Chelsea beat West Ham, City, Villa splash cash, injured Mickelson to miss LIV opener

Chelsea came from behind to beat West Ham 2-1 in a pulsating London derby in the Premier League on Monday, making it a miserable return to Stamford Bridge for new Hammers boss Graham Potter. Potter was fired in April 2023 after less than seven months in charge of the Blues, and had to watch as a lucky deflection cost his side at least a point. Chelsea’s second win in eight games lifted them into fourth place in the table, two points above Manchester City and four behind third-placed Nottingham Forest. West Ham remained 15th. Jarrod Bowen’s absence has been notable for West Ham, with the England forward missing the past six games with a foot injury, but he made his presence felt three minutes before half-time when he gave the visitors the lead. Levi Colwill’s back pass from the touchline was woefully short, and Bowen steadied himself before steering a left-foot shot into the bottom corner past goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen. But Chelsea hit back just as West Ham looked to be taking control. Enzo Fernandez’s shot was blocked on the line but the rebound fell kindly for substitute Pedro Neto to lash in. Chelsea won thanks to Cole Palmer’s insistence and a large dollop of luck. With 16 minutes left, Palmer’s cross from a tight angle on the left was deflected into his own net by West Ham defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka. “Just disappointed to be leading and lose the game,” Bowen said. “We left everything out there. We came to a side who are pushing for top four, pushing for the title. On another day, I think it could have been a different result.” Deadline day transfers Manchester City signed Porto midfielder Nico Gonzalez for £50m (US$62.2 million) as the winter transfer window closed. Gonzalez was the club’s fifth signing of the window, and took City’s spending to £180m in transfer fees, making it the second-highest spend by a club worldwide during the winter window after Chelsea, who spent £274m in 2023. After brining in Marcus Rashford on Sunday, Aston Villa added to Unai Emery’s attacking options with the signing of three-time Champions League winner Marco Asensio on loan from Paris Saint-Germain for the rest of the season. Tottenham, meanwhile, confirmed the loan signing of Mathys Tel from Bayern Munich until the end of the season. The 19-year-old reportedly rejected Spurs earlier this month but is now heading to north London with the option to buy for £45.7m on a six-year deal. Ronaldo at the double Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice and new signing Jhon Duran made his debut as Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr beat United Arab Emirates rivals Al-Wasl 4-0 in the AFC Champions League Elite on Monday. The Portuguese star, who turns 40 on Wednesday, bagged his 22nd and 23rd goals of the season for the Riyadh club, who had already secured progression into the round of 16 before this penultimate round of the group stage. Elsewhere, Al-Ain’s defence of their title ended with a whimper, as the UAE side lost 2-1 to Qatar’s Al-Rayyan. The elimination comes nine months after Al-Ain claimed the continental crown for the second time, beating Japan’s Yokohama F Marinos over two legs in the final in May. Al-Nassr cemented third place in the 12-team group while fellow Saudi side Al-Ahli went to the top after winning at Al-Sadd of Qatar 3-1. The top eight from the two groups, representing West and East Asia, advance to the second round. Mickelson out injured Phil Mickelson suffered a minor shoulder injury during a workout in the gym and will miss the LIV Golf season opener in Saudi Arabia this week. Ollie Schniederjans will replace Mickelson in the LIV field this week, joining the captain’s HyFlyers team at LIV Golf Riyadh on Thursday. Mickelson said he was “definitely disappointed” to miss the season opener, but expected to compete next weekend at LIV Golf Adelaide. Schniederjans, a 31-year-old who grew up in Georgia, narrowly missed earning a full LIV card at the LIV Golf Promotions event late last year, but gained the right to play in the 10 events in The International Series in 2025. He capitalised on that on Sunday, winning the International Series India by four strokes over US Open champion and LIV star Bryson DeChambeau. Another stroke back in third place sat a pair of LIV players, Joaquin Niemann and Abraham Ancer.

Chelsea beat West Ham, City, Villa splash cash, injured Mickelson to miss LIV opener

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Lucky Chelsea make Graham Potter’s return an unhappy one, Manchester City take winter spending to US$223.8 million with Gonzalez signing

Lucky Chelsea make Graham Potter’s return an unhappy one, Manchester City take winter spending to US$223.8 million with Gonzalez signing