Related News
Chelsea extends lead at Premier top
Source: Agencies |
December 30, 2009, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHELSEA extended its Premier League lead to five points by fighting back to beat Fulham 2-1 on Monday, while Tottenham returned to the Champions League places by easing to a 2-0 victory over West Ham.
Chelsea had Chris Smalling's own goal to thank for the victory after struggling against its west London rival.
Chelsea's grip on the league lead had been loosened by two consecutive draws, but the team returned to winning ways in front of former manager Jose Mourinho.
The Inter Milan coach, whose side will play Chelsea in the last 16 of the Champions League, witnessed a dire start from the home team with Zoltan Gera netting inside three minutes when he met Bobby Zamora's pass, after Chelsea captain John Terry had failed to clear.
"We went behind and the most important thing is the reaction in the second half, which was fantastic," Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said. "With this performance we finished a difficult period for the team. This could be an important victory in the season because I'm very happy with the reaction of the team during a bad spell."
It took until the 73rd minute for Didier Drogba to equalize in the Ivory Coast striker's last match before going taking off for African Cup of Nations.
And inside two minutes, Smalling inadvertently turned the ball into his own net after goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer blocked Daniel Sturridge's shot.
"It's very disappointing to put in such a great performance and have nothing to show for it," Fulham manager Roy Hodgson said.
"It would have been nice to have gone away with at least a point - we pushed Chelsea to the limit and we can consider ourselves very unlucky."
Chelsea has 45 points, while Manchester United has 40 before it hosts Wigan today, when third-place Arsenal also travels to Portsmouth.
Tottenham is fourth with 37 points, one behind Arsenal but two ahead of Aston Villa and Manchester City, which won 3-0 at Wolverhampton - its first away victory since August 30.
Carlos Tevez scored twice, either side of second-half substitute Javier Garrido's free-kick, as City made it two wins out of two under new manager Roberto Mancini.
Tevez's first-half strike took a deflection off Christophe Berra on its way past American goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann, but the Argentina forward's powerful strike in the closing minutes was unstoppable.
"We have been working very hard on the tactics and I think we are doing well," City captain Kolo Toure said. "This is the second clean sheet and we hope that we keep going on like that."
Birmingham is now three points behind City and Villa after beating Stoke 1-0 to climb above Liverpool into seventh. Cameron Jerome bundled the ball over the line in the 50th to help Birmingham extend its unbeaten run to 11 matches.
"With every week, every victory, every good performance, then the expectations rise, and the players have met them head on," manager Alex McLeish said. "There's a big danger the players will become tired if I keep naming an unchanged side."
At Goodison Park, Everton ended a seven-match winless streak in the league by beating 10-man Burnley 2-0, with both goals coming after Stephen Jordan was sent off for the visitors.
Blackburn and Sunderland played out a 2-2 draw at Ewood Park.
Chelsea had Chris Smalling's own goal to thank for the victory after struggling against its west London rival.
Chelsea's grip on the league lead had been loosened by two consecutive draws, but the team returned to winning ways in front of former manager Jose Mourinho.
The Inter Milan coach, whose side will play Chelsea in the last 16 of the Champions League, witnessed a dire start from the home team with Zoltan Gera netting inside three minutes when he met Bobby Zamora's pass, after Chelsea captain John Terry had failed to clear.
"We went behind and the most important thing is the reaction in the second half, which was fantastic," Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said. "With this performance we finished a difficult period for the team. This could be an important victory in the season because I'm very happy with the reaction of the team during a bad spell."
It took until the 73rd minute for Didier Drogba to equalize in the Ivory Coast striker's last match before going taking off for African Cup of Nations.
And inside two minutes, Smalling inadvertently turned the ball into his own net after goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer blocked Daniel Sturridge's shot.
"It's very disappointing to put in such a great performance and have nothing to show for it," Fulham manager Roy Hodgson said.
"It would have been nice to have gone away with at least a point - we pushed Chelsea to the limit and we can consider ourselves very unlucky."
Chelsea has 45 points, while Manchester United has 40 before it hosts Wigan today, when third-place Arsenal also travels to Portsmouth.
Tottenham is fourth with 37 points, one behind Arsenal but two ahead of Aston Villa and Manchester City, which won 3-0 at Wolverhampton - its first away victory since August 30.
Carlos Tevez scored twice, either side of second-half substitute Javier Garrido's free-kick, as City made it two wins out of two under new manager Roberto Mancini.
Tevez's first-half strike took a deflection off Christophe Berra on its way past American goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann, but the Argentina forward's powerful strike in the closing minutes was unstoppable.
"We have been working very hard on the tactics and I think we are doing well," City captain Kolo Toure said. "This is the second clean sheet and we hope that we keep going on like that."
Birmingham is now three points behind City and Villa after beating Stoke 1-0 to climb above Liverpool into seventh. Cameron Jerome bundled the ball over the line in the 50th to help Birmingham extend its unbeaten run to 11 matches.
"With every week, every victory, every good performance, then the expectations rise, and the players have met them head on," manager Alex McLeish said. "There's a big danger the players will become tired if I keep naming an unchanged side."
At Goodison Park, Everton ended a seven-match winless streak in the league by beating 10-man Burnley 2-0, with both goals coming after Stephen Jordan was sent off for the visitors.
Blackburn and Sunderland played out a 2-2 draw at Ewood Park.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
