MANCHESTER: Erling Haaland fired Manchester City to the top of the Premier League by beating West Ham 3-0, while Chelsea fought back to salvage a 2-2 draw at Newcastle on Saturday.&nbsp;Arsenal can retake top spot for Christmas when they visit Everton later, but City ramped up the pressure on the Gunners with a seventh consecutive win in all competitions.&nbsp;The Hammers feared a rout when Haaland smashed home after just five minutes.&nbsp;Alphonse Areola saved the Norwegian&#39;s first effort before the ball broke kindly for Haaland to fire into the top corner.&nbsp;Haaland turned provider for City&#39;s second just before half-time as Tijjani Reijnders scored his first goal at the Etihad.&nbsp;West Ham missed a number of chances to halve the deficit early in the second period as they remain in the relegation zone.&nbsp;Haaland, by contrast, was ruthless as he netted his 38th goal of the season already for club and country when the ball broke his way 21 minutes from time to move City one point ahead of Arsenal.&nbsp;Chelsea remain in fourth as a second-half fightback rescued manager Enzo Maresca from more speculation over his future.&nbsp;The Italian claimed after last weekend&#39;s win over Everton that he and his players had not received enough support during a difficult run of results.&nbsp;Maresca was then linked with being Pep Guardiola&#39;s successor at City in recent days.&nbsp;Newcastle aggrievedChelsea have won just once in their last five league games to see ambitions of a title challenge wilt.&nbsp;But it could have been even worse for Maresca as Nick Woltemade&#39;s double put Newcastle 2-0 up in a dominant first half from the Magpies.&nbsp;A brilliant Reece James free-kick brought the Blues back into the game before Joao Pedro pounced on an error from Malick Thiaw to equalise.&nbsp;Newcastle felt aggrieved as two late appeals for penalties and for James to be sent off were dismissed to leave Eddie Howe&#39;s men languishing in 11th.&nbsp;&quot;My last week has not been complicated, it has been good. We beat Everton, we beat Cardiff (in the League Cup) and we drew with Newcastle away, so in terms of results, I&#39;m happy,&quot; said Maresca.&nbsp;&quot;Again, there are things that for sure we can do better, but I think we&#39;re going in the right direction.&quot;&nbsp;

Football

Erling Haaland scored twice as Manchester City beat West Ham 3-0, moving top of the Premier League. Chelsea salvaged a 2-2 draw at Newcastle with a second-half comeback, easing pressure on manager Enzo Maresca.

Haaland sends Man City top, Chelsea fightback frustrates Newcastle

LONDON: Chelsea quelled criticism of Enzo Maresca&#39;s rotation policy with a 3-0 win against Wolves featuring the first goal of Malo Gusto&#39;s career on Saturday.&nbsp;Former Manchester United star Wayne Rooney said Chelsea&#39;s senior players should &quot;question&quot; Maresca&#39;s selections after the Italian made seven changes for a 2-2 draw against Azerbaijani minnows Qarabag in the Champions League on Wednesday.&nbsp;Having defended himself from Rooney&#39;s jibe by insisting the physical demands on players are greater than ever, Maresca made eight changes at Stamford Bridge.&nbsp;It was the sixth consecutive match that Maresca had made seven or more alterations and the move paid off with a strong second half performance that lifted Chelsea into second place in the Premier League.&nbsp;French defender Gusto, who arrived from Lyon in 2023, put Chelsea ahead after the interval with his maiden professional goal.&nbsp;Joao Pedro doubled the lead and Pedro Neto wrapped up Chelsea&#39;s fourth win in their last five league games as they closed within six points of leaders Arsenal.&nbsp;Although they will drop out of second place after Manchester City face Liverpool on Sunday, Maresca will be relieved to silence his critics heading into the international break.&nbsp;&quot;It&#39;s more noise from outside. Inside, we are convinced that as a club as a team we are going in the right direction and doing good things,&quot; Maresca said.&nbsp;&quot;We played well. I think the only difference between the first half and second half is that in the second half we scored the goals that we didn&#39;t in the first half.&quot;&nbsp;On the rotation controversy, he added: &quot;It&#39;s part of my job, it&#39;s part of the game.&nbsp;&quot;At the end this is a business that when you don&#39;t win there are problems but when you win everything is good.&quot;&nbsp;Bottom-of-the-table Wolves, led by academy coaches James Collins and Richard Walker after Vitor Pereira&#39;s sacking last weekend, are eight points from safety following their ninth defeat in 11 league games.&nbsp;Middlesbrough have granted their manager Rob Edwards permission to speak to Wolves over the job after agreeing a compensation deal on Saturday.&nbsp;Chelsea only arrived home in London at six o&#39;clock on Thursday morning after their long flight back from Baku and, despite Maresca&#39;s switches; they looked jet-lagged in the first half.&nbsp;Chelsea hit their strideAlejandro Garnacho had rescued Chelsea with an equaliser against Qarabag and the Argentine winger should have opened the scoring in the early stages in west London.&nbsp;Enzo Fernandez&#39;s pass sent Garnacho through but his low drive was well saved by Sam Johnstone.&nbsp;Johnstone came to Wolves rescue again, tipping over Fernandez&#39;s blast from the edge of the area.&nbsp;After making two fine stops, Johnstone was guilty of a mistake when he allowed Fernandez&#39;s corner to loop over him towards the goal, with Toti Gomes making an agile clearance off the line.&nbsp;Despite Chelsea&#39;s territorial dominance, their fans began to grow frustrated at their ponderous passing and failure to put Wolves to the sword.&nbsp;Joao Pedro squandered a golden opportunity to ease Chelsea&#39;s angst on the stroke of half-time when he shot wide from an unmarked position on the edge of the area.&nbsp;Chelsea were booed off at the interval, but their frustrated fans were finally able to cheer in the 51st minute.&nbsp;Garnacho was the catalyst with a driving run and cross into the six-yard box, where Gusto headed home with aplomb.&nbsp;Maresca sent on emerging star Estevao Willian and the teenage Brazilian took just 67 seconds to make immediate impact as he set up Chelsea&#39;s second goal in the 65th minute.&nbsp;Estevao&#39;s dynamic burst ended with a perfectly-weighted cross for Joao Pedro, who drilled a fierce strike past Johnstone from 12 yards.&nbsp;The Blues had hit their stride and Neto put the seal on the victory in the 73rd minute, the former Wolves winger tapping in Garnacho&#39;s tempting cross.

It is the sixth consecutive match that Maresca made seven or more alterations and the move paid off with a strong second half performance that lifted Chelsea into second place in the Premier League.

Chelsea down Wolves to ease criticism of Maresca's rotation policy

Nottingham Forest fired manager Ange Postecoglou around 20 minutes after a 3-0 loss to Chelsea on Saturday and just 39 days after the Australian took over.&nbsp;Postecoglou didn&rsquo;t win any of his eight matches in charge after replacing Nuno Espirito Santo on September 9, and owner Evangelos Marinakis made a ruthless call after Forest&#39;s fourth straight loss in all competitions.&nbsp;&ldquo;Nottingham Forest Football Club can confirm that after a series of disappointing results and performances, Ange Postecoglou has been relieved of his duties as head coach with immediate effect,&rdquo; a statement read.&nbsp;&ldquo;The club will make no further comment at this time.&rdquo;&nbsp;It was Postecoglou&#39;s first job since being fired by Tottenham at the end of last season, despite leading Spurs to the Europa League title to break their 17-year trophy drought.&nbsp;Forest lost six and drew the other two of its eight games under Postecoglou. That included four losses from five in the league, scoring just one goal in the process, to leave Forest hovering just above the bottom three.&nbsp;Nuno was fired despite leading Forest into Europe following a very public falling-out with Marinakis, reportedly stemming from a breakdown in relations with the club&rsquo;s recently hired global head of football, Edu Gaspar.&nbsp;Postecoglou seemed an odd choice as the replacement, given his preferred style of play on the front foot and attacking, differed to Nuno&#39;s and the squad in place at the City Ground.&nbsp;If the idea was for Postecoglou to bring a more expansive approach to Forest, it didn&#39;t materialize. In five league games under the Australian, the team scored one goal.&nbsp;There were loud jeers at the full-time whistle at the Chelsea game.&nbsp;Who next?There was no immediate word of a replacement but British media has already reported that Sean Dyche, the former Burnley and Everton manager, was in line to take over should Forest fire Postecoglou.&nbsp;Dyche was sacked by Everton in January. He was a youth-team player at Forest before a career spent at lower-league clubs.&nbsp;His direct and pragmatic playing style is more similar to Nuno&#39;s than Postecoglou&#39;s.

Nottingham Forest fired manager Ange Postecoglou just 39 days after hiring him. The Australian failed to win any of his eight games. Sean Dyche is reported to be the frontrunner for replacement.

Articles tagged with "Chelsea"

Haaland sends Man City top, Chelsea fightback frustrates Newcastle

Chelsea down Wolves to ease criticism of Maresca's rotation policy

Postecoglou fired minutes after Forest’s 3-0 Premier League defeat

Haaland sends Man City top, Chelsea fightback frustrates Newcastle