London: Chelsea’s new signing Gonzalo Higuain netted his first two Premier League goals in Chelsea’s 5-0 thrashing of Huddersfield Town while Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min struck late for a 1-0 win over Newcastle United as they moved into second place.
At Cardiff, there were a series of tributes to the club’s missing striker Emiliano Sala by players and supporters in the 2-0 win over Bournemouth.
Goals were never an issue at Chelsea where their new loan signing wasted little time in introducing supporters — and reminding coach Maurizio Sarri — of his potency.
First Higuain made space in the area to fire home from a tight angle after 16 minutes and then produced a shot that deflected past the keeper in the 69th.
With Eden Hazard also scoring twice, and David Luiz adding the fifth, Chelsea gave the prefect response to their 0-4 midweek drubbing at Bournemouth, which had piled pressure on Sarri.
“Apart from the goals (Higuain scored), he is really very suitable to play very close to Eden,” said Sarri. “I think that on the pitch they are really very suitable to play one close to the other.”
The win took Chelsea back to fourth place, three points above Arsenal, who visit third-placed Manchester City Sunday. Leaders Liverpool visit West Ham, Monday.
Spurs are making a habit of scoring late winners with Son, who also got the equaliser against Watford in midweek. They moved above Manchester City by a point and within four of Liverpool.
Having wasted a series of chances, Spurs finally scored in the 83rd minute although Son owed a vote of thanks to Newcastle keeper Martin Dubravka, who somehow allowed a hopeful shot from outside the area to creep under his body.
At Cardiff, the stadium was flooded with tributes for Sala, who has not been seen since the plane he was travelling in went missing almost two weeks ago.
Supporters displayed a mosaic in the national colours of the Argentine striker while Cardiff’s players paid their own tribute when Bobby Reid put them ahead by holding up a T-shirt bearing Sala’s image. Reid added a second after the break to move Cardiff within two points of the safety zone.
Agencies
