SATURDAY PL ROUND-UP – WEST BROM WIN BLACK COUNTRY DERBY, LEICESTER GO 2ND

Featured Image Credit: The Guardian

West Brom won away from home for the first time in this Premier League campaign as they stole the bragging rights from local rivals Wolves.

Elsewhere on a bumper Premier League Saturday, Leicester moved up to 2nd with victory over Southampton, while there were one-goal wins for West Ham, Brighton and Chelsea.

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-3 West Bromwich Albion

West Brom’s first win under Sam Allardyce came at the best possible place for their fans, away at their fierce rivals, Wolves.

Nuno Espírito Santo’s side haven’t won in the league for over a month, and sit down in 15th after this result.

After a penalty from Matheus Pereira gave the visitors the lead, a quickfire double from Fábio Silva and Willy Boly turned the game on its head for Wolves.

However, Semi Ajayi continued his hot streak to equalise, before another spot-kick from Pereira proved enough for a vital three points for the Baggies.

Wolves have a week to work on things on the training ground before taking on Chorley in the FA Cup, while West Brom are in league action again on Tuesday against West Ham.

Fulham 0-1 Chelsea

A late goal from Mason Mount was a welcome relief to Frank Lampard after his Chelsea side struggled to a narrow victory against ten-man Fulham.

The six-time English champions had only won one of their last six league games before the short trip to Craven Cottage.

Antonee Robinson’s red card just before half-time would’ve given Chelsea the impetus they needed to take all three points.

The result takes Chelsea up to 7th and relieves some of the pressure on Lampard, but the performances will need to improve if the Englishman is to continue at the helm at Stamford Bridge, where he played for the vast majority of his career.

Fulham’s improvement has been clear to see of late, but the Cottagers need to start turning draws into wins if they are to climb out of the relegation zone.

Leicester City 2-0 Southampton

Leicester extended their Premier League unbeaten run to five with an impressive victory over Southampton at the King Power Stadium.

Goals from James Maddison and Harvey Barnes saw Brendan Rodgers’ side move up to 2nd in the table and inflicted the visitors’ fifth defeat of the campaign.

Maddison was one of the first players to make an effort to adhere to the new covid-19 protocols around celebrating, which has been a big talking point this week.

He instructed his teammates to keep their distance after opening the scoring, something which the Foxes hope they will be doing in a big game against Chelsea in midweek.

Leeds United 0-1 Brighton & Hove Albion

Graham Potter’s Brighton picked up a massive win at Elland Road to put distance between themselves and the bottom three.

The Seagulls have been guilty of missing too many opportunities this season, but had been keeping their points tally ticking over with four draws from their last six in the league.

Neal Maupay’s early goal was enough for their first league win since November.

For Leeds, the misery continues after their FA Cup exit to League Two Crawley last week.

West Ham United 1-0 Burnley

West Ham produced another excellent result as Michail Antonio scored for the first time since returning from injury to help see off Burnley.

Antonio was the Hammers’ top scorer in 2019-20, so his contributions could be crucial if David Moyes is to lead his team to a possible European push, especially after the departure of Sébastien Haller.

Burnley shouldn’t be too concerned following a recent upturn in form after their injury list was significantly reduced, but they do play Liverpool and Manchester City in two of their next four league games.