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Kalou rescues Chelsea record
Salomon Kalou cancels out Park Ji-sung's strike as a weekend of EPL action concludes.
Last Modified: 21 Sep 2008 17:27 GMT

Park beats Petr Cech to put United 1-0 up [GALLO/GETTY]
A late goal by substitute Salomon Kalou earned Chelsea a 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Stamford Bridge to maintain his side's unbeaten record at home.

Kalou headed home a free kick on 80 minutes to cancel out Park Ji-sung's 18th-minute opener.

The draw takes Chelsea level with Liverpool on 11 points, one behind leaders Arsenal.

Aston Villa won 2-1 at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday to move to fourth on 10 points, while Manchester City put six past Portsmouth, Wigan held Spurs at White Hart Lane and Everton recovered from two down to draw with Hull.

Evra surge

Aware that another defeat would leave them nine points adrift of Chelsea, United started well and went ahead after Patrice Evra surged into the box and squared for Dimitar Berbatov.

The Bulgarian, a peripheral figure for most of the match, had his low shot parried by goalkeeper Petr Cech but straight into the path of Park, who turned it in.

Chelsea threw on Didier Drogba for the second half, with United introducing Cristiano Ronaldo.

Joe Cole had a great chance to equalise after 65 minutes when through on goal but he shot weakly straight at Tomasz Kuszczak, on in place of Edwin van der Sar after the Dutchman was injured in a first-half collision.

Anelka air shot

Cole thought he had made amends seven minutes later when he whipped in a fierce low cross that Nicolas Anelka needed only to touch over the line but the Frenchman failed to make contact.

As the clock ticked down it appeared that Chelsea were heading for their first home league defeat since Arsenal beat them in February 2004.

However, when John Obi Mikel floated in a deep free kick Kuszczak remained rooted to his line and an unmarked Kalou headed in from three metres.

Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari said the loss of Deco to an injury in the warm-up disrupted his team and enabled United to take the initiative.
 
"They controlled the game for the first 15 minutes, we improved some but our mistakes were in front of goal," he told Sky Sports.

Slick City humble Pompey

Robinho makes sure the fans know his name [GALLO/GETTY]
Manchester City continued their free-scoring start to the season with a thrashing of Portsmouth that will delight their Middle Eastern buyers.

Their 6-0 win takes their tally to 15 goals in five games, with Portsmouth paying the price for some woeful defending.

Striker Jo opened the floodgates when he sprung the offside trap after 13 minutes, and Richard Dunne bundled home the second goal seven minutes later.

Robinho finished off a sharp counter-attack with the third after 57 minutes, Shaun Wright-Phillips lashed in the fourth and substitutes Ched Evans and Gelson Fernandes completed the rout.

John Carew and Gabriel Agbonlahor scored within two minutes of each other midway through the first half as Aston Villa maintained their good start at the Hawthorns.

James Morrison pulled one back before halftime but Villa always looked the more dangerous as Carew twice hit the post.

Wigan woe for Ramos

The hotseat at White Hart Lane is an uncomfortable place to be at the moment and Juande Ramos will take little comfort from doubling Spurs' points tally with a draw at home to Wigan Athletic.

Tottenham were booed off after the stalemate – although their defence may at least be pleased at keeping the league's joint top-scorer Amr Zaki quiet.

Both sides tried to be adventurous in an end-to-end game but a lack of quality up front meant the goalkeepers were not often tested.

Everton came back from 2-0 down at the KC Stadium but their first goal was controversial as Tim Cahill's shot bounced down on to the line and was signaled as over.

Hull went ahead with a Michael Turner header after 18 minutes and a Phil Neville own goal doubled their lead.

Cahill's controversial effort came after 73 minutes and Leon Osman banged in the equaliser five minutes later.

Source:
Agencies
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