Both clubs also paid an emotional tribute to their former striker Jimmy Greaves on Sunday.

Thiago Silva put Chelsea ahead early in the second half before N’Golo Kante bagged his first club goal since December 2019.

Antonio Rudiger rounded off Chelsea’s dominant display with a stoppage-time strike as Thomas Tuchel’s latest tactical masterclass paid rich dividends.

Tuchel’s unbeaten side sit top of the Premier League after winning four of their first five games.

Chelsea have only conceded one league goal so far this season despite a tricky fixture list that featured trips to Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal.

They face another test of their title credentials next weekend when champions Manchester City visit Stamford Bridge.

It was fitting that two of Greaves’ old clubs met on the day he passed away aged 81.

Hailed as “the finest marksman this country has ever seen” by Tottenham, Greaves is the club’s record scorer with 266 goals in 379 appearances between 1961 and 1970.

The charismatic Londoner 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.

An image of Greaves wearing Tottenham’s famous white shirt was displayed on screens inside and outside the club’s north London stadium before kick-off.

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.

“Jimmy was an incredible player, a legend for club and country. It’s frightening really how good he was,” said Tottenham striker Harry Kane, who is second behind Greaves with 223 goals for the club.

Clinical Instincts 

Tottenham players react as Chelsea players congratulate Chelsea’s French midfielder N’Golo Kante after he scored their second goal during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on September 19, 2021. JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP

Kane had urged Tottenham to “put in a great performance” in Greaves’ honour.

But the England captain was unable to land his first league goal this season as Chelsea showed the kind of ruthless instincts Greaves would have approved of.

In a tight first half, Chelsea’s Andreas Christensen shot just over from the edge of the area before Kai Havertz poked narrowly wide after Marcos Alonso’s cross caused chaos in the Tottenham defence.

With Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy absent after complaining of a hip injury in midweek Champions League win over Zenit St Petersburg, Kepa Arrizabalaga made his first start this season.

Tottenham’s frenetic tempo meant Kepa had to stay alert and he rushed off his line to save bravely at Son Heung-min’s feet after the South Korean sprinted onto Giovani Lo Celso’s pass.

In a game-changing move, Tuchel sent on France midfielder Kante for Mason Mount at half-time, neutralising Tottenham’s high press in the process.

Where Chelsea had found it hard to take control before Kante’s introduction, now they were in the groove and Silva struck in the 49th minute.

Alonso’s corner found the Brazilian eight yards out and he rose above Dele Alli to thump a superb header past Hugo Lloris.

It took Eric Dier’s agile goal-line clearance to deny Chelsea a second when the defender blocked Alonso’s close-range strike from Cesar Azpilicueta’s pass.

But Chelsea were rampant and they struck again in the 57th minute when Kante’s 25-yard drive took a wicked deflection off Dier and trickled past the wrong-footed Lloris.

Tottenham lost heart as their second successive league defeat loomed and Rudiger rubbed salt into the wounds with a fine finish from Timo Werner’s cross in the final moments.

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The Belgian has returned to Stamford Bridge for a club-record £97 million ($132 million) as the missing piece of a proven goalscorer to turn the Champions League winners into English champions.

Thomas Tuchel’s men have made a formidable start towards that aim with six points, five goals scored and none conceded from their opening two games of the Premier League season.

Arsenal, by contrast, have yet to register a point or score a goal as the gulf between Mikel Arteta’s men and the title contenders was exposed.

Circumstances have also gone against Arteta as he lost £50 million signing Ben White before the game to the fifth positive case for coronavirus among his squad in the past 10 days.

A difficult start could get even worse with a trip to defending champions Manchester City next weekend before an international break.

Arsenal’s latest signings Martin Odegaard and Aaron Ramsdale were not registered in time to feature.

Those arrivals took the Gunners spending in the transfer window above any other Premier League club despite a fifth season without Champions League football.

But whereas Chelsea needed to fill just one position to complete a squad already stacked with quality, Arsenal appear to be starting from scratch.

Chelsea’s Italian midfielder Jorginho (L) chases after Arsenal’s English midfielder Bukayo Saka (R) during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium in London on August 22, 2021. JUSTIN TALLIS / AF

A bright start in front of the first full house at the Emirates for 17 months quickly dissipated once Chelsea found their rhythm and began to play to Lukaku’s strengths.

The former Inter Milan striker received the ball with his back to goal on 15 minutes, shrugged off Pablo Mari as the ball was worked to Reece James on the right and then stayed onside to tap home his 114th Premier League goal for four different clubs.

Lukaku should have been given another on a plate moments later when James instead picked out Mason Mount, whose shot was deflected behind.

But Arsenal did not learn their lesson and afforded James huge spaces being the right.

Mount picked out his England teammate 10 minutes before half-time and James thrashed a brilliant finish high past Bernd Leno.

James, though, was lucky just before the break when his push on Bukayo Saka as he burst into the box went unpunished by both referee Paul Tierney and VAR.

Rob Holding should have halved Arsenal’s deficit after the break when the centre-back headed wide from close range.

At the other end Leno also did his case to hold off Ramsdale as number one no harm with an incredible save to deny Lukaku a debut double as he turned a bullet header onto the crossbar.

Lukaku turned away in disbelief as he watched the replay on a big screen, but his presence has blown away any lasting doubts over Chelsea’s ability to challenge City in the title race this season.

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The European champions added the UEFA Super Cup in midweek to their Champions League win last season in Tuchel’s first few months in charge.

Premier League success is the next challenge for the German and the Blues showed why they are considered second favourites to defending champions City against Palace.

Without record signing Romelu Lukaku, Chelsea were still rarely troubled as first-half goals from Marcos Alonso and Christian Pulisic gave them a commanding lead before Trevoh Chalobah rounded off a dream Premier League debut with his side’s third goal.

“I think we have to hunt the others from day one. This is what we want to do, this is our mentality and we are never shy to fight for the best outcome possible, but the reality is we are not the favourites right now,” said Tuchel, whose side finished fourth in the Premier League last season.

“I see ourselves as number four last year so we cannot be favourites. We just have to close the gap to number three, number two and number one so this is what we’re trying to do.”

Chelsea were forced to extra-time and penalties before seeing off Villarreal in the Super Cup in Belfast in midweek.

But there was little sign of fatigue despite a truncated pre-season for a number of Tuchel’s key players due to their participation in international competitions over the summer.

“We want to set our standards as high as possible and always strive to be at that level,” added Tuchel.

“We did very well today but it is only a start and we need to build on this. It was a huge team effort, both defensively and offensively, and I’m very happy with what we did today.

“We pushed some players over the limit physically, especially after playing 120 minutes in midweek, but it was a very good game from us from start to finish.”

For all the progress made under Tuchel, Saturday’s victory was only the second time Chelsea have scored more than twice in the Premier League since he took charge.

Lukaku’s signing has been made with the intention of ending the Blues’ wastefulness in front of goal and Tuchel wants his side to be more clinical.

“We are well aware of our situation that it was hard for us to convert all the chances that we created last season,” he added.

“It should be enough to score more so we try to help with the addition of Romelu to our squad. In the Premier League, it will stay super hard to score so we’re very happy to have three goals today. We did it without a penalty from Jorginho which is quite spectacular for us!

“We can still improve in the final third. We have to get a bit calmer and a bit more clinical still so we will not stop pushing and looking for solutions.”

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Former Chelsea and Cote D’Ivoire striker, Didier Drogba has been awarded an honorary degree by the University of Sciences and Technology of Africa Network (RUSTA) in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire.

The citadel of learning noted that Drogba was deserving of the award in recognition of his contributions to nation-building and restoration of peace in his country.

The 43-year-old football idol, in the company of his mother, Clotilde Drogba received the degree in person at the university premises.

The two-time African Footballer of the Year was honoured for his charitable work and his role in bringing stability to the West African country.

The information scooped from Gaol.com, submitted that Drogba’s peace-keeping contribution dates back to 2005 when he halted a civil war that had spanned three years after they secured qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup with a 3-1 win over Sudan.

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Hudson-Odoi was arrested on May 17 and released on bail.

But the England international has now said the police will not be pursuing the matter.

“At a time where there are bigger things happening in the world right now, you may also be aware of serious allegations that were made against me,” Hudson-Odoi wrote on Twitter.

“I have stayed silent and assisted the police fully throughout their enquiries, as I knew the day would soon come when my name would be cleared.

“Following a full and thorough investigation, the police have now confirmed they will take no further action.”

The 19-year-old added: “I would like to use this platform to thank everyone who has stood by my side and supported me during this difficult period.”

Hudson-Odoi made a full recovery after becoming the first Premier League player to test positive for COVID-19 in March and has been taking part in Chelsea’s preparations for the Premier League resumption next week.

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The 24-year-old had been thought to be attracting interest from Premier League champions-elect Liverpool but it appears Chelsea have in fact met the German’s reported release clause of some £53 million ($67 million).

Were Chelsea to bring Werner to Stamford Bridge it would be a major feather in the cap of the west London club.

For the past year, there has been speculation linking Werner with a move to Anfield but time appears to be running out for the Reds, with the forward’s release clause expiring on June 15 — two days before the Premier League is set to restart after a coronavirus-enforced break of several months.

The Germany international has scored 31 goals for Leipzig in all competitions.

Chelsea have already agreed on a deal to sign Ajax winger Hakim Ziyech.

AFP

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The post £53m Deal: Chelsea close to signing Werner appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

Chelsea striker Abraham opened the scoring in the 34th minute by pouncing on a mistake by Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets who attempted to clear the ball.

But with Chelsea midfielder Jorginho applying pressure, the ball rolled towards Abraham who only had to step past rushing goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and gently send it into the net.

Four minutes later, Chelsea midfielder Christian Pulisic showed off his speed and footwork to infiltrate the Barca defence, but his left-footer went just wide.

Barcelona went on the offensive in the second half, with substitute striker Carles Perez leading the way.

But superb saves by Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga repeatedly denied Barca any attempt to equalise.

In the 55th minute Perez zipped past three Chelsea defenders but his left toe kick finish was not good enough to get past Arrizabalaga.

A few minutes later, he dashed deep into the left side to feed a high-speed cross to striker Malcom, but Arrizabalaga again denied them.

Chelsea made it 2-0 with less than 10 minutes left as midfielder Barkley picked up a cross in front of the box and curled it into the net, with substitute ‘keeper Neto getting a touch it but unable to block it.

Just before injury time, Barcelona got a free-kick just outside the box but midfielder Ivan Rakitic’s shot went above the bar.

Rakitic however quickly redeemed himself in injury time, picking up a cross and firing a lightning right-footer that went deep into the net for a consolation goal for Barcelona.

AFP

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Moses will be the brand ambassador of Opera Mini, the most popular browser in Africa. Starting today, Moses will be featured in the new Opera Mini TV commercial as well as a range of collaborative projects extending throughout 2018.

According to Jørgen Arnesen, Global Head of Marketing and Distribution at Opera, “football is one of the most popular types of content consumed by Opera Mini users throughout Africa”.

“Victor Moses is a perfect match for Opera, being not only a high performer, but also a great role model and natural ambassador of his home country Nigeria.”

This coincides with Opera’s recent announcement to invest $100 million USD (30 billion Nigerian naira) in Africa over the next two years with the goal of strengthening the internet ecosystem in countries such as Nigeria.

Football is one of the most popular types of content consumed by Opera Mini users throughout Africa

Nigeria is home to the second largest population of Opera Mini users. Search, social networking and sport are the most popular content consumed by Opera Mini users in this country. One fourth of them check out live scores and sports news when browsing. This number is relatively higher than the ones in other African countries.

On the topic of the recent partnership, Victor Moses said, “I am proud to be in partnership with Opera and am looking forward to working together. The Opera team have taken me through their plans and vision for the brand in the Nigerian market and it’s made me incredibly excited about the future. I’m delighted to be a part of such a groundbreaking campaign.”

Opera recently launched its first nationwide TV and radio commercials to announce a faster and more affordable internet experience with the Opera Mini browser. Already airing in South Africa and Kenya, there will be a special version for Nigeria. Victor Moses will be challenging his on-field speed against Opera Mini’s.

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