LONDON: Chelsea put a miserable week behind them to return to the Premier League summit with a 2-0 win over Fulham as the wheels came off in Liverpool’s bright start in a 1-0 home defeat to Southampton on Saturday.
Chelsea had Brazil playmaker Oscar and midfielder John Obi Mikel to thank for sealing a victory that will help consign to memory last weekend’s defeat by Everton and their midweek Champions League reverse against Basel.
The win moved them up to 10 points from five matches, ahead of Liverpool on goal difference after Southampton inflicted a first defeat of the season on the Merseysiders.
Southampton defender Dejan Lovren scored with a second-half header to emphatically quieten the premature talk of a title push that had been swirling around Anfield.
Everton celebrated a stunning 3-2 win at West Ham United with Leighton Baines twice equalising from free kicks and on-loan striker Romelu Lukaku heading a late winner.
Hull City also twice came back from a goal down to win 3-2 at Newcastle United and Stephane Sessegnon scored against his former club as West Bromwich Albion beat bottom side Sunderland 3-0.
Aston Villa’s Libor Kozak came off the bench to score his first goal for the club in a 1-0 win at Norwich City.
Champions Manchester United visit local rivals Manchester City on Sunday when Arsenal take on Stoke City and Tottenham Hotspur go to Cardiff City.
Real Sociedad held to 0-0 home draw by Malaga
Real Sociedad’s scoring drought reached three games when Malaga held the Basque club to a 0-0 draw at home, while Levante rallied to a 2-2 draw at 10-man Almeria in the Spanish league on Saturday.
Sociedad, which lost its Champions League group opener on Tuesday, increased its winless run in the domestic competition to four rounds.
“We lacked precision,” said Sociedad coach Jagoba Arrasate. “We needed to show more verve and daring one-on-one.”
After a dull first half at Anoeta Stadium, both sides had scoring chances with Malaga striker Roque Santa Cruz going close three times and Sociedad pair Imanol Agirretxe and Antoine Griezmann firing wide.
Despite selling several players this summer, first-year coach Bernd Schuster has Malaga on a three-game unbeaten streak.
Almeria looked set to get its first win after Jesus “Suso” Fernandez earned a penalty kick converted by Jose “Verza” Garcia in first-half injury time before Suso added a second goal from long range in the 51st.
But the match took a dramatic swing when Levante defender Juanfran Garcia made up for his earlier penalty by drawing back-to-back yellow cards from Christian Fernandez. The second foul in a scrum in the area awaiting a corner kick sent Levante’s Nabil El Zhar to the penalty spot to pull one back in the 55th.
Levante midfielder Papakouly Diop leveled the score five minutes later with an excellent right-footed shot from outside the area to volley in a corner.
Levante goalkeeper Keylor Navas made a reflex save to deny Hernan Pellarano a last-gasp goal before the final whistle.
The promoted Almeria remained winless through five rounds after squandering a second-half lead for the fourth time this season.
Osasuna beat Elche 2-1 on Friday for its first win of the season in the home debut of coach Javi Gracia.
On Sunday, it’s: Real Madrid vs. Getafe, Real Betis vs. Granada, Celta Vigo vs. Villarreal, and Valencia vs. Sevilla. Espanyol hosts Athletic Bilbao on Monday.
