Sports

LONDON — Mikel Arteta hailed Arsenal’s emphatic 3-1 win against Chelsea on Saturday as a “turning point” in his troubled side’s season.

Arteta’s side sat just three points above the relegation zone before kick-off at the Emirates Stadium after their worst start to a season since 1974-75.

But the Gunners produced their best performance this term to out-class their London rivals.

Alexandre Lacazette’s controversial penalty opened the scoring before Granit Xhaka’s superb free-kick increased Arsenal’s lead before half-time.

Bukayo Saka bagged Arsenal’s third goal after the break as they won in the Premier League for the first time in eight games stretching back to November 1.

Tammy Abraham’s late strike was no consolation for woeful Chelsea, who missed a penalty through Jorginho in the final moments.

Moving six points clear of the bottom three will buy Arteta a little breathing space following talk he was in danger of the sack after just a year in charge.

“It’s a really big win for us. We were really disappointed and frustrated with the results,” Arteta said.

“The players and fans were suffering and today is a really special day. It doesn’t get any better; Boxing Day, playing a London derby at the Emirates and winning the way we’ve done it.

“Hopefully this is a turning point and will elevate the confidence of the team because I know that they can play at this level.

“It is how consistent we are throughout the game to sustain that level.”

With matches against Brighton and West Brom coming next in their Christmas schedule, Arsenal have a chance to climb to a healthy league position heading into 2021.

“The spirit before the game was really positive, they really wanted it,” Arteta said.

“I am pleased for the players and for the supporters, We have let them down for many weeks so it was a good day.”

Having won the FA Cup final against Chelsea in August, Arteta has now delivered two major blows to Blues boss Frank Lampard this year.

Chelsea would have gone second with a victory, but instead they remain six points behind leaders Liverpool after a third defeat in their last four league games.

Lacklustre in attack, short of drive in midfield and bereft of a cutting edge up front, Chelsea’s £200 million ($267 million) pre-season overhaul is yet to pay off.

“I’m angry because I want us to win games. We were lazy to give away a penalty, lazy to give away a free-kick that he puts in the top corner,” Lampard said.

“I’m very disappointed in the way we approached the first half because some things in football are basics.

“It is not tactics or systems, it is do you want to run, back your team-mate out and sprint? Or do you want to jog and say ‘maybe I don’t have to run’ and we took that decision instead of the right one.”

Arsenal made the breakthrough in the 35th minute when Kieran Tierney got across Reece James into the Chelsea area and tumbled under the slightest contact from the panicked defender.

Michael Oliver’s debatable decision to award a penalty survived a VAR review and Lacazette sent Edouard Mendy the wrong way from the spot for his sixth goal of the season.

It was no more than Arsenal deserved for a vibrant first half and Arteta was celebrating again in the 44th minute.

N’Golo Kante fouled Saka and Xhaka did his bit to get back in favour when he whipped a brilliant 20-yard free-kick over the Chelsea wall and into the top corner.

Saka made it three in the 56th minute as Hector Bellerin and Emile Smith Rowe combined to send the youngster into the area and his cross-shot looped over Mendy into the far corner.

Abraham converted Hudson Odoi’s cross from close range in the 85th minute.

Pablo Mari’s foul on Mount gave Chelsea a stoppage-time penalty, but Jorginho missed for the third time this season as Bernd Leno kept out the Italian’s weak effort.

LOS ANGELES — Anthony Davis scored 28 points while LeBron James added 22 as the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers routed Dallas 138-115 in Friday’s feature game of a record-setting Christmas slate.

James had a game-high 10 assists and seven rebounds in 31 minutes, while Davis contributed eight rebounds, five assists and two steals and reserve Montrezl Harrell had 22 points for the Lakers, who played on the holiday for a 22nd consecutive year.

“We have a lot of offensive firepower,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said.

James, who turns 36 on Wednesday, rose to second on the NBA’s all-time Christmas points list with 383, passing Oscar Robertson by six to pull within 12 of matching the late Kobe Bryant’s career record.

It was the 10th Christmas victory in 15 holiday appearances by James, who equalled former Miami teammate Dwyane Wade for the most career Christmas NBA wins.

Vogel wants to ease the workload on James after the shortest off-season break in NBA history but James is confident he can handle whatever comes.

“I train my body for whatever. I’m not your typical guy in his 18th season,” James said. “If you stay ready you never have to get ready.”

Slovakian star guard Luka Doncic scored 27 points for Dallas, but the Mavericks were outscored in every quarter and outrebounded 53-27.

“We got a really good team,” Davis said.

Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving and Miami’s Duncan Robinson each matched an NBA Christmas record with seven 3-pointers, the Heat stretching their holiday win streak to eight games.

Irving scored 37 points, hitting 7-of-10 3-point attempts in his return to Boston, as the Nets ripped his former Celtics teammates 123-95.

“I’m glad we could put on a performance for everybody,” Irving said. “We’re definitely going to continue to progress every day.”

Robinson finished with 23 points, hitting 7-of-13 from beyond the arc, in leading 2020 NBA runner-up Miami over visiting New Orleans 111-98.

“Getting more and more comfortable every day,” Robinson said. “Last year was a great learning experience. We’re just trying to build on it.”

Also rolling to a holiday triumph were the Milwaukee Bucks, who had a game-high 31 points from Khris Middleton to beat Golden State 138-99 — the second-most lopsided blowout in NBA Christmas history — thanks to a 72-43 Bucks edge in the second half.

“We just wanted to put on a show,” Middleton said.

At Boston, Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant scored 16 of his 29 in the third quarter and the Nets seized an 86-77 edge before pulling away in the fourth quarter.

The Nets became the first club since the 2008-09 Lakers to win their first two games by 20 or more points.

“We can’t exceed our own expectations,” Irving said. “We know this is a long journey ahead.”

As for his return to Boston, Irving said, “I went to war with those guys. We’re going to continue to lean on each other as brothers off the floor and compete on it.”

No Butler, no problem

Goran Dragic came off Miami’s bench to score 18 points, and Bam Adebayo added 17 for the Heat, whose NBA-best Christmas record is 11-2 despite Jimmy Butler missing the second half with right ankle stiffness.

“When he goes down, it’s up to us to pick it up for him,” Robinson said. “I thought we did a good job of sticking with it and getting a good win today.”

Zion Williamson scored 32 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the Pelicans.

At Milwaukee, two-time reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to spark the Bucks, while two-time MVP Stephen Curry had a team-best 19 points.

The Los Angeles Clippers beat host Denver 121-108 despite an injury to Kawhi Leonard midway into the fourth quarter when teammate Serge Ibaka struck him in the face going for a rebound, leaving him bleeding and sprawled on the court.

Paul George scored 23 points and passed off nine assists for the Clippers while Leonard had 21 points, seven assists, five rebounds and four steals.

Denver’s Nikola Jokic barely missed being the first player since Magic Johnson in 1982 to open a season with back-to-back triple-doubles, producing 24 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.

LOS ANGELES — Boston Forward Jayson Tatum banked in a game-winning three pointer over Giannis Antetokounmpo with 1.5 seconds left to give the Celtics an 122-121 NBA season-opening victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.

Antetokounmpo, the two-time defending NBA Most Valuable Player, had a chance to tie it from the free-throw line with four-tenths of a second left, but the Greek superstar missed his second free throw after being fouled at the rim and the Celtics came away with the win on their home floor.

“Ever since I was a kid I wanted to be in that position,” Tatum said of stepping up despite a relatively poor shooting night.

Tatum, who said he “played terrible” after making only 12 of 28 shots from the floor, still finished with 30 points with seven rebounds and two assists.

Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 33 points, five rebounds and four assists.

“It’s the first one of the season, so it felt good to get a win,” Tatum said.

Antetokounmpo, who last week signed a five-year contract extension reportedly worth a record $228 million, led Milwaukee with 35 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.

Khris Middleton added 27 points and 14 rebounds for the Bucks, who finished the 2019-20 regular season with the best record in the NBA but fell to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Antetokounmpo’s final free-throw miss was just his second in eight attempts from the foul line in the game.

“The more you’re in situations like that, the more you can succeed, the more you can get the best out of moments like that,” he said.

“So I want to be in those moments. I want to be down the stretch, I want to shoot the last two free throws, I want to shoot the last shot because if you think about it, if you do that 1,000 times, some of the time it’s going to go in.”

Covid concerns

The nail-biter in Boston was one of a dozen games on the second night of the 2020-21 season.

It was supposed to be 13, but Houston’s home opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder was postponed as COVID-19 concerns — including James Harden’s violation of anti-virus protocols that cost the superstar a $50,000 fine — left the Rockets with less than the required eight players available to stage the game.

Harden was ineligible after the league found he attended a party on Monday in violation of protocols prohibiting players from attending indoor gatherings of more than 15 people.

The Rockets also had three players return positive or inconclusive coronavirus tests, and four other players were isolated due to contact tracing.

It was a sooner-than-expected jolt for a league that managed to crown the Los Angeles Lakers champion in a quarantine bubble in Florida just over two months ago but is now launching a season in which teams are playing in their home arenas as coronavirus cases continue to surge.

One day after the Lakers launched their title defence with a loss to the LA Clippers, the Miami Heat — who fell to the Lakers in the championship series — fell 113-107 to the Orlando Magic.

Evan Fournier scored 25 points for Orlando, who trailed by two points with less than five minutes remaining.

It was close in Denver, where Sacramento’s Buddy Hield produced a put-back basket at the buzzer to give the Kings a 124-122 overtime victory over the Nuggets.

Westbrook triple-double

Russell Westbrook looked just the same in new surroundings, notching the first triple-double of the fledgling season with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 15 assists for his new team the Washington Wizards, who nevertheless fell 113-107 to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Westbrook notched the 147th triple-double of his career as he chases Oscar Robertson’s NBA record of 181.

Bradley Beal added 31 points for the Wizards, but 76ers big man Joel Embiid scored 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter and pulled down 14 rebounds for the 76ers, playing for the first time under new coach Doc Rivers.

Elsewhere, number one draft pick Anthony Edwards came off the bench to score 15 points for Minnesota and the Timberwolves — led by Malik Beasley’s 23 points — rallied for a 111-101 victory over the Detroit Pistons.

Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, his three-pointer with 3:38 to play giving Minnesota their first lead of the game 98-97.

It was a less auspicious debut for the third overall pick in November’s draft, LaMelo Ball, who went scoreless in 16 minutes for the Charlotte Hornets, who fell 121-114 to the Cavaliers in Cleveland.

Ball, younger brother of New Orleans Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball, handed out three assists and came up with two steals.

Ten-time All-Star Chris Paul, traded by the Thunder to Phoenix in November, opened his Suns tenure with a 106-102 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

MADRID — Lionel Messi overtook Pele’s record of goals for a single club on Tuesday as Barcelona strolled to a 3-0 La Liga win at Real Valladolid, while Atletico Madrid kept hold of their place at the top of the table.

Messi struck his 644th goal for Barca, one more than Brazil legend Pele scored for Santos, in the 65th minute of a routine win for Ronald Koeman’s side, who are fifth in La Liga after the win and eight points behind leaders Atletico.

The Argentine, who had looked out of sorts this season after trying to leave the club in the summer, was at the heart of a powerful Barca performance against admittedly poor opposition.

Catalan giants Barca have won three of their last four matches after two embarrassing defeats to Cadiz and Juventus earlier this month.

“I see Messi happy. He is working hard, and he is a very important part of our attacking game,” said Koeman after the win.

Barca started on the front foot at the Jose Zorrilla Stadium, with Messi flashing a curling shot wide in the seventh minute and forcing a superb save from Jordi Masip in the 20th minute.

Barca took the lead seconds later when Messi clipped over a beautiful cross which France defender Clement Lenglet headed home.

Martin Braithwaite gave the away side a deserved second 14 minutes later, Messi slipping through Sergio Dest, who rolled over a perfect low cross for the Danish international to tap home.

Messi scored the landmark goal his excellent performance deserved with a simple finish after bursting through to collect Pedri’s delicate backheeled assist.

The easy win puts Barca two points behind Sociedad and fourth-placed Villarreal, who drew 1-1 at home with Athletic Bilbao.

Atleti stay top

Earlier second-half goals from Mario Hermoso and Marcos Llorente earned Atletico a 2-0 win away at a Sociedad team that started the fixture three points off the lead but are now six back in third after their third straight league defeat.

Diego Simeone’s side are three clear of second-placed Real Madrid, who can move level again with their city rivals with a home win over Granada on Wednesday.

Atletico know that however Madrid fare that they will have played two fewer games than the reigning champions, while Sociedad have played three games more than the leaders.

The win was Simeone’s 300th league win as Atletico coach.

“It’s means a lot, really a lot,” the Argentine said.

“I came here with the idea of taking Atletico to the summit of the game... I can’t thank the club enough for what they have given me.”

Sociedad were the better side in the first half but couldn’t carve a goalscoring opportunity in an opening period without a shot on target.

Atletico went ahead just three minutes after the break when Hermoso found himself unmarked in the area and perfectly met Yannick Carrasco’s free-kick to send a header flying into the bottom corner.

Atletico sealed the points with 16 minutes remaining, Llorente lashing home when the ball fell to him on the edge of the area to complete a textbook away performance.

Sevilla are sixth, nine points behind Atletico after Suso fired them to a 1-0 win at struggling Valencia.

Suso gave the Andalusians the points with a thumping strike in the 81st minute after charging through to collect a Joan Jordan through ball.

Valencia are 13th and just a point above the relegation zone after their sixth consecutive league match without a win. 

LOS ANGELES — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Monday the league would not “jump the line” for the Covid-19 vaccine as the league prepared to tip off its new season amid a surge in coronavirus cases across the United States.

Speaking on a conference call ahead of the start of the 2020-2021 season on Tuesday, Silver emphasised that the NBA would “wait our turn” to obtain the vaccine, which began to be administered for the first time last week.

“It goes without saying that in no form or way will we jump the line,” Silver told reporters. “We will wait our turn to get the vaccine.”

Silver said he hoped NBA players and staff would eventually play a role in helping to assure the public of the benefits of getting the vaccine.

“It’s my hope that when we are eligible, members of the NBA community will want to get vaccinated and it’s our plan to be involved with governmental efforts in terms of public messaging as to the benefit of taking the vaccine,” he said.

The NBA was shut down for four months last season as the pandemic swept across North America before resuming in July with teams based in a protective quarantine bubble in Orlando, Florida.

However the new season will take place with teams playing in their home markets, a move that represents myriad logistical challenges for the NBA and its 30 teams amid skyrocketing COVID-19 cases in many states.

Season bubble ‘untenable’

Silver said playing an entire season in a bubble-like campus environment was deemed to be “untenable” but insisted he was confident of health and safety protocols put in place to mitigate the risk from the virus.

“I’ve been asked many times ‘Why are you starting your season now, given the state of the pandemic?’” Silver said.

“It’s a fair question and the short answer is that we’re comfortable with the health and safety protocols we’ve designed in consultation with the players association and our medical experts.

“We would not be opening our season if we did not believe it was safe and responsible to do so.”

Silver added however that the league was preparing for disruption, referring to a sense of “trepidation” about Tuesday’s tip-off.

NBA chiefs have only released a schedule of games for the first half of the abbreviated 72-game season, and will finalise the second half of the calendar at a later date.

“We do anticipate there will be bumps in the road along the way,” Silver said. “We’re waiting to see how this plays out before issuing the second half of the season. We know it’s possible we may have to reschedule games along the way.”

Silver said only six teams would start the season with fans in attendance at their arenas and described the return of spectators as a “huge priority”.

Anthem hope

“But at the same time I recognise that until we have mass distribution of the vaccine it’s unlikely that we’re going to return to the point of having full arenas,” he cautioned, adding that the league estimated a 40 per cent dip in total revenues if no fans at all were present during the season.

Silver meanwhile said that after the social justice initiatives adopted last season following the death of George Floyd in May, when “Black Lives Matter” adorned every court following the restart and players kneeled for the national anthem, he hoped players would return to standing for the anthem.

“It’s a national ritual of sorts that I hope, personally, isn’t something that’s lost,” Silver said.

“Because there are very few things that bring us together these days. So it’s my expectation that going into the season we’re going to return to the practice that’s been part of this league for many decades, and that is standing for the national anthem.”

NBA rules require players to stand for the pre-game anthem ritual.

Silver emphasised, however, that the league would not punish players who chose to protest the anthem by taking a knee.

“It’s a complicated issue,” he said. “Certainly, I’m not focusing in any way right now on discipline. I recognise this is a very emotional issue on both sides. I think it calls for engagement rather than simply rule enforcement.”

MILAN  — AC Milan forward Rafael Leao scored the fastest-ever goal in Serie A history on Sunday, netting after just six seconds in a 2-1 win at Sassuolo which kept his side top of the table ahead of city rivals Inter Milan.

Milan, chasing a first Serie A title since 2011, launched straight onto the attack from kick-off, with Turkish midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu setting up Leao to slot home the rapid opener.

The previous fastest goal in the Italian top flight had been Paolo Poggi’s for Piacenza against Fiorentina in December 2001 after eight seconds.

Milan have a one-point advantage on Antonio Conte’s Inter who beat Spezia 2-1, with champions Juventus four points behind the leaders in third after a 4-0 win over Parma on Saturday.

“We have four or five kick-off patterns. [Leao] was prepared,” said Milan coach Stefano Pioli whose side had been held 2-2 in both their last two league games against Parma and Genoa.

“Winning this match counts for a lot psychologically.”

Portuguese Leao, who usually plays on the left wing, started at centre-forward with star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic still out with a leg muscle problem and his replacement Ante Rebic also injured.

It was the 21-year-old’s third league goal this season and fourth in all competitions.

“We had prepared it in training,” said Leao.

“This game was important for us, because we had lost some points in the previous matches.”

Calhanoglu thought he had scored a second on nine minutes when he put home a Leao cross but the goal was disallowed for offside after a VAR review.

However, Alexis Saelemaekers doubled Milan’s lead in the 26th minute following good work from Theo Hernandez.

Domenico Berardi pulled a goal back late for Sassuolo, who sit sixth after the defeat.

Ilicic lifts Atalanta

At the San Siro, Inter Milan extended their winning league run to six matches with Achraf Hakimi getting the first goal five minutes after the break.

Romelu Lukaku slotted in a penalty on 71 minutes for his 11th league goal this season after a M’Bala Nzola handball.

“This is our sixth straight Serie A win, we welcome these results because consistency will keep us competing at the top,” said Conte.

“We didn’t create a huge amount but we conceded almost nothing, it was a deserved win.”

Roberto Piccoli got a goal back for Spezia, who are just above the relegation zone after extending their winless run to six games, deep into injury time.

Atalanta came from behind to crush Roma 4-1 in Bergamo despite playing without captain Papu Gomez who has fallen out with coach Gian Piero Gasperini.

Edin Dzeko scored after just three minutes, with the Roma captain finishing from a Henrikh Mkhitaryan cross.

But Josip Ilicic came off the bench after the break to inspire the Atalanta recovery, setting up Duvan Zapata for the equaliser just before the hour mark and crossing for Robin Gosens to head in 10 minutes later.

Colombian Luis Muriel scored the third a minute after coming off the bench on 72 minutes, before Ilicic got his first league goal of the season with an impressive solo run five minutes from time.

Atalanta, with a game in hand, are seventh in the table, 10 points off AC Milan. 

Roma, in fourth, missed the chance to move level on points with Juventus, and are just ahead of Napoli who fell 2-0 at Champions League rivals Lazio.

Ciro Immobile headed home in the ninth minute, with the Italian forward setting up Luis Alberto for the second on 56 minutes following a blunder in the Napoli defence.

Napoli were playing without injured Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen and club record scorer Dries Mertens with captain Lorenzo Insigne suspended for insulting the referee in their defeat at Inter Milan last time out.

“A step backwards, it wasn’t us, lacklustre, ugly, light, soft,” blasted assistant Napoli coach Luigi Riccio.

Lazio are eighth, level on points with Atalanta.

MADRID — Lionel Messi scored his 643rd goal for Barcelona on Saturday to equal Pele’s record of goals for a single club as the Spanish giants were held 2-2 by Valencia.

Messi, 33, headed in from Jordi Alba’s cross after his first-half penalty was saved to equal the mark set by the Brazilian great for Santos.

“These figures are impressive, we will never have a player so effective at this club,” admitted coach Ronald Koeman.

“That’s why he is the No. 1. What he’s done for this club, it is impressive.”

But Messi was eventually left frustrated on Saturday as a dogged Valencia forced a draw to leave Barcelona eight points behind leaders Atletico Madrid, who beat Elche 3-1 earlier in the day.

“There were times tonight with good football, we had total control of the match, especially after leading 2-1 where we tried to get the third, but there were also times when we lost the ball in the danger zones,” added Koeman.

“What worries me is that sometimes the team doesn’t know what the game is about.

“We know we’re a team that always likes to attack and score goals, but there are also times when you have to defend and control the game.

‘Title not over’

“But the race for the title is not yet lost, we are far behind, but it’s a very complicated season for everyone. In two months, the situation may be totally different.”

Barcelona started slowly and went a goal behind to Mouctar Diakhaby’s unchallenged header from a corner after half an hour.

Antoine Griezmann earned the penalty that led to Messi’s record-equalling goal when the France attacker was nudged over by Jose Gaya.

Messi’s spot-kick was saved by Jaume Domenech but the ball rebounded and from Alba’s dinked cross, the Argentina forward headed the ball into the net to draw level with Pele.

Barcelona went ahead thanks to a superb scissor kick from Uruguay’s Ronald Araujo.

But Valencia’s pressure was rewarded when Maxi Gomez got in front of Barca central defender Oscar Mingueza to turn in a cross and equalise.

Philippe Coutinho drove a shot just wide with 12 minutes remaining and Messi curled a free-kick wide but Barcelona were forced to share the points.

Luis Suarez scored twice from close range in a 3-1 victory for Atletico to move Diego Simeone’s side three points clear at the top.

In a tight first half at the Wanda Metropolitano, Atletico wasted a clear chance to take the lead when France forward Thomas Lemar drove the ball straight at Elche ‘keeper Edgar Badia as the defence opened up.

Suarez was far more clinical in the 41st minute as the Uruguay forward got the slightest of touches to steer Kieran Trippier’s cross past Badia to take the lead.

The former Barcelona and Liverpool attacker then stretched to poke the lively Yannick Carrasco’s pass into the net in the 58th minute.

Lucas Boye’s powerful header gave Elche hope in the second half but substitute Diego Costa, who has not hidden his frustration at being relegated to the bench since Suarez’s arrival, fired in a penalty with ten minutes remaining to wrap up the three points for Atletico.

“I’m very happy to be able to play again,” Costa told Movistar after the game.

“I have taken some hard blows but I always pick myself up again. It’s hasn’t been easy but I have enough strength to fight.”

Real Sociedad stay second but remain three points behind after giving up a one-goal lead to lose 2-1 at Levante.

Socieded, who have played three more games than Atletico, were ahead in the 22nd minute when Swedish international Alexander Isak scored.

Roger levelled just six minutes later before Jorge de Frutus grabbed the winner three minute from time.

Villarreal are fourth thanks to a 3-1 win over Osasuna with Gerard Moreno scoring twice to take his season total to eight goals.

BERLIN — Borussia Dortmund’s Bundesliga title aspirations suffered a fresh dent on Friday as they crashed to a 2-1 defeat at Union Berlin on the night their striker Youssoufa Moukoko became the league’s youngest ever goalscorer.

After Liverpool loanee Taiwo Awoniyi headed Union into the lead early in the second half, Moukoko leapt into the air to celebrate making history when he equalised for Dortmund aged just 16 years and 28 days.

Moukoko broke the previous record of Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz, who was 17 years, 34 days when he scored against Bayern Munich in June.

However, Moukoko’s delight was short-lived as Dortmund again conceded from a set-piece with Union centre-back Marvin Friedrich heading the winner from a corner with 12 minutes left.

“We have now lost two league games through set-pieces — that’s a disaster,” Dortmund defender Mats Hummels fumed to DAZN, also referring to November’s 2-1 shock home defeat to Cologne.

“We’re simply beating ourselves up, that can’t be allowed to happen.”

Saturday’s 5-1 thrashing at home to Stuttgart cost head coach Lucien Favre his job, but Dortmund’s defensive woes were exposed again by Union, who also beat them 3-1 in eastern Berlin last season.

Despite bouncing back in mid-week with a 2-1 win at Werder Bremen under caretaker coach Edin Terzic, Dortmund were again punished for yielding possession easily and sloppy defending.

This is Dortmund’s fifth defeat this season, leaving them fourth in the table, six points behind Leverkusen who host Bayern Munich in Saturday’s top-of-the-table clash.

Union, who held European champions Bayern to a 1-1 draw in their previous home game, climb to fifth, just a point behind Dortmund.

They deservedly took the lead behind closed doors when Awoniyi slipped his marker Giovanni Reyna and headed past Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Buerki on 57 minutes.

“The fact that an opposing striker was so free is unforgivable,” Hummels complained after the final whistle.

Having previously hit the Union woodwork, Moukoko made history three minutes later when he stabbed home the equaliser, but Friedrich was left alone in the area to head the winning goal in off the post.

“It’s great that we win the game through two set-pieces,” Union captain Christopher Trimmel told ZDF.

“There was a lot of passion, no opponent has it easy against us.”

The Bundesliga starts a two-week winter break after this weekend and Dortmund have a tough month ahead in January when they face RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Moenchengladbach.

However, Moukoko clearly has a bright future after now claiming three records in the last month.

“You have to congratulate the young 16-year-old on his Bundesliga goal, that’s something very special,” Trimmel added graciously.

Moukoko also became the Champions League’s youngest player ten days ago, coming off the bench in the win at Zenit St Petersburg with Dortmund through to the last 16 where they face Sevilla.

He also became the youngest player in Bundesliga history on November 21 — the day after his 16th birthday.

LIVERPOOL — Jose Mourinho said Tottenham must learn to kill games off if they are to win a first league title in 60 years after Roberto Firmino’s late winner earned Liverpool a 2-1 win over his side on Wednesday.

The Brazilian’s towering header ended an 11-game unbeaten league run for Mourinho’s men and opened up a three-point lead for the defending champions at the top of the Premier League table.

Liverpool enjoyed 76 per cent possession and had 11 shots on target to Tottenham’s two, but Mourinho still believed Spurs would have been deserving winners had they taken their chances early in the second half.

Steven Bergwijn hit the post and Harry Kane uncharacteristically headed a huge opportunity over at 1-1.

“We were so close to a win, not so close to a draw,” said Mourinho, who had an exchange of words with Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp at full-time.

“A draw would be a bad result in relation to the performance, so you can imagine how we feel with the defeat.

“Of course they had more of the ball but when we had it, we knew how to hurt them. We have to score — the second, third goal, we have to score it to kill the game.

“In matches like these where you don’t have 10 chances, just three or four, you have to score three and kill it, which we didn’t.”

Liverpool are now 66 games unbeaten in the league at Anfield and showed why they remain the favourites in a wide-open title race with their ability to consistently win tight games late on.

“Completely deserved,” said Klopp of his side’s victory. “A really good game against a top side, a counter-attacking monster.

“You lose one ball and you end up with an 80 percent possibility in your own box so you have to really concentrate.”

Houllier tributes 

Before kick-off, the Liverpool support, players and officials paid their respects to former manager Gerard Houllier, who died earlier this week at 73.

Unusually kicking towards 2,000 fans in the Kop in the first half, Liverpool made a storming start as they swarmed over Spurs and could count themselves unfortunate not to have been out of sight by half-time.

Liverpool earned their luck for the opening goal when Mohamed Salah’s shot took a huge deflection off Toby Alderweireld and looped beyond the helpless Hugo Lloris in off the far post.

Curtis Jones should have done better with a big chance to double the home side’s advantage moments later as Lloris was again well-positioned to make a comfortable save.

But the moment Tottenham had been waiting for to launch the counter-attack that has thrust them into title contention, beating Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal in recent weeks, arrived on 33 minutes.

Giovani Lo Celso’s brilliant pass opened up a makeshift Liverpool backline with 19-year-old Rhys Williams partnering midfielder Fabinho in central defence.

Son Heung-min timed his run to perfection to stay onside and coolly slotted past Alisson Becker for his 14th goal of the season.

Having weathered the storm, Spurs went on to enjoy the far better chances early in the second half.

Bergwijn prodded wide from a narrow angle after Williams showed his inexperience by getting caught under a simple ball down the middle.

The Dutch international had an even better sight of goal just after the hour mark when he hit the base of the post when clean through and from the resulting corner, Kane headed a glorious chance over.

Liverpool continued to enjoy more possession and nearly unpicked the lock of the Tottenham defence when Sadio Mane spun Serge Aurier and crashed a rising shot off the bar.

But Mourinho will be bitterly disappointed that his side were eventually undone by a set-piece as from Andy Robertson’s corner, Firmino rose highest to silence the critics of his goal record with what could be one of the most important all season.