MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Former Manchester City player Cole Palmer scored a penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time as Chelsea came back to draw 4-4 with the defending Premier League champions on Sunday.
Palmer left City for Chelsea in a deal worth around $52 million in September and showed supreme composure to fire past Ederson in the dying stages of a thrilling match at Stamford Bridge.
Rodri had looked like securing a win for Pep Guardiola’s team with a deflected effort with four minutes left of regulation time.
But referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot when Ruben Dias slid into substitute Armando Broja in the box. After a delay, Palmer swept his shot into the corner to stop City moving three points clear at the top.
Chelsea dented Tottenham’s title ambitions with a wild 4-1 win against Ange Postecoglou’s team on Monday and proved a challenge for City, too, by coming back from behind on three occasions.
Erling Haaland fired City ahead from the penalty spot in the 25th after VAR adjudged Marc Cucurella to have fouled the Norwegian.
Thiago Silva evened the score four minutes later with header from Conor Gallagher’s corner.
Another former City player, Raheem Sterling, put Chelsea 2-1 up in the 37th by tapping in Reece James’ cross after a sweeping attack,
The score was even again in first-half stoppage time when Bernardo Silva crossed for Manuel Akanji to head in.
City re-took the lead two minutes after the break, with Haaland the goal scorer again — sliding in to convert from close range.
Chelsea pushed again for an equalizer and Palmer was close to scoring when running from deep into the box and forcing a one-on-one save from Ederson.
Chelsea’s third goal eventually came from Nicolas Jackson in the 67th. The striker fired in from the rebound after Gallagher’s long shot was parried.
Malo Gusto wasted a golden chance to put Chelsea ahead again by firing over from inside the box when he had the whole goal to aim at. And that miss proved costly when Rodri came up with what looked like the winner.
The Spain midfielder’s powerful effort from the edge of the box took a big deflection off Thiago Silva to send Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez the wrong way as the ball flew into the opposite corner.
It looked like being a cruel way to decide such a thrilling contest until Palmer’s late intervention.
Aston Villa 3, Fulham 1
In Birmingham, Aston Villa registered its 13th straight home win in the Premier League as Unai Emery’s team beat Fulham 3-1 on Sunday.
Villa was two goals up at the break following Antonee Robinson’s own-goal in the 27th and a strike from skipper John McGinn in the 42nd.
Fulham came close early in the second half when Emiliano Martinez tipped Raul Jimenez’s shot against a post before Ollie Watkins added a third for the hosts with a 64th-minute finish.
Jimenez pulled a goal back for the visitors in the 70th, but Villa was not to be denied as it equaled its post-war club record for successive top-flight home victories, matching the 13 in a row achieved in 1983.
Emery’s side has scored at least three times in each of the Villa Park wins this season, with a total of 23 goals across the six games.
It was also a return to winning ways in the league after last Sunday’s 2-0 loss at Nottingham Forest though Villa has since defeated AZ Alkmaar 2-1 at home in the Europa Conference League.
Fifth-place Villa is a point outside the top four. Marco Silva’s Fulham is 16th after its winless run in the league extended to a fourth game.
Brighton 1, Sheffield United 1
In Brighton, Sheffield United moved off the bottom after Adam Webster’s own goal secured a 1-1 draw at 10-man Brighton.
The result extended Brighton’s winless run in the league to six games — its worst run under manager Roberto De Zerbi.
Simon Adingra had put the home team ahead with a solo run in the sixth minute, but Mahmoud Dahoud’s red card in the 69th saw the game turn.
And when Webster slid into his own goal in the 74th, Sheffield United was on course to pick up the point that moved it off the bottom and above Burnley.
It looked like being another difficult day for the visitors when Adingra fired Brighton ahead.
The Ivorian’s fourth goal of the season came whe he collected the ball 35 yards from goal on the left. He then shrugged off two tackles and played a one-two with Facundo Buonanotte before slotting past Wes Foderingham.
But the character of the game changed when Dahoud was dismissed for stamping on Ben Osborn’s lower leg. Referee John Brooks has now shown four red cards this season, more than any of his colleagues.
It took four minutes for Sheffield United to take advantage. Jayden Bogle smashed a ball across the face of goal and Webster put through his own goal, with Cameron Archer waiting behind for a tap-in.
West Ham 3, Notts Forest 2
In London, Tomas Soucek scored a late winner as West Ham came back to secure an entertaining 3-2 victory against Nottingham Forest at the London Stadium.
The home side started the brighter and West Ham midfielder Lucas Paquetá made the early advantage count when he tucked the ball into the bottom right corner in the third minute.
Forest started to come into the game as the first half wore on and the pressure eventually paid off through Taiwo Awoniyi, who equalized in the 44th before Anthony Elanga added a second in the 63rd to stun the home supporters as their team found themselves trailing 2-1.
But the visitors didn’t hold on to the lead for long with Jarrod Bowen heading in from close range after a James Ward-Prowse corner to bring the sides level just two minutes later.
With time running out, Ward-Prowse was again the provider from a corner to set up Soucek’s dramatic winner.
The victory leaves the Hammers ninth in the table while Forest is 15th with a comfortable cushion of seven points above the relegation zone.
