Chelsea scrambled a 2-1 home win over Fulham on Monday as two goals in two minutes saved them from what was looking like a first home defeat for more than a year.
Fulham took a fourth minute lead at Stamford Bridge through Zoltan Gera before a Didier Drogba header in the 73rd minute and an own goal from Premier League debutant Chris Smalling two minutes later rescued Chelsea, who had lost one and drawn three of their previous five league games.
Fulham got off to a flyer at a ground where they had not won for 30 years with Gera scoring the opening goal.
PHOTO : AFP
Although they dominated possession for the rest of the half, Chelsea, struggled to create chances.
Mark Schwarzer saved well from Drogba after an hour to raise Fulham’s hopes of hanging on but the game then turned completely.
Drogba headed the equalizer from a deep Branislav Ivanovic cross and Schwarzer then parried a Daniel Sturridge shot against teammate Smalling for an own goal.
Chelsea’s win moved them five points clear at the top from Manchester United, although United have a game in hand against Wigan today.
Meanwhile, Manchester City gave new boss Roberto Mancini a second straight win with a 3-0 victory at Wolves.
Carlos Tevez scored twice for City, the other goal coming from a Javier Garrido free-kick.
“It was a fantastic performance,” said Mancini, who guided City to their first away win for four months.
Birmingham City are up to seventh after their 1-0 win at Stoke City extended their unbeaten run to a top flight club record of 11.
Tottenham continued their push for a top-four finish with a well-deserved 2-0 win over struggling West Ham at White Hart Lane.
An electrifying burst by winger Aaron Lennon set up Luka Modric who scored after 11 minutes while Jermain Defoe settled it nine minutes from time.
Elsewhere, Darren Bent twice gave Sunderland the lead only for Blackburn Rovers to draw 2-2 after goals from Morten Gamst Pedersen and El-Hadji Diouf while Everton beat Burnley 2-0.
James Vaughan came off the bench to score seven minutes from time at Goodison Park before Steven Pienaar wrapped up the victory.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB