Chelsea reclaimed their three-point lead at the top of the Premier League table after a hard-earned 2-1 win over bottom side Portsmouth on Wednesday.
Nicolas Anelka’s first-half strike and a second-half penalty from Frank Lampard secured the first win in five matches for Carlo Ancelotti’s side and ensured it was an unhappy return to Stamford Bridge for former Chelsea boss Avram Grant, now the manager of Portsmouth.
Grant, who was sacked as Chelsea boss last year, saw his new charges completely outclassed in the opening period and it was remarkable that the home side only went in at the interval with a one-goal advantage.
PHOTO: AFP
That came courtesy of a 23rd-minute strike from Anelka following good approach work by Brazilian defender Alex.
But within six minutes of the restart, Portsmouth were back on level terms. Frederic Piquionne fired home from 10m after Jamie O’Hara’s free-kick had ricocheted through the wall and into the path of the Pompey striker.
Chelsea did not look like re-establishing their lead but the league leaders were thrown a lifeline when Mark Wilson pulled down Branislav Ivanovic in the area and Lampard thumped in the penalty with 11 minutes left.
Arsenal’s hopes of catching the leaders suffered a setback when they were held to a 1-1 draw at Burnley.
The Gunners had threatened to overrun Burnley in the opening stages at Turf Moor with Andrey Arshavin hitting the post after Cesc Fabregas had given them a seventh-minute lead.
But Burnley got back on level terms just before the half hour mark, Graham Alexander converting a penalty after Andre Bikey was pulled down by Thomas Vermaelen.
Both sides spurned chances to claim all three points.
Tottenham claimed an emphatic 3-0 win over Manchester City at White Hart Lane.
Niko Kranjcar scored twice as Spurs dented City’s prospects of a top four finish with a win that left the visitors eighth.
Kranjcar fired Spurs into a first-half lead after a Peter Crouch header had been blocked. Jermain Defoe then made the points safe after the interval, running on to a Crouch flick-on, and Kranjcar claimed his second in stoppage time.
Liverpool bounced back from their weekend defeat at the hands of Arsenal by defeating Wigan 2-1 at Anfield.
David Ngog gave the home side the lead when he met Fabio Aurelio’s 10th-minute cross with a glancing header.
However, it was not until Fernando Torres came off the bench and found the net with 11 minutes left that the points were safe, although Charles N’Zogbia’s injury-time effort for Wigan ensured a couple of nervous moments right at the end.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
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