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Lampard stars as Chelsea rout Rams, close in on Man U

Frank Lampard scored four goals on Wednesday to lead Chelsea to a 6-1 English Premier League win over Derby that closed the gap on second-place Manchester United to three points.

The England midfielder converted a first-half penalty and then scored three more goals within 15 minutes in the second half, with Salomon Kalou and Joe Cole accounting for the Blues' other goals.

Chelsea's 18th win from 28 matches lifted them after their surprise elimination from the FA Cup over the weekend and moved them to 61 points, three behind United and four adrift of Arsenal.

Lampard dominated the match against Derby after having been left out of lineup in the FA Cup loss to Barnsley.

Chelsea had a goal by Michael Ballack ruled offside in the 19th minute but Lampard won a penalty from a foul by substitute Dean Leacock and put it past goalkeeper Roy Carroll.

Kalou made it 2-0 three minutes before half-time and Lampard scored his second goal in the 57th minute from a cross by Cole.

Cole converted a rebound in the 64th before Lampard made it 5-0 with a 25m shot and rounded off his team's scoring in the 72nd.

Derby, on course for relegation having won just one of 29 games, scored their only goal minutes later through substitute David Jones.

Portsmouth, the only Premier League side to have qualified for the FA Cup semi-finals, moved up to seventh place with a 4-2 win over struggling Birmingham.

Jermain Defoe scored twice for Pompey to take his tally to five in five matches since moving to Fratton Park in January.
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