2020-2021 Premier League

(BBC Sport) Frank Lampard says his Chelsea players may be suffering from fatigue after Wolves came from behind to beat the Blues with an added-time winner. Pedro Neto's 95th-minute strike gave the hosts a dramatic victory at Molineux and stopped Lampard's side going top of the Premier League.

Daniel Podence had equalised in the second half after Olivier Giroud put the Blues ahead. The Portugal forward tiptoed through the Chelsea defence before wrong-footing goalkeeper Edouard Mendy with a shot that deflected in off Reece James. It came after a fierce Giroud volley from Ben Chilwell's cross crept through Rui Patricio's gloves to open the scoring for the visitors.

Neto was denied a late penalty for the hosts after referee Stuart Attwell reviewed his original decision on the pitch-side monitor and judged the Wolves forward was not fouled by James. But the 20-year-old broke away in the 95th minute and fired a low strike into the far corner beyond Mendy to earn Wolves only their second win in six games.

It is a second successive defeat for Chelsea after they were beaten at Everton on Saturday, another game in which they could have gone top of the table.

"There could be some fatigue," said Lampard, whose side have already played five games in December. "I hate to say it after a defeat because it feels like an excuse but even in the first 60 minutes when we were the better team, we didn't have a zip about us.

"We've travelled up to Everton, came back and then travelled to Wolves but everyone is in the same boat. We have a couple of injuries in areas which means I can't make too many changes so I understand that side of it."

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(BBC Sport) Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said "you have to win this kind of game" after his side were held to a frustrating draw by struggling West Brom.

Baggies goalkeeper Sam Johnstone made two point-blank stoppage-time saves to deny City victory and leave Guardiola's side sixth in the Premier League table, five points off the top. "It will be a long season but if you want to be up there we have to win here and we could not do it," he said. "We created chances, we controlled it but you have to win. This game works on results."

City seemed on course for a customary home win against West Brom when Ilkay Gundogan applied a first-time finish to Raheem Sterling's cutback after half an hour. But the midfielder's first goal in 22 games was cancelled out before half-time when a volley on the turn from Semi Ajayi, which appeared to be going wide, deflected off Ruben Dias and wrong-footed City keeper Ederson.

It was the first goal City had conceded in 608 minutes in all competitions and was followed by a valiant backs-to-the-wall effort from Slaven Bilic's visitors, who defended heroically.

It seems that the point may still not be enough to keep Bilic in the job, with the 52-year-old's exit potentially coming as early as Wednesday. Uncertainty over Bilic's future has been fuelled by his admission there have been no talks over a new contract, with his current one due to expire in the summer.

(The Guardian) Sam Allardyce is back in the Premier League after answering an SOS call from West Brom following the club’s sacking of Slaven Bilic. A rescue specialist who has managed seven other top-flight clubs without being relegated, Allardyce has been parachuted into the Hawthorns on an 18-month contract and with the mission to lead Albion to safety.

After 13 matches West Brom are 19th, their sole league win of the season coming against the only team beneath them, Sheffield United. The club indicated that Allardyce’s experience of helping teams to survive was a key reason for hiring him. Allardyce will take his first training session on Thursday with his longtime assistant Sammy Lee.

West Brom’s sporting and technical director, Luke Dowling, told the club’s website: “In Sam we have a man who has a proven Premier League pedigree with a track record of improving every club he has managed. We believe and, more importantly, Sam believes we have a group of players that have the quality needed to give the club its best chance of Premier League survival.”

West Brom had earlier confirmed the decision to dismiss Bilic in a curt statement. “West Bromwich Albion have today parted company with head coach Slaven Bilic. Assistant coaches, Dean Racunica and Danilo Butorovic, and first-team coach Julian Dicks have also left the club with immediate effect. The Baggies are currently 19th in the Premier League table with seven points from 13 fixtures. Albion would like to thank Slaven and his coaching staff for their efforts in achieving promotion last season and wishes them all well in the future.”

The timing of the decision is surprising insofar as it came after a commendable 1-1 draw at Manchester City on Tuesday, during which West Brom showed defensive qualities they had lacked for much of the season. However, the board evidently decided improvement was unlikely to last under Bilic, whose relationship with senior figures in the club’s hierarchy has been strained for several months.

The situation has been clouded by uncertainty regarding the club’s owner, Lai Guochuan, who has been reported to be keen to reduce or even end his involvement.

Bilic was given relatively few transfer funds after winning promotion, with an initial £20m spent on squad reinforcements in preparation for a Premier League campaign that was always likely to be a battle against relegation. The manager made his unhappiness known in October when the centre-back Ahmed Hegazi was sold against his wishes and contrary to assurances he said he had been given. Two recruits for whom Bilic had lobbied hard, Branislav Ivanovic and Karlan Grant, have yet to prove their worth.

The fact that the club said, as part of their announcement of Allardyce’s appointment, that “Sam believes we have a group of players that have the quality needed to give the club its best chance of Premier League survival” suggests Albion do not intend to spend heavily in January and are counting on Allardyce getting more out of their players than Bilic has been able to.

Allardyce started his coaching career at West Brom under Brian Talbot in 1989 and has managed Bolton, Newcastle, Blackburn, West Ham, Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Everton in the Premier League. He also had a brief spell in charge of England in 2016.

(BBC Sport) Aston Villa did everything but score in a thoroughly entertaining goalless stalemate with Burnley as the hosts failed to win for the fourth successive home match.

In a pulsating game, Villa had 15 shots in the first half alone and twice hit the woodwork.

Matthew Lowton denied his former club by hacking Ahmed El Mohamady's shot off the line before Nick Pope tipped Anwar El Ghazi's attempt on to the bar. Kortney Hause headed against the post while Burnley's best chance fell to Chris Wood whose header was clawed away by Emiliano Martinez.

Despite failing to win, Villa have kept six clean sheets in the Premier League this season - more than any other side - while boss Dean Smith said he was not concerned by his side's failure to score. "We had enough chances to win two games, maybe even three," he said. "My concern is when you're not getting chances. We look like a team unlikely to concede goals as well, when you do that you'll accumulate points."

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(BBC Sport) Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was frustrated by his side's "sloppy start" but praised their "brilliant football" as they moved to sixth in the Premier League with a comeback victory over bottom club Sheffield United.

Marcus Rashford's double ensured the visitors maintained their perfect away record in the Premier League this season but it came after a horror start and a late scare.

Goalkeeper Dean Henderson, playing against his former club, gifted the Blades an opener after five minutes when forward Oliver Burke blocked his clearance, allowing David McGoldrick to tap in.

John Fleck missed a glorious chance to make it 2-0, which proved costly as Solskjaer's side dominated for much of the match against the winless Blades. Rashford equalised after 26 minutes, his powerful strike from Victor Lindelof's through ball giving Aaron Ramsdale no chance.

Anthony Martial ended his 491-minute goal drought by collecting Paul Pogba's pass and beating Ramsdale at the second attempt.

And Rashford appeared to have made things comfortable nine minutes after the break by shooting under the diving Ramsdale following a swift counter attack. But there was late concern when McGoldrick headed in from a corner for the hosts with three minutes left, and Henderson then saved Lys Mousset's shot.

"We played some brilliant football between their first goal and their second goal - the end was a bit too uncomfortable for my liking," Solskjaer said. "We never make it easy for ourselves. The start was sloppy and slow, and I'm surprised by this because we showed them videos and it happened again. It was a test for Dean after making a mistake like this, but he passed with flying colours."

Victory moves Manchester United to within a point of fourth-placed Leicester City, while Chris Wilder's Blades have made the worst start to a season in top-flight history after 13 games, and remain nine points from safety.

Sunday saw another quartet of matches across the grounds....

(SU) Despite going down to 10 men on the pitch, Sheffield United held hosts Brighton to a 1-1 draw down on the South Coast
(SU) Leicester City roared back into 2nd on the league table with a 2-0 victory over hosts Tottenham Hotspur
(SU) Meanwhile, out at Old Trafford, Manchester United roared into 3rd with a 6-2 thumping of Leeds United and
(SU) Finally, over at the Hawthorns, Aston Villa laid the wood to West Brom in a 3-0 thumping of their own

Boxing Day saw six matches across the English grounds....

(SA) Leicester City, despite falling behind twice, came back to split the points w/visitors Manchester United 2-2 over at the King Power
(SA) Aston Villa continue their thus-far impressive season w/a 3-0 shellacking of visitors Crystal Palace
(SA) A hard-fought duel at Craven Cottage saw hosts Fulham draw 0-0 w/visitors Southampton
(SA) Arsenal ended their seven-game skid w/a 3-1 win over fellow Londoners Chelsea out at the Emirates
(SA) Over at the Etihad, Manchester City picked up all three points in a nonchalant 2-0 win over Newcastle United and
(SA) Finally, out at Bramall Lane, Everton's Gylfi Sigurdsson helped lift the Toffees' into 2nd in the table (for the time being) w/a 1- win over Sheffield United

(BBC Sport) Manchester City's Premier League match at Everton on Monday has been postponed four hours before kick-off because of an outbreak of coronavirus at the club.

The latest tests have returned more positive results, in addition to those of Gabriel Jesus, Kyle Walker and two staff members revealed on 25 December. The City training ground will be closed for an "indeterminate period".

City cited "a risk the virus could spread" among the squad with the "security of the bubble compromised".

A statement added: "After the latest round of Covid-19 testing, the club returned a number of positive cases, in addition to the four already reported on Christmas Day. Based on strong medical advice the Premier League, in consultation with both clubs, have decided to postpone the fixture."

The Premier League said the rise in cases at City "created uncertainty" and that the competition's board "received medical advice that the match should be postponed". A league statement continued: "The board agreed to rearrange the game as a precaution, and further testing will now take place tomorrow [Tuesday]. The decision has been taken with the health of players and staff the priority.

"The Premier League continues to have full confidence in its protocols and rules, and the way in which all clubs are implementing them."

It is the second Premier League match to be called off because of coronavirus since the top flight's resumption in June. Newcastle's match at Aston Villa, scheduled for early December, was also postponed.

A number of English Football League matches have also been postponed.

City are scheduled to play at Chelsea on Sunday, 3 January, followed by their Carabao Cup semi-final at Manchester United on Wednesday, 6 January. The club said their squad and associated bubble will have testing before a decision is made whether to resume training.

Also on Monday. Rochdale announced their next two League One fixtures would be postponed because of Covid-19.

(BBC Sport) Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson said it took an "apoplectic" half-time team talk from assistant boss Ray Lewington to spark them into life in Monday's draw with Leicester. Coming after a 7-0 thrashing by Liverpool and a 3-0 loss to 10-man Aston Villa, Palace were second best throughout the first 45 minutes and only got to half-time goalless after Vicente Guaita saved Kelechi Iheanachi's 19th-minute penalty.

"We were dumbfounded that we were as passive as we were," Hodgson told Match of the Day. "We were not at all happy with our first half. They were more aggressive than us and we were being pressured into mistakes."

The hosts were much more combative after half-time, however, and took the lead when Wilfried Zaha finished superbly from Andros Townsend's cross, only for Harvey Barnes' second goal in as many games to rescue a point for the Foxes.

"It almost cost [Lewington] a heart attack to produce that energy," Hodgson said in a separate interview with Amazon Prime. "That is what Crystal Palace want to be and we pressurised the ball so much better. We looked dangerous going forward but unfortunately we did not get the full three points because Barnes scored with a wonderful strike."

Leicester, who made seven alterations to the team that drew with Manchester United on Saturday, registered 17 attempts but failed to test Guaita from open play until Barnes' late goal. The visitors' only other effort on target was from Ayoze Perez, whose first-half free-kick was easily held by the Spanish goalkeeper.

The point lifts the visitors up to second in the Premier League table, while Palace move eight points clear of the bottom three.

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(BBC Sport) Anwar El Ghazi scored his fifth goal in as many games as Aston Villa came from behind to earn a point against Chelsea in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge.

Villa were trailing to an Olivier Giroud header when El Ghazi scored a second-half equaliser that saw the in-form visitors stretch their unbeaten run to five games.

Dean Smith's side started brightly but found themselves behind when Giroud marked his return to the Chelsea starting line-up with a trademark finish from Ben Chilwell's cross. Parity was restored five minutes after the interval, though, when the unmarked El Ghazi converted Matty Cash's inviting delivery at the back post.

Both sides had chances to steal victory, with Villa coming closest when John McGinn smashed a thunderous long-range effort off the crossbar.

The result sees Villa move up to fifth in the table, level on points with sixth-placed Chelsea - with both sides now a point outside the top four. Villa have two games in hand on second-placed Leicester and are three points behind the Foxes.