Chelsea slump again as Nketiah stars for five-star Arsenal

LONDON: Chelsea slumped to another damaging home defeat against Brentford on Saturday as Eddie Nketiah hit a hat-trick in a 5-0 win for unbeaten Arsenal against bottom club Sheffield United.

Elsewhere, Bournemouth came from behind to beat Burnley 2-1 and claim their first league victory of the season after Philip Billing netted the winner with an extraordinary lob from 40 yards.

Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea appeared to have turned a corner in recent weeks, taking seven points from their three previous fixtures, but their 2-0 defeat means they have just one home win from their past 13 games in the league.

Ethan Pinnock took advantage of non-existent marking to head the visitors in front shortly before the hour mark after Chelsea had failed to capitalise on their first-half dominance.

Robert Sanchez was embarrassed in added time after joining his team’s attack for a corner, failing to catch Neal Maupay in a race as he broke with the ball, allowing Bryan Mbeumo to score in an empty net to compound home fans’ woes.

The result means Brentford leapfrog Chelsea into 10th place in the Premier League table, pushing Pochettino’s men into the bottom half.

“I’m not happy and think the players also and the whole club is not happy about the run [at home],” said the Argentine manager. “It’s a long time that we need to be more consistent here and very disappointed with this. We feel the responsibility that we need to change the dynamic.”

It was a different story for Arsenal, who roared back from 2-0 down to draw against Chelsea last week to preserve their unbeaten league record.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta shuffled his pack — including dropping captain Martin Odegaard to the bench — for the visit of Sheffield and Nketiah celebrated his recall in style.

Arsenal broke through a resolute Blades defence as Declan Rice’s pinpoint pass was collected by Nketiah, who made no mistake with a close-range finish past Wes Foderingham.

Nketiah doubled up when Foderingham failed to deal with a Bukayo Saka corner and palmed the ball into the path of the England striker, who lashed home to make it 2-0.

Nketiah’s hat-trick was sealed in style as he smashed home from 20 yards.

Arsenal were awarded a penalty after a lengthy VAR check for an Oliver Norwood foul on Fabio Vieira, the Portuguese midfielder taking the spot-kick himself and sending Foderingham the wrong way to make it 4-0.

Another substitute, Takehiro Tomiyasu, completed the rout in stoppage time.

The win lifts Arsenal two points behind pacesetters Tottenham Hotspur, who beat Crystal Palace 2-1 on Friday.

Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs had opened a provisional five-point lead at the top as their unbeaten start to the season continued at Palace.

After a subdued first 45 minutes, Spurs sprang into life early in the second-half as Joel Ward’s own goal and Son Heung-min’s strike earned the victory.

Jordan Ayew pulled a goal back in stoppage time, but it was too little, too late for the Eagles, who are in 11th place with 12 points.

With 10 games gone, albeit the majority of them against sides in the bottom half, Spurs are beginning to look like a side capable of an extended challenge at the top.