Chelsea on Saturday strengthened their grip on a Premier League top-four place by beating London rivals Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 as Manchester City edged past Leicester City despite another attack of the penalty jitters.
Meanwhile, Sheffield United missed out on the chance to clamber above Tottenham into fifth place after drawing at home to struggling Brighton.
Liverpool’s staggering 19-point lead over second-placed Manchester City means the title race is effectively over, with much of the focus turning to the scramble to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Photo: Action Images via Reuters
Frank Lampard’s fourth-placed Chelsea went into their match against Jose Mourinho’s Spurs at Stamford Bridge without a win in their past four Premier League matches and just one point clear of Spurs.
Fringe players Olivier Giroud and Marcos Alonso were recalled by Lampard and both rewarded their manager’s confidence by scoring in the home win.
The result means Lampard has completed a league double against his former boss this season.
However, the match was overshadowed by a video assistant referee (VAR) controversy, with officials ruling that Tottenham midfielder Giovani Lo Celso did not deserve to be sent off for a “leg breaker” stamp on Cesar Azpilicueta.
World Cup winner Giroud put Chelsea ahead in the 15th minute when he reacted quickest to finish beyond Hugo Lloris after Ross Barkley had struck a post.
Chelsea doubled their advantage three minutes into the second half, Alonso drilling in a first-time shot after being set up by Barkley.
Alonso’s free-kick hit the bar before Antonio Rudiger deflected Erik Lamela’s shot into his own net in the 89th minute to give Spurs late hope.
Lampard criticised VAR after Lo Celso was allowed to stay on the pitch.
“I hate to call for red cards, but that is a leg breaker,” he said. “Everybody knew they made a mistake. I was just waiting for the red card to be shown.”
Adding to Lampard’s frustration, television broadcaster BT Sport reported that VAR officials had told them Lo Celso should have been sent off.
Manchester City substitute Gabriel Jesus struck late on for his team at the King Power Stadium after Aguero saw his second-half spot-kick saved by Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
City have failed to score from each of their past four penalties, with each spot-kick being missed by a different player, but they bounced back to see off Leicester and the 1-0 win leaves them seven points clear of their opponents, cementing their position in second place.
Sheffield United took the lead at home against Brighton through Enda Stevens, but Neal Maupay equalized for the south-coast club on the half-hour.
The 1-1 draw leaves Sheffield in sixth place on 40 points, level with Tottenham.
Burnley beat Bournemouth 3-0 to lift themselves to eighth in the table while Southampton won 2-0 at home to Aston Villa to move 10 points clear of the drop zone.
SERIE A
AFP, ROME
Cristiano Ronaldo scored for a record-equaling 11th consecutive Serie A game in his 1,000th professional match, as Juventus on Saturday extended their league lead with a 2-1 win over basement club SPAL.
The 35-year-old tapped in six minutes before the break to equal the mark held by Gabriel Batistuta and Fabio Quagliarella.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has scored 25 goals in all competitions this season for Juventus, including 16 in his current run of 11 matches.
Aaron Ramsey added a second after an hour, before Andrea Petagna pulled one back from the spot for SPAL, amid controversy as the penalty was awarded following a VAR review, despite the pitchside monitor not working.
LA LIGA
AFP, MADRID
Lionel Messi scored four goals and Barcelona reclaimed top spot in La Liga as Real Madrid suffered a surprise defeat by Levante on Saturday, a week before the Clasico.
Madrid’s nightmare afternoon was made worse by another injury to Eden Hazard, who was forced off in the second half of their 1-0 defeat in Valencia and is now doubtful to face Manchester City on Wednesday in the Champions League.
“It doesn’t look good,” Real coach Zinedine Zidane said.
Messi, meanwhile, ridiculed talk of a drought by scoring four goals against Eibar after four games without one, while emergency signing Martin Braithwaite made two assists off the bench, teeing up Messi and then Arthur Melo in injury-time.
Their 5-0 rout, coupled with Madrid’s defeat, means Barca move back to the summit of La Liga, two points ahead of Zidane’s side ahead of next Saturday’s showdown at the Santiago Bernabeu.
“We’ve had good times this season and now this is a bad time,” Zidane said. “Now we have a week where everything is at stake.”
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