Soccer

Late Ellis Simms goal earns Everton a point and checks Chelsea’s progress

Premier League round-up: Ward-Prowse nets late equaliser as Southampton deny Spurs; Leeds boost survival hopes; Leicester halt poor run; Villa’s strong run continues

Southampton's James Ward-Prowse scores his side's late equaliser from the penalty spot during the Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur at St Mary's Stadium. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

Sat Mar 18 2023 - 20:22

Chelsea 2 Everton 2

Everton ended Chelsea’s winning run with a dramatic late equaliser from substitute Ellis Simms at Stamford Bridge to bolster their hopes of Premier League survival.

The 22-year-old outmuscled Kalidou Koulibaly to steal in and make it 2-2 in the 89th minute, after Kai Havertz’s penalty looked to have made it four victories in a row for Graham Potter’s side.

Joao Felix gave Chelsea the lead early in the second half of a match they had dominated up to that point, before being pegged back by Abdoulaye Doucoure’s headed goal.

The hosts were again left to rue missed opportunities, with their fluid attacking play blunted by a lack of killer instinct inside the box.

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Southampton 3 Tottenham 3

Tottenham missed out on the chance to move up to third in the Premier League after James Ward-Prowse’s stoppage-time penalty earned struggling Southampton a dramatic 3-3 draw.

Spurs had looked set to clinch all three points at St Mary’s after maiden strikes by Pedro Porro and Ivan Perisic were sandwiched by Harry Kane’s 23rd goal of the campaign.

Ruben Selles’s bottom-of-the-table side had scored only twice in their previous five league appearances but showed the same fight that saw them recently take points off Chelsea and Manchester United to come back from 3-1 down to boost their survival hopes.

Ward-Prowse’s late penalty, after Pape Sarr had fouled Ainsley Maitland-Niles in the area, added to second-half efforts by Che Adams and Theo Walcott to earn Saints a share of the spoils.

Wolves 2 Leeds United 4

Leeds breathed fresh life into their survival hopes after a manic win at Wolves.

Jack Harrison, Luke Ayling, Rasmus Kristensen and Rodrigo struck to clinch a rollercoaster 4-2 victory and lift them out of the relegation zone.

Jonny’s long-range lob and Matheus Cunha’s first goal for Wolves gave them hope before Jonny’s late red card.

Unused substitute Matheus Nunes was also dismissed in stoppage time, with Wolves furious Rodrigo’s goal was not ruled out for a foul on Adama Traore.

Exactly 12 months ago Leeds hit back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Molineux thanks to Ayling’s injury-time winner.

Victory was still not straightforward this time but a frenzied win in a game which threatened to swing either way leaves Leeds 14th, just a point and a place behind their hosts with a game in hand.

As much as Wolves have improved under Julen Lopetegui, home defeats to Bournemouth and now Leeds have stopped them from pulling away.

A four-point gap to the visitors has almost been wiped out in a survival battle which has captured almost half of the division and left them three points above the drop zone.

Brentford 1 Leicester 1

Leicester managed to halt their rotten run of defeats as Harvey Barnes snatched a point in a 1-1 draw at Brentford.

The Foxes were staring at a sixth straight loss in all competitions, a run which has seen them slide towards the Premier League relegation zone, when Mathias Jensen fired Brentford ahead.

But Barnes showed the Bees’ defence a clean pair of heels as he raced away to score a fine second-half equaliser.

Barnes’s strike denied Brentford boss Thomas Frank a 100th win in charge, but they at least stretched their unbeaten run at home to 10 matches.

Under-pressure Foxes manager Brendan Rodgers made a bold call by dropping goalkeeper Danny Ward in favour of Daniel Iversen, but his wait for a first clean sheet since the World Cup break goes on.

Aston Villa 3 Bournemouth 0

Aston Villa registered a third win in four Premier League games as they beat Bournemouth 3-0 at home courtesy of goals from Douglas Luiz, Jacob Ramsey and Emiliano Buendia.

Luiz finished from close range to put Villa ahead in the seventh minute before Ramsey and Buendia added further goals in the last 10 minutes.

Bournemouth had gone close to equalising just past the hour mark through a Philip Billing free-kick that was saved in fine style by Emiliano Martinez.

Having extended their unbeaten run, adding to the wins over Everton and Crystal Palace and a draw at West Ham, Unai Emery’s Villa moved up to 10th in the Premier League table ahead of the late game involving Chelsea.

Gary O’Neil’s Bournemouth, meanwhile, slipped a place to 19th, a point adrift of safety, having failed to further boost their survival bid after the surprise 1-0 win over Liverpool last weekend.

Something for Cherries fans to cheer was David Brooks coming on in the 79th minute for his first appearance since being diagnosed with cancer in October 2021, a moment that brought applause all around Villa Park.

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