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| February 3, 2006 | Friday | Muharram 4, 1427 |
Chelsea widen gap at top as rivals falter
LONDON, Feb 2: Fifteen points clear with 14 matches left to play Chelsea’s march to a second consecutive Premiership title was left looking unstoppable despite being held to a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa on Wednesday.
It was a far from convincing performance from Jose Mourinho’s side.
But neither Manchester United, beaten 4-3 at Blackburn, nor Liverpool, who were held to a 1-1 draw by ten-man Birmingham, proved capable of taking advantage of the champions’ slip-up.
Chelsea never found top gear but Arjen Robben’s fifth goal of the season, drilled in after Joe Cole had chested down a William Gallas cross, looked to have earned them victory before Luke Moore snatched a point for Villa with a scrambled late equaliser.
Former Arsenal winger David Bentley celebrated his permanent move to Blackburn with a hat-trick as Mark Hughes’s side held off a United fightback in a seven-goal thriller at Ewood Park.
Bentley put Blackburn ahead by snaffling up a rebound from Morten Gamst Pedersen’s free-kick, only for Louis Saha to equalise inside two minutes.
Blackburn got back in front after a mix-up between Rio Ferdinand and United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar presented Bentley with the easiest of opportunities to claim his second goal of the evening.
Lucas Neill’s penalty in first-half stoppage time, after a handball by Wes Brown, and Bentley’s third of the night, 11 minutes after the restart, added to Blackburn’s advantage.
But Hughes, who played under Ferguson at Old Trafford, was delighted after seeing his side complete a league double over United after a League Cup semifinal exit at the hands of the Red Devils.
Ruud van Nistelrooy came off the bench to claim two trademark poacher’s strikes and put United back in the game.
The match finished acrimoniously with Ferdinand sent off for a reckless tackle on Robbie Savage.
Birmingham’s prospects at Anfield were not helped by the straight red card midfielder Damien Johnson received for a wild lunge at Daniel Agger mid-way through the first half.
But after Steven Gerrard had put the Reds ahead in the 62nd-minute, Steve Bruce’s side claimed an unlikely point thanks to a Xabi Alonso own goal within two minutes of the end.
The result meant there was no fairytale Anfield return for Robbie Fowler who came off the bench just after Gerrard had scored.
Arsenal’s domestic troubles intensified with a 3-2 home defeat by London rivals West Ham.
Nigel Reo Coker and Bobby Zamora both took advantage of errors by Sol Campbell, substituted at half-time, to put the Hammers two-up completely against the run of play.
Campbell was also at fault on the Hammers’ second, failing to close down Bobby Zamora before the striker curled a shot round Jens Lehmann.
Arsenal pulled one back just before half-time, Thierry Henry getting the faintest of contacts on a Robert Pires shot.
But the Gunners were left shell-shocked when Matthew Etherington claimed a third for the visitors with just over ten minutes left, ensuring that a late Robert Pires effort for Arsenal had no impact on the outcome.
“It wasn’t simple,” said Hammers boss Alan Pardew. “But we’re really flying in attack.”
Manchester City piled the pressure on Newcastle manager Graeme Souness with a convincing 3-0 win at the City of Manchester stadium.
“We had a lot of the ball but did nothing with it,” said Souness. “I think we got everything the players could give tonight.”
City boss Stuart Pearce included want-away Joey Barton in his starting line-up and the midfielder was given a hostile reception from the fans.
But that did not prevent him from creating City’s opening goal with a cross for on-loan Spaniard Albert Riera, who volleyed into the corner of the net.
An Andy Cole header and a Darius Vassell strike mid-way through the second half completed a miserable night for the Newcastle players, who were roundly abused by their own travelling fans.
Struggling Portsmouth claimed a point at home to Bolton, for whom Khalilou Fadiga squandered a first-half penalty.
The Senegalese midfielder made amends after the break with a long-range free-kick that evaded Dean Kiely but Portsmouth deserved the equaliser claimed by substitute Azar Karadas five minutes from the end.
Results
Arsenal 2 West Ham 3
Aston Villa 1 Chelsea 1
Blackburn 4 Manchester United 3
Liverpool 1 Birmingham 1
Manchester City 3 Newcastle 0
Portsmouth 1 Bolton 1
Charlton 0 West Brom 0
Fulham 1 Tottenham 0
Sunderland 0 Middlesbrough
Wigan 1 Everton 1
—AFP
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