they added further second-half goals that their performance warranted through Matty Cash and Calum Chambers.
It was Villa’s third straight Premier League win, which lifted them up to ninth in the table, while it was a sorry night for Leeds in head coach Jesse Marsch’s first home game in charge .
This was their seventh defeat in their last eight matches and has left them two points above the relegation zone. The two teams immediately below them, Everton and Burnley, have three and two games in hand respectively.
Leeds’ misery was complete in the closing stages when Firpo was stretchered off following a touchline challenge.