Pochettino’s Chelsea lose again, Spurs stay unbeaten

LONDON, England (AP):

Mauricio Pochettino listened to the boos ring out at Stamford Bridge after Chelsea slumped to another disappointing loss in the English Premier League (EPL).

Across London, Ange Postecoglou was greeted by a standing ovation from his Tottenham supporters after another impressive performance by Spurs against archrival Arsenal.

The two managers' contrasting starts to the season were underlined yesterday by Chelsea's 1-0 home loss to Aston Villa while Tottenham drew 2-2 at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium.

That was followed by Newcastle equalling their biggest EPL win with an 8-0 rout of Sheffield United in the late game.

Pochettino, the former Tottenham manager who took over Chelsea in the offseason following a chaotic season that saw the Blues go through three coaches, now has just one win and three losses to show for his first six games in charge. The latest defeat came after Chelsea's Malo Gusto was sent off in the 58th minute, and Villa forward Ollie Watkins scored the winner in the 73rd.

Postecoglou, meanwhile, is still unbeaten in the league after passing his biggest test yet in his first north London derby. It was Tottenham's first point at Arsenal since 2019.

Son Heung-min scored both goals for Tottenham, who came from behind twice after an own-goal by Cristian Romero and a penalty by Bukayo Saka. The second equaliser came just 23 seconds after Arsenal had regained the lead, following a crucial mistake by Jorginho, who dawdled on the ball in midfield and gave it away.

On yesterday's busy schedule featuring five EPL games, Liverpool climbed into second place with a 3-1 win over West Ham at Anfield. Brighton beat Bournemouth 3-1 behind two goals from substitute Kaoru Mitoma.

CHELSEA SHUT OUT AGAIN

Chelsea's attacking woes were on display again despite dominating much of the game until Gusto's sending-off. The Blues have scored just five goals in six league games, with only one coming from starting striker Nicolas Jackson.

"I am not frustrated, just disappointed," Pochettino said. "We are confident in the way we perform. The only thing we are missing is scoring. If we keep working hard, we will change."

Jackson missed his best chance in the first half when he was teed up by a defence-splitting pass from Mykhailo Mudryk. His shot was saved by Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez.

Gusto was sent off for a challenge on Lucas Digne that was upgraded from a yellow card to a red after a VAR review, and Villa took advantage when the visitors won the ball back high in the Chelsea half to launch a counterattack.

Levi Colwill slid in to block Watkins' initial shot, but the Villa striker reacted quickest to seize on the rebound and lash his second effort past Robert Sanchez from an angle and in off the far post.

SON RESCUES SPURS

Coming to the hostile environment of the Emirates Stadium promised to be a good indicator of whether Postecoglou's attack-minded "Angeball" style of play can work even in big away games.

Son and James Maddison made sure it worked just fine.

Maddison set up Son for both goals, first breaking in from the left and squaring the ball for a first-time finish to level the score at 1-1 shortly before the half-time break. After Saka restored Arsenal's lead from the spot in the 54th, Maddison responded immediately by robbing Jorginho of the ball and sending Son clear through on goal to beat goalkeeper David Raya with a low finish.