LONDON, April 30, (AFP): Chelsea kept their Premier League title dream alive on Saturday after scrambling a controversial late 2-1 victory over Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.
Second-half substitute Salomon Kalou’s 89th-minute strike secured a priceless win for the reigning champions, who closed the gap on leaders Manchester United to three points.
But Chelsea’s win owed everything to a bitterly contested equaliser by Frank Lampard on the stroke of half-time after Sandro had fired Spurs ahead with a 25-yard rocket on 19 minutes.
The flashpoint — which is certain to renew debate about the use of goal-line technology — occurred when Lampard let fly with a long-range effort that Heurelho Gomes appeared to have covered.
But the erratic Spurs keeper could only watch in horror as he fumbled Lampard’s shot and the ball rolled through his legs towards goal.
Gomes scrambled back desperately to hook the ball back to safety but referee Andre Marriner checked with his assistant and the goal was given despite furious protests from Tottenham’s players.
Television replays lent weight to Spurs’ sense of injustice, indicating the ball had not completely crossed the line before being recovered by Gomes and so should not have stood.
There was a second dose of controversy surrounding Kalou’s winner, when replays suggested the Ivorian was marginally off-side in the build-up.
Chelsea’s victory sets up a potential title decider next weekend when Carlo Ancelotti’s men travel to Old Trafford to face United.
Fulham 3, Sunderland 0
In Sunderland, injury-hit Sunderland crashed to their eighth defeat in 10 matches as Fulham scored only their second away win in nearly two years with a 3-0 victory at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
Fulham had not won on their league travels since August 2009, but the Cottagers proved too strong for Steve Bruce’s side, who had been hoping to build on last weekend’s victory over Wigan.
French teenager Gael Kakuta, a loan signing from west London rivals Chelsea, gave Fulham the lead on 33 minutes before Welsh international Simon Davies bagged a second-half brace to wrap up the points.
Sunderland enjoyed the better of the early chances but ultimately suffered through a lack of composure in attack, an inevitable side effect of a injury toll that has left Bruce without any fit strikers.
Fulham manager Mark Hughes however was able to make three changes from the side which beat Bolton 3-0 in midweek, Philippe Senderos making a long-awaited debut following an injury-plagued start to his Craven Cottage career. Kakuta and veteran striker Bobby Zamora were also promoted to the starting line-up as Hughes rotated his resources.
And it was Kakuta who opened the scoring for Fulham on 33 minutes after some dreadful defending from the home side.
Zamora slipped a pass through to Kakuta in the middle of the area and the 19-year-old kept his cool to jab the ball through the legs of Simon Mignolet.
Sunderland spurned a glorious chance to level soon afterwards but Lee Cattermole failed to seriously test Mark Schwarzer, who saved comfortably from 10 yards out.
Blackburn 1, Bolton 0
In Blackburn, Blackburn halted their slide towards Premier League relegation when Martin Olsson’s first-half goal earned them a potentially priceless 1-0 win over Lancashire rivals Bolton here Saturday.
It was Rovers’ first win in 11 league games stretching back to January and eased the pressure on beleaguered boss Steve Kean. After an edgy start, the home side dominated and ultimately deserved their victory on a tense afternoon at Ewood Park.
But Rovers made hard work of it by missing a series of chances to kill the game off in the second-half and Bolton, though below their best, were always capable of nicking an equaliser.
But ultimately it was the Swede Olsson, never a prolific goalscorer since joining the club five years ago, who was the hero.
Both teams struggled to cope with the blustery conditions and Rovers looked nervous early on.
They almost fell behind after ten minutes when Rodrigo Moreno’s snapshot flashed past Paul Robinson’s left-hand post.
Bolton fans taunted Rovers supporters with cries of ‘You should have kept Big Sam’ — a reference to the former Wanderers manager controversially sacked by Blackburn’s Indian owners last December.
It generated some sympathetic applause from the Ewood faithful, who had watched their team slide into relegation trouble on the back of a 10-match winless run.
Blackpool 0, Stoke 0
In Blackpool, Blackpool remain just above the Premier League relegation zone despite being held to a 0-0 draw by Stoke at Bloomfield Road on Saturday.
Ian Holloway’s side could have significantly boosted their chances of avoiding the drop with a victory over the FA Cup finalists, but a dour encounter left them ahead of third bottom Wigan only on goal difference.
The Seasiders were fortunate to escape a defeat as Stoke striker Kenwyne Jones missed the best chance of the game when he rounded goalkeeper Matt Gilks but shot woefully wide in the first-half.
Victory for Wolves over Birmingham on Sunday would see Blackpool slide into the relegation zone with only three matches to play.
Blackpool carved out the first opportunity after six minutes as Stephen Crainey whipping in a cross and DJ Campbell headed over the bar.
Having soaked up some pressure, Stoke got their first strike in on goal as Robert Huth saw a shot blocked by Crainey.
Blackpool’s Gary Taylor-Fletcher got on the end of a cross from Ian Evatt four minutes before the interval but was unable to get much power behind his header, which Asmir Begovic gathered comfortably.
The hosts then survived a real scare in first half stoppage-time when they lost possession and the ball came to Jones, who took it around Michael Gilks as Evatt slipped over.
It seemed like a simple finish for the former Sunderland striker, but he somehow contrived to blaze wide and the score remained 0-0.
Wigan 1, Everton 1
In Wigan, Wigan Athletic remain mired in the Premier League relegation zone after Leighton Baines’s late penalty rescued a 1-1 draw for Everton against his former club on Saturday.
Charles N’Zogbia gave Wigan the lead in the 21st minute at the DW Stadium and Everton’s Mikel Arteta then had a penalty saved by Ali Al Habsi.
Wigan came close to extending their lead on several occasions but a handball by Hugo Rodallega enabled Baines to draw the Toffees level from the penalty spot 12 minutes from full-time.
With three games of the season remaining, Wigan are third-bottom in the table but trail fourth-bottom Blackpool on goal difference alone.
They visit Aston Villa next weekend before hosting fellow strugglers West Ham United and then travel to FA Cup finalists Stoke City on the season’s final day. Everton remain seventh, four points behind sixth-placed city rivals Liverpool, who host Newcastle United on Sunday. Everton welcomed back key attacking midfielders Arteta and Tim Cahill from injury but it was Wigan who made the more enterprising start.
A pass from Ben Watson released Rodallega behind the Everton defence but the Colombian’s snap-shot was way off target. Everton threatened through Victor Anichebe, who was denied by an alert block from Emmerson Boyce, before the hosts went ahead.
James McCarthy’s gentle chip forward ran through to N’Zogbia, who beat Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard to the ball, turned inside and curled a fine shot inside the left-hand post.
West Brom 2, Villa 1
In Birmingham, Youssouf Mulumbu clinched 10-man West Bromwich Albion’s first victory over local rivals Aston Villa for 26 years as they fought back to win 2-1 at The Hawthorns on Saturday.
An own goal from Abdoulaye Meite gave Villa an early lead before Peter Odemwingie levelled for the Baggies with his 14th goal of the campaign.
Albion midfielder Paul Scharner was sent off after 62 minutes for two bookable offences, but Mulumbu netted the winner with six minutes remaining.
West Brom, who have now taken 16 points from nine matches under boss Roy Hodgson, moved above Villa into 11th place in the Premier League.
With Villa boss Gerard Houllier still recovering from severe chest pains, Gary McAllister remained in charge and the Scot saw his side take the lead in the fourth minute. Gabriel Agbonlahor held the ball up inside the Baggies box before picking out Stewart Downing.
Meite was unable to deal with Downing’s low cross and deflected the ball past Scott Carson into the corner of his own net.
Carson was then unable to cling onto a deflected shot from Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov, but he recovered in time to grab the rebound before Darren Bent could take advantage.
Scharner became the first player to be booked for a challenge on Nigel Reo-Coker.
Carlos Vela missed a great chance to bring Albion level, the on-loan Arsenal striker latching onto Simon Cox’s defence-splitting pass but failing to keep his shot down as he tried to chip Brad Friedel.
England winger Downing teed up Kyle Walker, whose menacing cross was tipped over the bar by Carson.
But in-form Nigerian striker Odemwingie brought West Brom level in the 60th minute.
James Morrison’s deep free-kick was headed back across goal by Jonas Olsson and Cox and Scharner miskicked before Odemwingie lashed the ball into the roof of the net.
Albion were reduced to 10 men two minutes later when Scharner hauled down Petrov and was sent off for a second booking.
Carson parried away a curling attempt from Ashley Young as Villa looked to make the most of their numerical advantage.
However, Albion played with great composure in unpromising circumstances and won the points thanks to Mulumbu’s sixth goal of the season in the 84th minute.
Malumbu ran onto Cox’s pass and evaded Luke Young before nicking the ball past Friedel and into the net.