Arsenal returned to the
top of the Premier League
on Sunday after Jack
Wilshere rescued a point
for them in a 1-1 draw at
West Bromwich Albion, while rivals
Tottenham Hotspur suffered a shock 3-0
thumping by West Ham United.
Chelsea relied on two goals in two minutes
by substitutes Eden Hazard and Willian late
in their match at Norwich City to give them
a 3-1 win that lifted them to third in the
league with 14 points from seven games,
two behind Arsenal and Liverpool.
Surprise package Southampton won again
to go fourth, beating Swansea City 2-0 at
home, while the day's big upset was at
White Hart Lane.
Spurs, who had conceded only twice in the
league, leaked three in 13 second-half
minutes including an individual effort by
Ravel Morrison that West Ham manager
Sam Allardyce dubbed 'genius'.
It looked like there was also a surprise on
the cards at West Brom, who were up to
their old tricks a week after stunning
Manchester United 2-1 at Old Trafford
when they took a 42nd-minute lead
through Claudio Yacob's powerful
downward header.
After somehow escaping further damage
from more West Brom chances, Arsenal
drew level in the 63rd minute when
Wilshere made up for his poor
performance until that point, smashing in a
deflected shot from 20 metres out.
"It was breathless. West Brom showed why
they won at Manchester United last week
and we had a hell of a task to come back
but we showed character and we had
chances to go on and win it," the BBC
quoted Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger as
saying.
"Our position is good because when you
look at how we started (a 3-1 defeat at
home to Aston Villa) and now we've come
out of two away games well so it's a good
position to start again after the
(international) break."
BOLD DECISION
The point, which puts Arsenal ahead of
Liverpool on goals scored, will be all the
sweeter for Wenger's side on a day their
bitter north London rivals Tottenham lost
ground on the leaders after a mauling by
West Ham at White Hart Lane.
Allardyce, whose side had not scored away
from home and had won just one league
game, took the bold decision to start with
no recognised striker and the move paid off
as defender Winston Reid, winger Ricardo
Vaz Te and midfielder Morrison all netted.
While the first two, in the 66th and 72nd
minutes set up the victory, Morrison's 79th-
minute goal will be the one talked about
after the former Manchester United player
picked up possession inside his own half,
went past Michael Dawson and lifted the
ball over keeper Hugo Lloris.
"We thought we'd drop the front man out
and play more attacking midfield players
from deep running forward," Allardyce,
whose club had not won at Spurs since
1999, told Sky Sports.
"You try these things you hope they work ...
it's worked and the players have made it
work ... We got three different types of
goals, we got a set piece, we got a bit of
luck and then we got a bit of genius."
FANTASTIC CHANGE
Earlier in the day, Chelsea had grabbed
three points at Norwich after it had looked
like their fourth-minute lead from an Oscar
goal would not be enough when Anthony
Pilkington levelled for the hosts in the 68th
minute.
The equaliser seemed to shake Chelsea
awake and the introduction of Hazard and
Willian changed everything.
Chelsea broke quickly after a Norwich
corner and Hazard's shot was pounced on
by John Ruddy but the ball carried on past
the keeper and over the line in almost slow
motion on 85 minutes.
Another counter-attack wrapped up the win
a minute later as Willian curled in a first-
time shot of the kind of class the club will
have been hoping for from the 30 million
pounds ($48.22 million) they paid for him
in the close season.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho took the
credit for his substitutions after leading his
side to their first away win in the league
this season.
"When I make a change, the change is
always fantastic and the players make it
fantastic or make it rubbish - it's up to
them," the BBC quoted him as saying.
The only black cloud for Chelsea, and
possibly for England ahead of their World
Cup qualifiers on October 11 and October
15, was the sight of left back Ashley Cole
being substituted in the second half with
what looked like a rib injury.
Mourinho said he had in fact taken the
England defender off for tactical reasons
but that he would be having a scan on the
problem which the manager said had been
troubling Cole for a while.
Southampton's excellent start to the
season continued in a 2-0 home win
against Swansea City with Adam Lallana
netting in the 19th minute and Jay
Rodriguez adding another on 83 minutes.
They are level on 14 points with Chelsea,
with Manchester City and Spurs a point
behind. Champions Manchester United are
ninth with 10 points.
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