Southampton inflict fresh misery on sloppy Chelsea
Chelsea crashed to a shock 2-1 defeat against Southampton as their rocky start to the English Premier League season took a turn for the worse on Tuesday. Thomas Tuchel's side blew the lead at St Mary's after Raheem Sterling had put them ahead midway through the first half. Chelsea had squandered a host of chances before Sterling's opener and, not for the first time in Tuchel's reign, their profligate finishing came back to haunt them. Romeo Lavia equalised in the 28th minute with his first goal for Southampton, curling home from the edge of the area after Chelsea failed to clear a corner. Adam Armstrong then put Southampton ahead on the stroke of half-time as he took Romain Perraud's pass and drilled a deflected shot past Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. Chelsea, beaten 3-0 at Leeds in their previous away fixture, were unable to muster a response as they slipped to a second defeat from their last three games. With just two wins from their first five matches, the Blues are already five points behind leaders Arsenal, who play their game in hand against Aston Villa on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Everton's wait for a first win this season goes on after Luis Sinisterra's first league goal for Leeds earned them a 1-1 draw at Elland Road. Frank Lampard's team went ahead when Alex Iwobi's incisive pass was flicked through the legs of Diego Llorente by Anthony Gordon, whose clinical finish capped a superb move in the 17th minute. But Colombia winger Sinisterra marked his first start for Jesse Marsch's men in memorable fashion with a composed finish from Brenden Aaronson's pass in the 55th minute. Fulham ended Brighton's unbeaten start to the season with a 2-1 win at Craven Cottage that lifted them to sixth place, and a late leveller from Yoane Wissa rescued Brentford in their 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace. (AFP)