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Blues continue to assert dominance

Chelsea's Frank Lampard celebrates scoring against Liverpool during their English Premier League match at Anfield in Liverpool, England on Sunday. PHOTO: AP

Chelsea kept its Premier League record perfect with an emphatic 4-1 victory over Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday on goals from Frank Lampard, Damien Duff, Joe Cole and Geremi.

It was also the seventh match between the two clubs in a year -- and their second in four days. After a drab 0-0 draw Wednesday in the Champions League, this one was attacking and entertaining -- and Chelsea left no doubt about its superiority.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, irritated that his club's style of play has been called boring, responded after the victory.

"I think it's time to respect a little bit more my players and my team and Chelsea football club," Mourinho said. "We've showed that we deserve a little bit more respect.

"I think nobody, or almost nobody, gives us the respect we deserve. We are the team with more points, with more victories with more goals. ... What more do they want?"

Lampard converted a penalty in the 27th minute after Djimi Traore brought down Didier Drogba in the area. Steven Gerrard equalized in the 36th, driving home a sharp-angled shot from 10m after the ball bounced through the area off a corner.

England roster * Goalkeepers: Paul Robinson (Tottenham), Robert Green (Norwich), Chris Kirkland (West Brom) * Defenders: Ashley Cole (Arsenal), Phil Neville (Everton), Luke Young (Charlton), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), John Terry (Chelsea), Sol Campbell (Arsenal), Ledley King (Tottenham) * Midfielders: David Beckham (Real Madrid), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Chelsea), Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham), Alan Smith (Manchester United), Kieran Richardson (Manchester United) * Forwards: Michael Owen (Newcastle), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Darren Bent (Charlton), Peter Crouch (Liverpool)

Chelsea regained the lead in the 43rd. Drogba cut back a ball from the left wing, with Duff stretching to score from 6m.

Cole made it 3-1 in the 63rd, and again Drogba was in the mix. The Ivory Coast international broke down the left side and, as Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Manuel Reina came out, Drogba slipped the ball through to Cole, who chipped it home from close range.

Geremi scored in the 82nd, seconds after coming on as a substitute.

other matches

Also Sunday, it was: Manchester City 2, Everton 0; Wigan 2, Bolton 1; Arsenal 1, Birmingham 0; and Aston Villa 2, Middlesbrough 3.

Chelsea leads the Premier League with 24 points, followed by Charlton and Tottenham with 15, and Manchester United, Bolton and Man City with 14.

The loss offered a minor moral victory for Liverpool; the Reds managed to dominate possession at times, and scored only the second goal this season against Chelsea in league play.

Chelsea is unscored on in two other official matches this season -- both in the Champions League.

The two clubs have played seven times in a year, and have overshadowed the longtime rivalry between Arsenal and Manchester United. Chelsea is 4-2-1 in those seven games. The lone loss came in the semifinals of last season's Champions League -- ousting Chelsea.

Liverpool went on to win its fifth Champions Cup title, beating AC Milan on penalties in the finals.

Arsenal, Manchester City, Wigan and Middlesbrough also picked up key victories.

Arsenal vs. Birmingham

Arsenal sneaked a 1-0 victory over Birmingham at Highbury, taking advantage of Stephen Clemence's own-goal in the 81st minute.

Second-half goals from Danny Mills and Darius Vassell lifted Manchester City to a 2-0 victory over Everton. Wigan defeated Bolton 2-1 and Middlesbrough beat Aston Villa 3-2.

Arsenal struggled in the match at Highbury despite playing with a man advantage from the 24th minute when Kenny Cunningham was sent off with a red card.

The Gunners should have put the game away in the first half, but Birmingham goalkeeper Maik Taylor foiled Jose Antonio Reyes several times, and then stopped a penalty by Robert Pires.

"We were very lucky," Arsenal's Robin van Persie said. "It wasn't a good match. It was very hard playing against them."

Arsenal improved to 13 points in seven games. Birmingham has only six points from eight games.

In Man City's victory, Mills scored on a dramatic strike in the 72nd minute, beating 'keeper Nigel Martyn on a right-footed drive from 25m. Vassell added his in injury time.

Man City's victory moved the club into sixth place with 14 points from eight games.

For Everton, which finished fourth last season in the Premier League, the loss left the club in last place with only one goal through seven games. It was Everton's fifth straight league loss.

Only Arsenal has played longer than Everton in the top-flight of English soccer without being demoted. But the Toffees are in real danger this season.

Newly promoted Wigan continued to be the surprise of the league, improving to 13 points from seven games. Henri Camara and Lee McCullouch gave Wigan a 2-0 lead after 63 minutes with Radhi Jaidi pulling Bolton closer in the 68th.

In Middlesbrough's 3-2 victory over Villa, Aiyegbeni Yakubu scored twice for the winner -- in the 33rd to open the scoring and in an 88th-minute penalty to make it 3-1. George Boateng scored `Boro's other goal. Luke Moore and Steven Davis scored for Villa.

'Boro improved to 11 points in eight games. Struggling Villa has only six in eight.

Steven Pressley scored two second-half goals to lift Scottish Premier League leader Hearts to a 2-2 draw at Falkirk.

After falling behind 2-0, Hearts rallied with goals from Pressley in the 72nd and second-half injury time. It was Hearts' first blemish after winning their first eight league matches.

In Sunday's other game, Inverness won 2-1 at Hibernian.

Hearts leads with 25 points, followed by Celtic with 22 and Rangers and Hibernian with 16.

Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon was sent off in the first half for a foul on Falkirk striker Darryl Duffy, who opened the scoring from the spot against substitute 'keeper Steve Banks.

Falkirk went ahead 2-0 when Pressley scored an own-goal in the 68th.

On Saturday, Celtic won 5-0 at Livingston, and defending champion Rangers beat Dunfermline 5-1.

Three Brazilians provided all of Real Madrid's goals in a 4-0 win over last-place Mallorca.

Roberto Carlos scored two for the nine-time European champions, while Ronaldo and Julio Baptista added the others.

Also, Fernando Baiano scored his fifth goal of the season, and Celta Vigo drew 1-1 with Cadiz.

Madrid moved into third place with its third straight win.

"The victory in today's match is very important for us," Madrid's David Beckham was quoted as saying by news agency Efe. "I'm happy about how things have turning out in recent games. I wasn't worried when people said we were having a crisis because it happened in Manchester whenever we lost a game."

In a late game, Atletico Madrid won 2-0 at Malaga.

Getafe has 14 points, while Celta has 13. Madrid and Osasuna have 12 points each, three more than FC Barcelona, Valencia, and Deportivo.

Juventus opened up a five-point lead atop Serie A with a 2-0 win over Inter Milan behind goals from David Trezeguet and Pavel Nedved.

Juve is 6-0-0 and also has started the Champions League with two wins. Juventus' last loss was to Inter in the Italian Super Cup on Aug. 20.

"The most important thing is we played a great game and showed a lot of character," Juventus coach Fabio Capello told Italy's Sky TV. "We dominated in midfield. [Patrick] Vieira was excellent. We really allowed Inter very little."

In the 22nd minute, Trezeguet headed in the rebound off Zlatan Ibrahimovic's free kick. Nedved scored directly off a free kick in the 34th. Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar appeared unhappy with the positioning of Inter's wall and Nedved directed the ball exactly where Cesar was yelling for his teammates to move to.

Both of Juve's top strikers, Ibrahimovic and Trezeguet, left the game early due to injuries. Ibrahimovic was the victim of a brutal foul in the 39th by Marco Materazzi.

Juventus has a full 18 points. AC Milan and Fiorentina are tied for second with 13 points each and Inter Milan and Sampdoria are fourth with 12 points each.

Earlier on a rainy day up and down the peninsula, Paolo Maldini's first two-goal game led Milan to a 2-1 win over Reggina.

The goals were Maldini's first this season and the 26th and 27th of the 37-year-old defender's career.

Hamburger SV closed within one point of leader Bayern when Rafael van der Vaart scored two goals to lift the club past Kaiserslautern 3-0.

The Netherlands international collected his fifth and sixth Bundesliga goals this season and set up Sergei Barbarez's 50th-minute score in a one-sided away match for Hamburg.

Hamburg didn't allow Kaiserslautern, which hasn't scored in four matches, a quality attempt in the match. The club is unbeaten in 19 games this season, allowing just eight goals.

"This was fun today. We have been good, but today we were super -- this was our best match yet," Van der Vaart said.

The win gave Hamburg 20 points from eight matches, one less than Bayern, which it beat convincingly last week. Bremen has 19 points in the three-way title race.

In Sunday's second match, Borussia Dortmund and Stuttgart played a 0-0 draw. The result didn't help either side as they remained stuck in the middle of the table.

Going in to two critical World Cup qualifying games, England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson on Sunday called up 2m striker Peter Crouch as a temporary replacement for suspended striker Wayne Rooney.

Rooney is suspended for Saturday's match against Austria, but is eligible to play the final game against Poland on Oct. 12. Both games are in Manchester, England.

Eriksson also recalled midfielder Alan Smith to the team and added defenders Sol Campbell and Ledley King, who are back from injuries.

Poland leads Group 6 with 24 points from nine games, while England has 19 from eight. Austria has 12 from eight games and cannot reach the World Cup finals next year in Germany.

England must win both games to claim the group title and automatically qualify for the finals in Germany.

Poland will win the group with a victory or a draw against England.

The top team in each of the eight European groups advance automatically. The two best second-place teams also advance, with the remaining six teams playing off for three spots.
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