The Hindu : Sport : Chelsea cuts Man U's lead

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 20, 2007
ePaper

Sport

Sport

Chelsea cuts Man U's lead

Gerrard lifts Liverpool to victory

PAT FROM THE SKIPPER: Chelsea's hero Shaun Wright-Phillips (left) is congratulated by captain John Terry. — PHOTO: AFP

London: Chelsea cut its deficit from Premier League leader Manchester United back to three points on Wednesday by beating West Ham 4-1.

Shaun Wright-Phillips scored two goals, with Salomon Kalou and Didier Drogba adding the others for the two-time defending champion. Carlos Tevez scored one for West Ham.

Wright-Phillips scored his two goals in only six minutes in the first half, and Tevez scored his in between.

Kalou chested the ball to Wright-Phillips in the 31st for his first goal of the season. The Chelsea winger avoided several defenders before changing direction with a dip of the shoulder and shooting past West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green.

Tevez briefly equalised in the 35th with a shot from 25 metres that Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech appeared to misjudge. The goal ended a string of eight straight clean sheets for both Chelsea and Cech.

Chelsea reclaimed the lead less than a minute later, however. Defender Wayne Bridge ran down the left side and crossed to Wright-Phillips, who volleyed past Green.

Kalou made it 3-1 in the 51st by tapping in a rebound after Drogba had nearly scored off Frank Lampard's cross.

Lampard was able to set up Drogba for the fourth goal, sending a looping pass that the Ivory Coast striker controlled with one touch and then shot through the legs of Green. The goal was Drogba's 19th in the league this season.

West Ham had other chances to score in the first half, the best coming from James Collins in the 37th when his header from Jonathan Spector's cross went right at Cech.

Liverpool, inspired by a commanding performance by Steven Gerrard, moved back into third place with a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough.

Gerrard put Liverpool in the lead in the 58th minute with a 35-metre, right-footed shot that bounced once before hitting the left-side netting. The Liverpool captain also converted a penalty in the 65th minute.

The results: EPL: West Ham United 1 (Tevez) bt Chelsea 4 (Wright-Phillips 2, Kalou, Drogba); Liverpool 2 (Gerrard 2) bt Middlesbrough 0; Blackburn Rovers 3 (Samba, Roberts, McCarthy) bt Watford 1 (Rinaldi).

Italian Serie A: Inter Milan 1 (Materazzi) lost to AS Roma 3 (Perrotta, Totti, Cassetti); Ascoli 2 (Di Biagio, Guberti) lost to AC Milan 5 (Gilardino 2, Kaka 2, Seedorf); Empoli 2 (Saudati, Almiron) bt Atalanta 0; Lazio 0 drew with Chievo 0; Livorno 2 (Lucarelli, Knezevic) bt Cagliari 1 (Suazo); Reggina 3 (Bianchi, Amoruso 2) bt Messina 1 (Rigano); Udinese 1 (Iaquinta) bt Sampdoria 0; Parma 2 (Rossi 2) bt Fiorentina 0; Siena 1 (Antonini) bt Torino 0. — Agencies

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport