Chelsea resurgence, a seven-goal thriller, and referring blunders — The Talking Points from Premier League Gameweek 7
Brighton had a forgettable day against Spurs, mostly down to decisions not going their way.
“I prefer to stay away” — This is what Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho had to say on the controversial VAR decision which got Brighton & Hove Albion back into the game. The incident involved Solly March bringing down Pierre-Emile Kordt Højbjerg, but referee Graham Scott let the play go on, which allowed Tariq Lamptey to score a delightful leveler past the stranded Hugo Lloris. In spite of checking on the VAR monitor himself, Scott let the goal stand. Safe to say, Mourinho wasn’t impressed.
“Probably the referee should go to the press conference and explain. He had time to go to the screen so only he can explain why it is a goal. He is a good ref and a good guy, only he can explain that decision. My view doesn’t matter.”
There were two more blunders in the first half — one which disallowed a penalty to Brighton; another which allowed one to Spurs. The latter was confidently taken by Harry Kane, before returning hero Gareth Bale combined with former Real Madrid teammate Sergio Reguilon to head home the winning goal, and take Spurs to second in the league table.
Jose Mourinho’s former club Chelsea, meanwhile, is on a resurgence with all of Frank Lampard’s signings this season clicking and producing the goods for the Blues. Kurt Zouma and new signings Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner grabbed a goal each versus an uncharacteristically meek Burnley to move into the Top 6 of the table, with the European qualifying slots firmly in sight now. Chelsea is also top of their Champions League group, so things are finally looking up this season for the Boys in Blue.
Meanwhile, at Villa Park, a seven-goal thriller was played out with Southampton grabbing the winning goal via Danny Ings. There were six different scorers — Jannik Vestergaard, James Ward-Prowse, Danny Ings for the Saints; Tyrone Mings, Ollie Watkins, and Jack Grealish for the hosts — but Ward-Prowse’s brace eventually proved to be the differentiating factor.
Both the Villians and the Saints are firing on all cylinders in attack and look set to claim a strong challenge for a Top 10 finish, one they would thoroughly deserve, going by the scheme of things in the Premier League thus far.
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