Premier League round-up: Spurs start in new stadium with win, Man City and Chelsea victorious
A review of Wednesday's action in the top flight...
Premier League results
- Chelsea 3-0 Brighton and Hove Albion
- Manchester City 2-0 Cardiff City
- Tottenham 2-0 Crystal Palace
Tottenham end winless run to start new era brightly
Tottenham enjoyed a historic homecoming as they opened their long-awaited new stadium with a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace.
Son Heung-min created a slice of history for himself as he scored the first competitive goal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, placing himself alongside Tom Smith, who did the same at White Hart Lane way back in 1899, while Christian Eriksen scored the other.
The South Korean struck a heavily deflected effort early in the second half, with Eriksen adding a second in the final 10 minutes to provide the perfect homecoming party.
It has been a long and painful wait to get back home for Spurs - 689 days since they last played at White Hart Lane - but on a memorable evening in front of just over 59,000 fans every one of those 51 trips to Wembley for a 'home' game will have been worth it.
They proved their move back can give them a late-season boost and they revived their top-four hopes with a first victory in six games, putting themselves back above Arsenal into third.
With four of their remaining six Premier League games at this magnificent arena, Mauricio Pochettino's men will be hoping that it will help them over the line in their bid for a fourth successive Champions League qualification.
Opta stats
- Tottenham have won their last eight Premier League meetings against Crystal Palace, the most successive wins they’ve had against side in the competition.
- Crystal Palace are winless in their last seven away league games against Spurs (D2 L5), failing to score in their last six. Their last league win at Spurs was in November 1997, 1-0 courtesy of a Neil Shipperley goal.
- Away from Wembley, Tottenham are unbeaten in their last 15 home London derbies in the Premier League (W11 D4), winning each of the last five at White Hart Lane and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
- Crystal Palace have only won one of their last eight London derbies away from home since the start of last season (W1 D1 L6), losing each of the last three.
- Tottenham forward Son Heung-Min has now scored 12 Premier League goals this season; only in 2016-17 (14) has he ever scored more in a single season in his top-flight league career.
- Christian Eriksen has both scored and assisted in nine Premier League games for Tottenham; more than any other midfielder for the club in the competition.
- Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen has now assisted 59 goals in his 200 Premier League games; only Cesc Fàbregas (66), David Beckham (62), Thierry Henry (61) and Dennis Bergkamp (60) provided more in their first 200 appearances in the competition.
- Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen has provided 11 assists in 29 Premier League appearances this season; one more than he did in 37 games last season.
Manchester City return to the summit
Kevin De Bruyne and Leroy Sane struck as Manchester City returned to the top of the Premier League with a comfortable 2-0 win over relegation-threatened Cardiff.
The quadruple-chasing champions were hardly tested by their lacklustre visitors and eased to victory with goals early and late in the first half.
The result lifted Pep Guardiola's side a point above Liverpool with both teams having six games to play. Cardiff's situation, by contrast, is perilous. The Bluebirds are now five points adrift of safety with no games in hand on any of their relegation rivals.
Neil Warnock's men were unable to rouse themselves again after their battling - and controversial - loss to Chelsea at the weekend, even against a City side showing seven changes.
Opta stats
- Manchester City have won 23 of their 25 home matches across all competitions in 2018-19 (L2), including 16 of 17 in the Premier League (L1).
- Only Chelsea in 2004-05 (31 games) and Manchester City themselves last season (30 games) have reached 80 points (assuming three pts for a win) in fewer games in English top-flight history than the Citizens have this season (32 games).
- Cardiff remain the only side in Premier League history to have never won a midweek match (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) in the competition (P11 W0 D3 L8). They have scored just two goals in their 11 such fixtures.
- Cardiff boss Neil Warnock has lost all eight of his managerial league matches against the reigning top-flight champions, including six in the Premier League; only Paul Jewell (8) and Paul Lambert (7) have a poorer 100% loss rate against reigning champions in the competition.
- Only Blackburn Rovers (18 in 1994-95) have ever scored more goals in the opening 15 minutes of their games in a single Premier League season than Manchester City have in 2018-19 (17).
- Leroy Sane has had a hand in 24 goals in his last 21 appearances at the Etihad Stadium for Manchester City in all competitions (9 goals, 15 assists).
- With an average age of 25 years and 139 days, Manchester City's starting XI against Cardiff was their youngest in a Premier League match since April 2011 against Sunderland (24y 341d).
- Phil Foden (18y 310d) was the youngest player to make his first Premier League start for Manchester City since José Pozo against Leicester in December 2014 (18y 273d), and youngest English player to do so since Daniel Sturridge in January 2008 against Derby (18y 151d).
Chelsea close gap on top four
Callum Hudson-Odoi toasted his full Premier League debut by sparking Chelsea's 3-0 Stamford Bridge rout of Brighton.
The 18-year-old celebrated his full league bow by serving the opening goal on a plate for Olivier Giroud, before Eden Hazard and Ruben Loftus-Cheek dispatched eye-catching second-half strikes.
Hazard's 14th league goal of the campaign and Loftus-Cheek's eighth in all competitions pushed Chelsea above Manchester United into fifth place, but one point off Tottenham in third.
Chelsea's hefty win might now convince boss Maurizio Sarri to let homegrown talents Hudson-Odoi and Loftus-Cheek loose in the bid for both a top-four league finish and Europa League glory.
Opta stats
- Chelsea have won all eight of their league meetings with Brighton, the joint-best 100% win rate against an opponent in English league history (also 8/8 for Wimbledon v Bournemouth).
- Brighton have lost all 10 of their Premier League away games against ‘big six’ sides, scoring just two goals in those matches.
- Callum Hudson-Odoi has been directly involved in nine goals in his nine starts for Chelsea in all competitions, scoring four and assisting five.
- Callum Hudson-Odoi is the youngest player to provide an assist on his first Premier League start for Chelsea (18y 146d).
- Olivier Giroud has been directly involved in eight goals in his last five starts for Chelsea in all competition, scoring six and assisting two.
- Eden Hazard has been directly involved in 16 of Chelsea’s 32 Premier League goals at Stamford Bridge this season (9 goals, 7 assists), over twice that of any other player at the club.
- Chelsea’s Eden Hazard has been directly involved in six goals in his last three Premier League appearances against Brighton, scoring four and assisting two.
- Chelsea’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek has both scored and assisted in a game for the first time ever in any competition.
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