Chelsea go 3rd in Premier League

Chelsea came from behind Saturday to thrash Sheffield United 4-1 and climb to third in the Premier League with 15 points after eight matches, reported EFE.

Leicester City are also on 15 points, but the Blues have a better goal difference, though the Foxes have a game in hand.

Frank Lampard's men are just a point behind reigning champions Liverpool and Southampton, who sit atop the Premier League for the first time ever.

Unbeaten in their last five in the league, Chelsea conceded in the ninth minute of the contest at Stamford Bridge.

George Baldock's cross into the area found Sander Berge, who backheeled the ball to David McGoldrick. The Ireland international beat Blues goalkeeper Edouard Mendy with a fine effort.

Tammy Abraham equalized for the hosts in the 23rd minute with an assist from Mateo Kovacic and Chelsea pulled ahead in the 34th on a goal by Ben Chilwell, who redirected Hakim Ziyech's cross just inside the far post.

Yet to win this season, last-place Sheffield United enjoyed stretches of possession in the second half but failed to make the most of them.

In the 77th minute, Thiago Silva headed-in a Ziyech free kick for his first goal in a Chelsea shirt and Timo Werner made it 4-1 three minutes later.

The score-line was identical to that of a few hours earlier at London's Selhurst Park, where hosts Crystal Palace bounced back from a tough loss last week to Wolverhampton with a solid victory over promoted Leeds United.

Scott Dann began the scoring for the home side in the 12th minute off a corner by Eberechi Eze, who made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute with a superb free kick that left Leeds keeper Illan Meslier with no chance.

Patrick Bamford cut the deficit in half for the visitors five minutes later, but Palace led 3-1 at half-time after Leeds winger inadvertently redirected a pass by Patrick van Aanholt past a surprised Meslier for an own goal.

Jordan Ayew capped off the contest with a goal in the 70th minute, assisted by Wilfried Zaha.

Palace, with 13 points from eight matches, are 7th in the table. Leeds slip to 15th place on 10 points.

West Ham United, who spent most of last season in a battle to avoid relegation, moved up to 11th on Saturday, nipping Fulham 1-0 on a goal in stoppage time by Tomas Soucek.

But Fulham were handed a chance to salvage a point when the referee awarded a penalty after Mohamed Said Bernahama fouled Tom Cairney.

Ademola Lookman stepped to the spot and - inexplicably - opted to chip the ball instead of kick away, making an easy stop for Hammers keeper Lukasz Fabianski.

Fulham, with 4 points from eight matches, sit just above the drop zone.

The day's action began with a high-stakes contest at Goodison Park between hosts Everton and Manchester United.

The Red Devils conceded first, but went on to craft a convincing 3-1 win that relieved the pressure on manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Bruno Fernandes was again United's standout performer as he led them to a victory that will be a huge relief for his under-fire manager.

Two limp defeats this week, at home to Arsenal and away in Istanbul, had heaped pressure on the manager, but his team responded admirably and showed they remain committed to his project.

Speaking to BT Sport after the game, Solskjaer was uncharacteristically angry at the scheduling of two games in less than four days.

"The authorities set us up to fail. The kick-off time set us up to fail," he said. "We have been to Turkey, played loads of games this season already, we got back Thursday morning and we are playing Saturday lunchtime, it's an absolute shambles.

"Who is responsible? We've had enough of that. Players this season, in these times, a pandemic, mentally and physically it's draining. Let us play on a Sunday, there's an international break after this, it's a joke. The players were brilliant."

After falling behind early to Bernardo's tidy near-post finish, United's players quickly took control of the game.

The visitors were back on level terms on 25 minutes after lovely interplay down the left hand side ended when Luke Shaw stood up a fine cross for Fernandes, who arrived on cue to power in an unstoppable header past Jordan Pickford.

Everton could barely lay a glove on United, who were finding space all over the pitch.

Five minutes after equalizing, they were ahead after Marcus Rashford picked up the ball in space, fed it wide to Fernandes who chipped a delicate ball back to Rashford, who failed to make contact with the ball but watched as it hit the back post and nestled in the net behind Pickford.

The second half was a niggly affair short on clear goal scoring chances.

United were content to let Everton have the ball, but the Toffees, who looked short on confidence, were unable to fashion any meaningful opportunities.

The home team looked susceptible to the counter attack, and United could have wrapped up the game sooner if they had been more clinical.

The visitors eventually added a third goal after another breakaway in stoppage time, with Fernandes driving forward against an outnumbered Everton defense to slip in Edinson Cavani to score his first goal for his new team.

For Everton, who started the campaign strongly and even led the table, this was a third league defeat in a row to leave them at 13 points from eight games. Man United are 14th with 10 points after seven matches.