English Premier League news - week 2
After the Match Week 2 games, Man City, Man United, Hull City, and Chelsea are in the top spots on the England Premier League Table winning their first two matches.
English Premier League Match Week 2 ResultsManchester United 2-0 Southampton Leicester City 0-0 Arsenal Burnley 2-0 Liverpool Stoke City 1-4 Manchester City Watford 1-2 Chelsea Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Crystal Palace West Brom 1-2 Everton Swansea 0-2 Hull City Sunderland 1-2 Middleborough West Ham 1-0 Bournemouth Watford 1-2 Chelsea
Under the leadership of Antonio Conte, Chelsea are off to a great start this season winning their first two England Premier League matches, and defeating League One side Bristol Rovers in the EFL Cup second round on Tuesday. Chelsea next hosts Burnley at home to Stamford Bridge in the league on Saturday. In Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat of Watford away at Vicarage Road, Watford’s Etienne Capoue opened the scoring at 55 minutes, followed by Chelsea goals by Michy Batshuayi who scored the equalizer at 80 minutes, and the winner scored by Diego Costa at 87 minutes. Costa now has scored the winning goal in two Premier League games in a row this campaign.
Etienne Capoue put the Hornets ahead at 55 minutes as Watford took control of the game in the second half. However sub Batshuayi equalized with his first goal for Chelsea since his £33m move. Then Costa took Cesc Fabregas’ ball past Heurelho Gomes to score the winner with only three minutes left. Notably, since returning to the Premier League in 2014, Fabregas has 26 assists, more assists than any other footballer. The defeat of Watford gives Chelsea’s new boss Antonio Conte a 100% start in the Premier League after Chelsea’s opening match against West Ham on Monday. Conte has lost only 1 of his last 32 league games as a club manager - won 29 drawn 2.
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte was pleased with the intensity and result of his second EPL game. "I'm pleased to see the reaction from my players, and this win is very important for us as it gives everyone confidence. I don't know what was wrong in the first half - but I repeat that every game in this league is tough,” said Conte after the match. "It is wrong to come to Watford and to think it's very simple to win. In the first half I saw a good balance between the teams. I think we showed a great intensity in the second half and we pushed them a lot. I'm pleased for the substitutes. They didn't start but they showed great attitude and commitment with Fabregas and Batshuayi making a real impact.”
Although Watford kept their lead, Italian manager Conte waited to make his first change at 71 minutes bringing on Victor Moses, Batshuayi and Cesc Fabregas. Seven minutes later, Batshuayi opened his Premier League account with Chelsea. Spanish Fabregas, who was an unused sub against West Ham, sent a great pass to Costa through the Watford defense to win the match for Chelsea as Walter Mazzarri lost again to his old foe Conte. As managers, Mazzarri and Conte clashed seven times in Italian Serie A with Mazzarri winning once in 2010. The long-standing rivalry between the two Italians goes back to when the pair fell out during their time as managers for Napoli and Juventus respectively.
For the first 80 minutes of the clash, Mazzarri’s Watford side dominated the match with pressure from the attacking trio of Pedro, Oscar and Hazard before Conte inspired his Chelsea side to victory with his subs and the Blues' increased pressure with the equalizer and winner. After the game, Italian boss Conte defended twenty-seven year old Diego Costa over accusations after suggestions that in two games running, Costa was lucky not to have been carded by referees. Costa was booked for dissent after Watford's goal and 10 minutes later he appeared to take a dive but the referee waved play on and Costa went on to score the winner. Costa escaped a second booking against West Ham in Chelsea’s opener when he caught Hammers’ keeper Adrian with a late challenge and went on to score the winner.
"If every game people find something on Diego it is no good for Chelsea, for Diego, it's better to focus on the game and the match, replied Conte to the accusations. "For me, the first yellow is no good. I don't accept the idea for a second yellow card for a dive but he does have to avoid the first. He may have only played 23 minutes, but the striker had a huge impact on the game. He had the second most shots of any player, four touches in the box, scored the crucial equalizer and hit a post
Mazzari was very disappointed by Chelsea’s loss after Watford’s strong start and great performance in the first 80 minutes. "I am happy for how we played for 70-80 minutes because we played very well but I am not happy with the result,” said Mazzari. "They scored two goals that could have been avoided. We are a team that still has room to grow and there is margin for improvement. The new players can help us a lot and they can help us improve as a team. We played very well so the way we played in the first half, we could have scored twice."
Squads
WatfordGomes; Cathcart, Prodl, Britos, Amrabat, Behrami, Capoue, Guedioura, Holebas, Deeney, Ighalo
Chelsea
Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Kante, Pedro, Oscar, Matic, Hazard, Diego Costa
Man of the match: Michy Batshuayi
England Premier League Tickets for MatchWeek 3
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August 27
Hull City v Manchester United Tickets KC Stadium
Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool Tickets White Hart Lane
Chelsea v Burnley Tickets Stamford Bridge
Watford v Arsenal Tickets Vicarage Road
Everton v Stoke City Tickets Goodison Park
Leicester City v Swansea City Tickets King Power Stadium
August 28
Manchester City v West Ham United Tickets Etihad Stadium
