Chelsea missed the chance to go top in the English Premier League after Didier Drogba saw a late penalty saved in a 1-1 draw away to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, who had let substitute Drogba’s shot go through his hands for Chelsea’s 70th minute equalizer, brought down Ramires in stoppage time.
But the Brazilian then produced a fine save to deny Drogba, who took the spot-kick even though fellow substitute and regular penalty-taker Frank Lampard was on the field.
Photo: AFP
Had the penalty gone in and Chelsea won, the Blues would have gone top. Instead they stayed fourth.
Tottenham opened the scoring in the 15th minute when the unchallenged Roman Pavlyuchenko struck from inside the box after a pass from Jermain Defoe.
Drogba, on at the start of the second half, equalized 20 minutes from time when his shot found a way through Gomes’s hands to set up the game’s dramatic finale as Spurs regained fifth spot from Bolton, who beat Blackburn Rovers 2-1 earlier on Sunday.
“I thought we deserved to win the game, especially in the second half, we dominated,” Chelsea captain John Terry told Sky Sports after the Blues avoided a fifth defeat in nine games. “That’s more like the Chelsea we know.”
Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said Lampard was not in a position to take the penalty.
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp said a draw was a “fair result,” adding: “This says we’re as good a side as almost anybody. We can give anybody a game.”
Ten-man Bolton saw Stuart Holden snatch a dramatic late winner in a victory over Lancashire rivals Blackburn.
American-import Holden struck in the 88th minute, just seconds after Mame Biram Diouf seemed to have earned Blackburn a point.
Diouf canceled out a 63rd-minute opener from Fabrice Muamba for Bolton who had Mark Davies sent off after 54 minutes for a second bookable offense.
“I know I’ve got spirit in that dressing room and it was so evident again there, to take the blow of the equalizer and then come back and score such a wonderful goal,” Bolton boss Owen Coyle said.
In Sunday’s other match, Wolves clinched a crucial 1-0 win over Birmingham with their first clean sheet since April.
Stephen Hunt’s near-post finish on the stroke of half-time was the only effort to beat England international goalkeeper Ben Foster who put in another sublime performance to keep the hosts at bay at Molineux. Despite the win, Wolves stayed second from bottom.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
AGING WELL: Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, 22, was sent packing after being dispatched by world No. 97, Laura Siegemund, the second-oldest player in the draw at 36 Novak Djokovic yesterday created a slice of Grand Slam history on his way into the Australian Open third round, but last year’s women’s finalist Zheng Qinwen was knocked out in the biggest shock so far. Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, in-form Coco Gauff, two-time Melbourne winner Naomi Osaka and a rampant Carlos Alcaraz were all victors on a rainy day four. Play was suspended on the outside courts for a couple of hours in the early evening because of the wet weather. That led to the rescheduling of a women’s doubles match between wild-cards Tsao Chia-yi of Taiwan and Thailand’s Peangtarn Plipuech and 11th
RSS