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EPL: Havertz gives Chelsea happy moment after turbulent week, Everton in trouble

March 13, 2022
Henry Club

A week of unprecedented turmoil for Chelsea ended in a happy moment.

In a game that came as a symbol of the Premier League’s connection to so-called “sportswashing” by owners without taste, Kai Havertz scored 89 to guide Chelsea to a 1-0 win over Newcastle in the Premier League on Sunday. Netted the winner of the th minute.

Havertz used an excellent first touch to control a cross into the box and then a quiet finish in the net to set up wild celebrations among the capacity crowd at Stamford Bridge.

It may take some time to play in front of Chelsea’s resold home stadium after the UK government banned Russian owner Roman Abramovich, but uncertainty over the club’s future has not affected the ground so far.

The win follows a 3-1 win over Norwich on Thursday and kept Chelsea’s solid hold on third place in the standings. For Newcastle, it was the club’s first league defeat of the year, ending a nine-game unbeaten run.

In other games, relegation-threatened Watford and Leeds both pulled off much-needed victories, while Everton’s struggle continued and Ukraine forward Andrey Yarmolenko scored an emotional goal to help West Ham take the win.

But the Chelsea-Newcastle clash was always going to be the standout game of the day due to the incidents off the pitch.

Chelsea have been given a special license to continue playing after Abramovich was cleared of his attempt to sell the club because of his ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Newcastle, meanwhile, is facing a fresh investigation after Saudi Arabia’s mass executions on Saturday executed 81 people convicted of various crimes. Newcastle were bought by Saudi Arabia’s Sovereign Wealth Fund in October, although both the club and the Premier League have insisted that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not involved in the club’s operations.

Havertz may have had the good fortune of running away with just a yellow card for elbowing Dan Byrne in the first half in an aerial duel. In the end, his goal meant Chelsea survived with a win that could speak of a full-blown crisis – for now.

“You feel sorry for everyone in the club, also for the supporters, the workers, not only for us professionals, for the academy, for everyone, this is a difficult time,” Havertz said. “But we tried to give everything for them at this time and if you can give them moments like this, it is always good because we all have to stand together in this time and we tried to do that. We try to win matches and make them feel good.”

the battle for exile heats up

In a tough race to avoid relegation, Watford and Leeds both raised their chances of staying atop, while Everton slipped close to being out of the top flight for the first time in 71 years.

Cucho Hernandez netted twice to give Watford a 2–1 win at Southampton, while Leeds, thanks to an injury-time winner, ended a six-game losing streak after beating last-place Norwich by the same score.

Kenny McLean equalized for Norwich early in stoppage time, but Joe Gellhart then came off the bench to set the winning net for Leeds and give American manager Jesse Marsh his first win on the third attempt.

At Goodison Park, childhood Liverpool fan Conor Cody led a second-half winner for Wolverhampton to a 1-0 win over 10-man Everton.

England The international specialist saw Ruben Neves’ cross and Jonzo Kenny was sent off for two yellow cards in the space of three minutes to sabotage Everton’s hopes of a comeback.

The result means Watford are now on points with 17th-placed Everton, although Frank Lampard’s team has three games in hand. Leeds moved up four points from the relegation zone.

yermolenko in tears

Yarmolenko was back in West Ham’s squad for the first time since being given a compassionate leave due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and was in tears after scoring the opening goal to help his team beat Aston Villa 2-1 Was.

Yarmolenko celebrated his 70th-minute goal by falling on his knees with both hands pointing to the sky as his teammates surrounded him.

Yarmolenko received a standing ovation from both sets of fans as he came on as a 53rd-minute substitute for Michael Antonio.

Pablo Fornals doubled the lead in the 82nd before Jacob Ramsey pulled back once for Villa in injury time.

Arsenal were playing Leicester in the late game.