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26

2020 Seagulls Devastated Abraham’s Last-Gasp Goal At West
Brom Completes Chelsea Fightback
30th, After Fernandes’ Injury gasp goal capped Chelsea’s
Tammy Abraham’s last-
September Time Penalty stunning second-half fight-

back as they recovered

| runo Fernandes converted a from 3-0 down to claim a
point at West Brom.
EXAMINER BManchester United snatched a 3 draw after Frank Lampard’s side looked beaten at the
The striker clinched a 3-
penaltydeepintoaddedtimeas
break.
dramatic 3-2 win from an incident-
Mason Mount and Callum Hudson-Odoi struck follow-
IRISH packedencounteratBrighton. ing the restart to help break Baggies hearts.
Fernandes coolly converted
The Blues’ defensive frailties had been laid bare in the
from 12 yards with the last kick of
the game after referee Chris first half as Callum Robinson was gifted a brace by mis-
takes from Marcos Alonso and Thiago Silva.
Kavanagh penalized Neal Kyle Bartley was left unmarked from a corner to score
Maupay for handball having con- a third as Chelsea were exposed.
sulted the pitch-side monitor.
Solly March appeared to have Timo Werner hit the bar when they only trailed 1-0
earned Albion the point they and, while it was another embarrassing display at the back,
deserved by heading home five Chelsea can take solace in their comeback.
minutes earlier to cancel out Albion missed out on their first Premier League win of
Marcus Rashford’s superb solo the season having lost heavily to Leicester and Everton.
effort. Willy Caballero replaced the dropped Kepa
But, after Kavanagh initially Arrizabalaga but Chelsea’s defensive problems continued
seemed to have blown the full- an hour. Minutes later it was United’s as they fell behind after just four minutes.
time whistle, Fernandes had the The recalled Greenwood later turn to be thwarted by VAR. Alonso cheaply lost possession to Matheus Pereira and
final say. had an effort ruled out for offside Rashford turned the ball into the he burst forward to find Robinson who drilled in a fine low
A Lewis Dunk own goal had against Rashford in the build up, net but, despite the flag not origi- drive into the corner.
quickly levelled Maupay’s before Albion striker Maupay nally going up, he was clearly off- Lampard has overseen just one away clean sheet in 21
cheeky opener from the penalty opened the scoring with his third side. Premier League games and will hope new goalkeeper
spot just before the break but the goal in two games. Edouard Mendy, after his arrival from Rennes, will help to
goals were far from the full story. The Frenchman, who regis- However, Rashford was not to solve their problems.
United, who struggled to tered a brace at Newcastle last be denied for long and he put Sam Johnstone parried Kai Havertz’s 20-yard effort and
impress and were second best for weekend, audaciously dinked United 2-1 up with a fine individ- Abraham fired wide from close range as the visitors tried
much of the afternoon, also had home from 12 yards after ual effort. to respond.
two goals disallowed, while the Fernandes was penalized for a After collecting the ball from Abraham should have done better and Werner went
Seagulls remarkably struck the challenge on Tariq Lamptey. Fernandes, he danced around the closer after 15 minutes when he clipped the bar from
woodwork five times and had Having secured the advantage Seagulls defense during a mazy Mount’s cross.
another spot-kick award over- their display merited, the Seagulls run which received the emphatic But any hopes of an instant recovery were ended by
turned following a VAR review. surrendered it just 194 seconds finish it deserved. more defensive howlers as the Baggies scored twice in
Brighton boss Graham later to go in level at the break. Brighton were far from beaten three minutes.
Stephen Potter, as he was named Fernandes’ pacey free-kick and deserved a point at the very First, under no pressure, Silva allowed the ball to run
on the official team-sheet, felt from the left was turned across least. March saw a low effort under his foot and Robinson went through to finish past
United were the best team to goal by Matic before Dunk, under rebound off the inside of the right Caballero.
visit the Amex Stadium last sea- pressure from Harry Maguire, post, before Trossard completed a
son. diverted in the fifth Premier hat-trick of sorts by thumping It quickly got worse for the visitors after 28 minutes
Solskjaer reverted to the team League goal of his career. against the bar. when Darnell Furlong headed Pereira’s corner to the
which ran riot to record a com- With the equalizer being cred- United, who return here in the unmarked Bartley to volley in from close range.
prehensive 3-0 win here in late ited to Dunk, United’s first fourth round of the Carabao Cup Even with their attacking riches there seemed no way
June, bringing in Aaron Wan- attempt on goal eventually on Wednesday evening, looked back for Chelsea and Grady Diangana had the chance to
Bissaka , Nemanja Matic and arrived in the 44th minute when to have survived the pressure make it 4-0 just before half-time but shot over from 18
Mason Greenwood, while keep- Matic’s thunderous drive from before the unmarked March yards.
ing faith with under-fire defender distance flew straight at Ryan. sparked wild celebrations by nod- Lampard replaced Mateo Kovacic and Alonso for
Victor Lindelof following his per- Brighton, buoyed by three suc- ding in from close range. Hudson-Odoi and Cesar Azpilicueta at the break.
formance in last weekend’s shock cessive wins without conceding in However, there was a late Chelsea emerged with greater urgency and they began
home defeat to Crystal Palace. league and Carabao Cup, were twist in the tale. their comeback 10 minutes after the restart when Mount
After the unexpected loss to playing with plenty of confidence Players from both teams sur- spun away 25 yards out and fired into the bottom corner
Palace, the 20-time English and stretching the pitch at every rounded match official Kavanagh past a static Johnstone.
champions were bidding to avoid opportunity as United continued during a remarkable ending to the The goalkeeper turned Havertz’s deflected effort wide
suffering successive defeats at the to stutter. game which culminated in immediately afterwards and resilient Albion tried to hold
start of a Premier League season The hosts thought they had an Fernandes’ calm spot-kick after firm until Hudson-Odoi made it 3-2 with 20 minutes left.
for the first time in 28 years. opportunity to quickly regain the Maguire headed against the out- The substitute swapped passes with Havertz to send
That unwanted statistic lead within two minutes of the stretched arm of Maupay. him into the area and he confidently stroked across
looked likely to materialize when restart. Amid the melee, the Portugal Johnstone.
Leandro Trossard struck both But, after initially penalizing international was the calmest Romaine Sawyers shot wide for Albion but they could
posts from the edge of the box Paul Pogba for a trip on Aaron man in the stadium as he duly dis- not survive another late onslaught and Abraham rescued
and Albion team-mate Adam Connolly, Kavanagh reversed his patched the ball high into the top- Chelsea in injury time when he tapped in after Johnstone
Webster headed against the decision after watching the inci- right corner to cap a crazy parried Mount’s shot. C
crossbar inside the opening half dent on the pitch-side monitor. encounter. C