By Canadian Press

Chelsea wins again, Tottenham frustrated once more in EPL

Nov 9, 2019 | 9:55 AM

Chelsea has got used to winning back-to-back games. Tottenham hasn’t.

Shortly after in-form Tammy Abraham and Christian Pulisic scored to give Chelsea its sixth straight Premier League win against Crystal Palace on Saturday, Spurs extended an unwanted record in its 1-1 draw with Sheffield United.

Tottenham has not won consecutive games since April but hoped to change that after beating Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Spurs’ inconsistent form is one reason for the pressure on manager Mauricio Pochettino, but the league table is damning for last season’s Champions League finalist. Tottenham is 17 points off leader Liverpool, but just seven ahead of last-place Norwich.

PULISIC SCORES

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Abraham has been on strong scoring form all season, and now Pulisic has joined him.

After Palace kept the game goalless in the first half with solid defending and more than a little luck, Chelsea did its job in the second to win 2-0.

Abraham scored his 10th Premier League goal of the season in the 52nd off a neat backheel pass from Willian, and Pulisic made sure of the win in the 79th, heading in a looping, deflected shot from Michy Batshuayi.

“In the first half we started well, then allowed our tempo to drop, but when we came out in the second half with the intent that we did, we won the game relatively comfortably – a nice, solid win with a clean sheet,” Chelsea manager Frank Lampard said.

That leaves Chelsea five points off Premier League leader Liverpool, which plays Manchester City on Sunday. City is also the next opponent for Lampard’s Chelsea on Nov. 23.

SON BOUNCES BACK

Son Heung-min scored for Spurs, but he wasn’t originally meant to be playing at all.

Son was due to be suspended after a red card in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Everton for a challenge which led to Andre Gomes suffering a broken and dislocated ankle.

Son left the field in tears after that incident, but his red card was overturned a day later on appeal. He followed up by scoring twice in the 4-0 win over Red Star.

Sheffield was frustrated when John Lundstram hit the post and the video assistant referee ruled out a goal for David McGoldrick because of an offside in the build-up.

VAR was kinder to Sheffield when George Baldock’s cross ended up in the net at the far post in the 78th. A video review found Chris Basham hadn’t been offside as the ball flew past his head.

SAINTS IN TROUBLE

Everton travelled to struggling Southampton on the verge of the relegation zone but eased the pressure with a 2-1 win.

Everton now enjoys a six-point cushion over 18th-place Watford, while Southampton is 19th and winless in its last seven league games.

Newcastle beat Bournemouth 2-1, while Burnley turned around a run of three defeats with a 3-0 win at home to West Ham.

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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

James Ellingworth, The Associated Press