English Premier League: Saturday shockers for Liverpool and Chelsea

30 August,2015 10:14 AM IST |   |  PA Sport

West Ham stun Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield while Chelsea lose 1-2 to Crystal Palace at home


London: West Ham ended one of the longest winless runs in top-flight history with their first victory at Anfield in almost 52 years as Liverpool's defensive problems returned to haunt them in spectacularly bad style, with Brendan Rodgers' men beaten 0-3 on Saturday.


Chelsea 'keeper Thibaut Courtois reacts after conceding Crystal Palace's first goal at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. PIC/Getty Images

Elsewhere, Jose Mourinho's 100th Premier League home match as Chelsea boss saw a second loss as Crystal Palace claimed a 2-1 win - their first at Stamford Bridge in 33 years.

For Liverpool, the curse of the manager's press conference came to the fore as after praising the new defensive stability which brought three clean sheets, Brendan Rodgers saw his side concede the fastest goal of the season so far to Manuel Lanzini inside three minutes.


Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho walks off the pitch after receiving a red card against West Ham United at Anfield on Saturday. PIC/Getty Images

Rodgers had also championed Dejan Lovren for overcoming his problems in his maiden season and showing he could be a "top-class" centre-back but the £20million Croatian repaid his manager's praise with a disastrous piece of defending to allow Mark Noble to score.

Coutinho, Noble sent off
The West Ham captain was harshly sent off late on, after Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho had already been shown a second yellow card, but Diafra Sakho made it 3-0 in added time and 18,978 days after Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters - before they were World Cup winners with England - scored at Anfield, the Hammers had their long-awaited victory. It was celebrated long and loud by the visiting fans and rightly so - the last time they did so a 17-year-old called George Best had made his Manchester United debut. As if that was not enough, Coutinho, already cautioned for dissent, was sent off when he slipped trying to close down Dimitri Payet and brought down the midfielder with his body.

Ward, Sako ruin Jose's milestone
At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea secured the title with a 1-0 defeat of Palace on May 3 but the Eagles were triumphant on this occasion, stunning the hosts just when they thought Radamel Falcao had got them back into the game with his first goal for the Blues.

Joel Ward popped up to restore the lead, after Bakary Sako's opener, as Palace earned a 2-1 win - their first at Stamford Bridge since 1982. Palace have now won eight of their 10 away matches in the league under Pardew, who has three victories against Mourinho in the last two seasons.

52
No of years West Ham United had not won at Anfield before their victory on Saturday

33
Crystal Palace's win over Chelsea on Saturday was their first at Stamford Bridge in 33 years

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