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.
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."
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