Published : Tuesday, 21 September, 2021 at 12:00 AM Count : 391
LONDON, SEPT 20: Chelsea powered to the top of the Premier League with an impressive 3-0 win at Tottenham, while David de Gea saved a stoppage-time penalty to preserve Manchester United's 2-1 victory at West Ham after Jesse Lingard returned to haunt his old club on Sunday. On an emotional day in north London, Chelsea and Tottenham paid tribute to their former striker Jimmy Greaves, who died aged 81 on Sunday. In a moving tribute, several former Tottenham greats, including Greaves' old team-mate Martin Chivers, lined up on the touchline to join both teams and the 62,000 crowd in a minute's applause. It was Chelsea who showed the predatory instincts that made Greaves Tottenham's record scorer with 266 goals in 379 appearances between 1961 and 1970. Greaves started his career with a prolific spell at Chelsea and netted 44 times in 57 appearances for England, featuring in their 1966 World Cup-winning squad.
He would have admired the ruthless way Chelsea killed off their London rivals. Thiago Silva put Chelsea ahead with a 49th minute header before N'Golo Kante netted with a long-range effort that deflected off Eric Dier eight minutes later. Kante's first club goal since December 2019 was followed by Antonio Rudiger's fine low finish in stoppage-time. Thomas Tuchel's unbeaten side sit top of the Premier League after winning four of their first five games, while Tottenham have suffered two successive top-flight defeats. Chelsea have only conceded one league goal so far this season despite a tricky fixture list that featured trips to Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal. "I was absolutely not happy with the first 45 minutes," Tuchel said. "I had the feeling we wanted to impress by pure skills. "In derbies like this it is not always about just skills. It is about aggression and winning duels. -AFP