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Timo Werner gets off the mark for Chelsea at Brighton; wins too for Tottenham, Newcastle, West Ham and Crystal Palace
Last Updated: 29/08/20 9:49pm
1:37 Timo Werner scored his first goal for Chelsea just four minutes into his debut for the club as they drew 1-1 in a pre-season friendly against Brighton on Saturday.
The Germany international was making his first appearance following his summer move from RB Leipzig and it did not take long for him to show the sort of form that saw him score 28 goals in the Bundesliga last season.
In front of a crowd of 2,500 at the Amex Stadium, where a small number of home supporters were able to attend in line with social distancing guidelines, Werner tucked away the opening goal after latching on to Callum Hudson-Odoi’s misdirected header.
Despite the presence of another summer signing in Hakim Ziyech, Frank Lampard’s side were unable to make their strong start pay, with Pascal Gross converting a late penalty to secure a draw for Brighton.
But this was still a promising first appearance from Werner.
“Good start, first of hopefully many goals,” read the message on his Twitter account.
Wins for Tottenham, Newcastle and West Ham
Elsewhere, Tottenham left it late against a dogged Birmingham side with substitute Steven Bergwijn winning the game 1-0 in the 89th minute with a fine finish from the edge of the box.
Crystal Palace‘s victory over Charlton was rather more comfortable as they ran out 3-0 winners at Selhurst Park. Jordan Ayew scored twice before Wilfried Zhaha wrapped it up late on.
0:44 Newcastle beat Barnsley 2-1 with Andy Carroll among the goals for the Magpies. Marcel Ritzmaier equalised for the Championship side early in the second half but Jacob Murphy’s penalty secured the win for Steve Bruce’s side.
West Ham were also 2-1 winners against Championship opposition as they defeated Brentford. Andriy Yarmolenko and Tomas Soucek scored either side of a Marcus Forss equaliser for the Bees.
Not every Premier League side had things their own way, however. Leicester played out a goalless draw with Sheffield Wednesday, while newly-promoted West Bromwich Albion succumbed to a 1-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest thanks to a goal by new signing Lyle Taylor.
Results
Brighton 1-1 Chelsea
Crystal Palace 3-0 Charlton Athletic
Newcastle United 2-1 Barnsley
Nottingham Forest 1-0 West Brom
Sheffield Wednesday 0-0 Leicester City
Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Birmingham City
West Ham United 2-1 Brentford
Chelsea ‘reinvigorated’ by new signings?
Chelsea’s spending spree represents a marked shift in approach, according to Sky Sports News reporter Dharmesh Sheth.
“Chelsea are going for it – absolutely incredible,” Sheth said on the Transfer Talk podcast. “Forget about consolidating a place in the top four – to me, they look like they’re going for the title next season with what they’re doing. Two windows without any signings and they are certainly making up for lost time.
“What Abramovich has done, people have called it a ‘reinvigoration’ of his spending and his love affair with Chelsea being rekindled. They couldn’t sign anyone last summer anyway and I saw what they did in January as a calculated risk. They were odds-on to finish in the top four but they didn’t sign anyone and that was a risk to me, but it paid off and they just about got into the top four.
“Lampard’s had his free hit. He got the Champions League place Abramovich would have wanted as a minimum so that’s done. But with these signings, it’s a different scenario now at Chelsea and make no mistake – Abramovich is going to want to see results and trophies.”
