Premier League: Conte’s return ruined as Tottenham lose 4-1 at Leicester, Arsenal stumble again
Manager Antonio Conte’s return to the dugout was a miserable one as his Tottenham was humiliated at Leicester 4-1 in the English Premier League on Saturday.
Nampalys Mendy’s first goal in more than six years inspired Leicester to the comeback win after Rodrigo Bentancur briefly gave Spurs the lead.
James Maddison, Kelechi Iheanacho and Harvey Barnes also netted for the hosts and Leicester scored four for the second straight game.
Conte returned after gallbladder surgery but his team failed to build on its impressive victory over Manchester City. The error-strewn performance left it a point adrift of the top four having played two games more. Tottenham visits AC Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Fulham beats Forest 2-0 to end visitor’s unbeaten run
Fulham ended Nottingham Forest’s five-game unbeaten run in the English Premier League with a deserved 2-0 win at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
A goal in either half from Willian and substitute Manor Solomon earned Marco Silva’s team a first victory in four matches and lifted it up to seventh in the standings.
Forest remained just six points above the relegation zone after a subdued performance.
The visitor endured a cruel and record-breaking blow after only seven minutes, losing central defensive pair Willy Boly and Scott McKenna to injury — the earliest in league hory that a team replaced two of the starting XI.
Wolverhampton stuns Southampton with 2-1 comeback win
João Gomes scored in the 87th minute to help 10-man Wolverhampton complete a 2-1 comeback victory over last-placed Southampton in the English Premier League on Saturday.
Gomes’ clinical strike came 15 minutes after Jan Bednarek’s own goal canceled out Carlos Alcaraz’s first-half goal for Southampton.
The manner of the loss — allowing two goals despite playing more than an hour with a man advantage — was sure to pile more pressure on Saints manager Nathan Jones.
Arsenal stumbles again in 1-1 draw with Brentford in EPL
Arsenal’s grip on the English Premier League lead is suddenly looking shaky.
The Gunners were held Brentford to 1-1 at Emirates Stadium on Saturday, dropping points for the second game in a row and giving Manchester City renewed hope of overtaking them atop the table.
The result means City can cut Arsenal’s lead to three points with a home win over Aston Villa on Sunday. With Arsenal then hosting City on Wednesday, Pep Guardiola’s team would go top on goal difference if it wins both matches — although the Gunners have played one game less.
Leandro Trossard’s first Arsenal goal gave the hosts the lead in the 66th minute when he steered in a cross from Bukayo Saka. But Ivan Toney equalized with a close-range header eight minutes later after the Gunners failed to clear a free kick.
Coming off a 1-0 loss at Everton last weekend, Arsenal looked flat again for much of the game and was even fortunate not to be behind at the break as Brentford wasted two great chances.
Toney’s cross from the right evaded Arsenal defenders to give Rico Henry an opportunity to score into an open net, but the full back couldn’t make clean contact with the ball and it sailed wide.
Toney then nearly scored in the 25th after Bryan Mbeumo teed him up inside the area, but the striker’s shot hit the corner of the goal frame.
With Arsenal’s attack sputtering, Trossard came off the bench to provide a much-needed spark. The former Brighton forward, who joined Arsenal in the January transfer window, was on hand at the far post to slot the ball into an empty net after being picked out Saka.
But the lead didn’t last long.
After Arsenal couldn’t clear an in swinging free kick into the area, Brentford kept the ball alive with three straight headers before Chrian Norgaard squared the ball across the goalmouth, where Toney had an easy header into an empty net. The Brentford celebrations were put on hold for a lengthy VAR check for a possible offside before the goal was allowed to stand.
Oleksandr Zinchenko shot narrowly wide in the 80th as Arsenal looked for an immediate response but the hosts never came closer to a winner.