Chelsea beat Fulham 3-1 to move within two points of its second English championship on Saturday, the 50th anniversary of the Blues' last title in 1955.
The Premier League title could even come on Monday if second-place Arsenal ties or loses to Tottenham. If not, Chelsea can clinch it with a victory at Bolton next Saturday.
"They know it's just one more victory and it's done," Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said. "The squad is fantastic. Every player is committed to the cause, even though some of them play more than others.
PHOTO: AFP
"Since a long time, we have felt that the trophy must come here. We want to win, we know that we will win, but we still need at most two more points."
Chelsea has 85 points with four games remaining, while Arsenal has 71 points and five games left.
"Hopefully Spurs will do us a favor," said Chelsea captain John Terry.
Manchester United stands third on 67 points and Everton is fourth with 58 points, four ahead of crosstown rival Liverpool.
Southampton went bottom and West Bromwich Albion fell from safety to 19th, below Norwich and Crystal Palace.
Southampton has 28 points, West Brom has 29, with Norwich and Crystal Palace on 30 points.
At Stamford Bridge, Cole scored after 17 minutes with a shot into the near corner that diving Fulham goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar couldn't touch.
Fulham equalized in the 40th. Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho couldn't match the pace of striker Collins John, who scored past advancing goalkeeper Peter Cech.
Lampard put Chelsea ahead in the 63rd minute, with a long drive from the edge of the box after substitute Arjen Robben had cut the ball back.
Gudjohnsen made it 3-1 with three minutes left, racing down the pitch to score a solo effort.
Mourinho was angry at the early kickoff time, branding it ridiculous given Chelsea had played Arsenal in a 0-0 draw on Wednesday night.
"I think it's a bit cruel that a team who plays Wednesday 8pm has to play Saturday at 12:45pm. It's not for human beings. It's too much,'' Mourinho said.
"Because of this, the result is incredible and magnificent and the three points are just because of the players' character."
Chelsea players will gather to watch the Arsenal game on Monday at a hotel. Chelsea plays Liverpool in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez was angry at his side's defeat to Crystal Palace, its 10th away loss this season.
Andy Johnson scored his 20th goal of the season with a header in the 35th minute.
Benitez rested Xabi Alonso, Igor Biscan and the injured Luis Garcia but started Steven Gerrard and used John Arne Riise as a second-half substitute.
Also Saturday, Sunderland clinched promotion to the Premier League. Sunderland beat Leicester 2-1 and was helped by Ipswich's 1-1 draw with Leeds in the Football League championship. Sunderland was relegated two years ago with a record low of 19 points from 38 matches.
Wigan beat Rotherham 2-0. Sunderland has 88 points, followed by Wigan with 83 and Ipswich with 81.
Aberdeen moved closer to third place in the Scottish Premier League with a 1-0 win over Motherwell.
Darren Mackie's 34th-minute goal gives Aberdeen 55 points -- two behind third-place Hibernian which drew 2-2 with Hearts. Third place ensures UEFA Cup soccer next season.
"Don't get me wrong, we would rather be in Hibs' position but this result keeps us ticking over and at least this game is out of the way," Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood said. "We will finish at least fifth this season which is a big improvement on last year but we are still hoping for a wee bit higher."
Saturday's matches were the first since the league split. For the final five games of the season, the top six clubs play each other once, as do the bottom six. Rangers and Celtic play today.
Dundee United drew 1-1 with Livingston. Stevie Crawford scored for Dundee United and Eric Deloumeaux leveled for Livi.
Craig Dargo scored in the 84th minute to give Kilmarnock a 1-0 win over Dundee, while Dunfermline and Inverness Caledonian Thistle played a scoreless draw.
Ronaldo and Michel Salgado scored second-half goals to help Real Madrid rally to a 2-1 victory over Villarreal for its fifth straight win in the Spanish league.
The Brazilian made up for Juan Roman Riquelme's first-half penalty at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium by heading home in the 70th minute, although Madrid was immediately hit by the ejection of its Argentine defender Walter Samuel.
Salgado struck the winning goal in the 74th, and Madrid moved to within three points of league leader FC Barcelona, which visits Malaga today.
Madrid's Zinedine Zidane and Villarreal defender Quique Alvarez were also sent off following an injury-time clash. A member of Madrid's coaching staff, Antonio Melo, was also red-carded at the same time.
"I'm very happy with the victory which came after the game got a bit complicated for us. But we knew how to react despite the referee's mistakes," Ronaldo said. "Tomorrow it's Barcelona's turn. We've won and we'll be watching to see how they get on. Let's hope they slip up."
Barcelona has 72 points from 32 games, while Madrid has 69 from 33. Sevilla and Villarreal have 52 points each. Real Betis is fifth with 51.
In Saturday's other game, Osasuna edged Atletico Madrid 1-0.
Goals to Michael Ballack and Roy Makaay allowed Bayern Munich to close in on its 18th Bundesliga title with an easy 3-1 victory over Bochum.
Bayern pulled nine points clear of Schalke with four rounds to play when its fading rival failed to control Hertha Berlin stars Marcelhino and Yildiray Basturk and was thrashed 4-1.
Marcelhino scored twice and Basturk added one goal and set up two as visiting Schalke was overwhelmed in front of 75,000 spectators at Berlin's Olympiastadion.
Schalke stumbled to its fourth loss in five matches, while charging Berlin is chasing a Champions League berth after climbing to fourth in the table.
"Naturally we have readjusted our goals upward -- and we showed today we're capable of doing something about them," Berlin coach Falko Goetz said.
His team boasts the league's best record since the winter break and has conquered most of the top teams along the way.
Stuttgart, in the thick of the title race three weeks ago, fell 10 points back with a 0-0 draw against Wolfsburg. Freiburg also became the first demoted team by falling 3-1 to Bielefeld.
Bayern's fifth straight victory left the team with 65 points. Schalke has 56, Stuttgart 55, Berlin 53 and Bremen is at 50 with Sunday's game in hand.
Defending champion AC Milan beat Parma 3-0 Saturday, on goals by its foreign stars Kaka, Jon-Dahl Tomasson and Cafu, to earn an undisputed lead in the Serie A standings and a promising victory ahead of its Champions League first-leg semifinal with PSV Eindhoven.
The second straight home win lifted the Milan side to 73 points, three clear of Juventus which is at Lazio in today's matches of the 33rd round.
Milan's success was likely to put additional pressure on Juventus, coming off a home loss to Inter Milan and missing several key players, including strikers Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Trezeguet, for the match with Lazio.
Brazil's Kaka kicked in the opening goal at San Siro following a series of rebounds in the 33rd minute.
Tomasson, fed by Andriy Shevchenko, made it 2-0 on a quick counterattack and Brazilian defender Cafu netted Milan's third goal with a right-foot volley in the 70th minute for his first tally this season.
Park Ji-sung scored one goal and set up another as PSV Eindhoven clinched the Dutch premier league title with a 3-0 victory over Vitesse Arnhem.
With four games left to play, PSV's 17-point lead over defending champion Ajax Amsterdam in the Eredivisie is unassailable, and Eindhoven can focus on its Champions League semifinal matches against AC Milan.
In other league games, AZ Alkmaar lost 2-1 at RKC Waalwijk, cementing its position in third place, one point behind Ajax. Roda JC Kerkrade overpowered ADO The Hague 4-1.
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