Dramatic late winner for Chelsea

Chelsea secure a very late 1-0 victory over Everton as rivals Arsenal thrash Sunderland 4-1 in the Premiership.

Chelsea's goal came from a Frank Lampard free-kick that deflected off goalkeeper Tim Howard [Reuters]

Chelsea scrambled a stoppage-time winner to snatch a 1-0 victory over Everton, showing their Premier League title mettle by claiming three points when they looked on course to suffer another damaging blow.  

After drawing their last league game against West Bromwich Albion and suffering a chastening FA Cup defeat to rivals Manchester City, Jose Mourinho’s side were looking for a morale-boosting return to form.

Yet they looked sluggish for most of the match and after finally sparking into life they came up against a stubborn Everton rearguard which only crumbled deep into added time.

Chelsea won a free kick wide on the left which Frank Lampard whipped into the penalty area and Everton keeper Tim Howard deflected it into his own net with John Terry sliding in to challenge.

Leaders Chelsea moved to 60 points from 27 games, four clear of second-placed Arsenal who face Sunderland at home later on Saturday.

Everton stayed sixth with 45 points from 26, eight adrift of Liverpool in fourth.

Cardiff in trouble

Elsewhere, Hull took a big step towards Premier League safety by thrashing Cardiff 4-0 to leave their hosts deep in trouble.

Tom Huddlestone’s deflected shot and Nikica Jelavic’s low finish inside the box gave the Tigers a 2-0 half-time lead, despite Cardiff enjoying the greater possession. Two more goals from Jelavic and Livermore sealed the easy victory.

For Solskjaer, who had targeted this match as a potential win, it is now five defeats from his seven Premier League matches in charge – and the Bluebirds remain deep in the relegation zone. 

In-form West Ham earned their fourth consecutive league victory after coming from behind to defeat Southampton 3-1.

Maya Yoshida headed Southampton in front from Steven Davis’s free-kick but Matt Jarvis levelled after tapping past Artur Boruc.

Three minutes later, Carlton Cole made it 2-1 for West Ham before Kevin Nolan’s goal sealed the victory.

Arsenal hit form

Olivier Giroud marked his return to action with two goals as Arsenal swept aside lowly Sunderland.

He stroked home an early opener after a deflected Jack Wilshere shot fell to him, and capitalised on a poor Santiago Vergini back-pass for his second.

Tomas Rosicky clipped home a third after a neat Arsenal passing move with Laurent Koscielny heading the fourth.

Emanuele Giaccherini produced a stunning late volley to end Arsenal’s run of five home league clean sheets.


Source: Al Jazeera