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Chelsea steamrollers Derby

Lampard scores four including first hat-trick for the Blues

LONDON: 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-placed 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 tallies.

It was Lampard’s fourth career hat-trick and his first for Chelsea.

Three behind Man U

Chelsea’s 18th win from 28 matches lifted it after its surprise elimination from the FA Cup over the weekend and moved it to 61 points, three behind United and four back of Arsenal.

“I think we have a good chance to win the Premier League,” Chelsea manager Avram Grant said. “If we win our game in hand, we are two points behind Arsenal and they have to play here.

“There are 10 games to go. Anything can happen.”

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

Chelsea had a goal by Michael Ballack ruled offside in the 19th 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 halftime 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 25-metre shot and rounded off his team’s scoring in the 72nd.

Derby, which is on course for relegation having won just one of 29 games, scored its only goal minutes later by substitute David Jones.

Portsmouth moves up

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

Portsmouth has 47 points, two fewer than Aston Villa, which was held to a 1-1 draw by visiting Middlesbrough.

Stewart Downing scored midway through the first half for Middlesbrough with England midfielder Gareth Barry equalising for the home side with a second-half penalty.

Boro is now 12th, five points ahead of the three-team relegation zone and four clear of 17th-place Birmingham.

The results: Aston Villa 1 (Barry 74-pen) drew with Middlesbrough 1 (Downing 23); Chelsea 6 (Lampard 28-pen, 57, 66, 72; Kalou 42, J. Cole 64) bt Derby 1 (Jones 73); Portsmouth 4 (Defoe 6-pen, 9, Hreidarsson 49, Kanu 90) bt Birmingham 2 (Muamba 10, Larsson 40). — Agencies

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