Chelsea’s Premier League title hopes are very much alive after Salomon Kalou scored in the 89th minute to seal a dramatic 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
A controversial goal from Frank Lampard gave Chelsea an equalizer after Sandro’s opener for Tottenham before substitute Kalou, on for Fernando Torres, poked the ball into the net one minute from the end of normal time.
Chelsea are now just three points behind Manchester United at the top, putting the pressure onto the leaders going into their clash with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
Both managers admitted that goal-line technology should be introduced into the game and Lampard said Chelsea had ridden their luck.
“The one that didn’t go over the line, I was due one of those — I had a big one in the summer,” Lampard said, referring to his goal that was disallowed for England against Germany.
“I’m pleased with that. But it’s unlucky on them. You get what you deserve and, that’s not rubbing it in on Tottenham, we deserved that, we created enough, we were bright enough to win the game.” The result also puts a massive dent in Tottenham’s hopes of securing fourth spot. The London side are now four points behind Manchester City and only three ahead of sixth-placed Liverpool.
But Chelsea needed a couple of massive strokes of luck to get the three points after Sandro had smashed Tottenham ahead in the first half with a superb strike from long range.
First Lampard’s speculative shot was spilled by Huerelho Gomes as the ball squirmed between his legs but he looked to have retrieved the ball just before it crossed the line.
But referee Andre Marriner awarded the goal after consultation with his linesman, even though television replays suggested Gomes had got there just in time.
Chelsea, who had gone into the game with a 4-4-2 formation with Torres alongside Didier Drogba, switched to their favoured 4-3-3 at half-time and they immediately improved.
Drogba tested Gomes from long range and Lampard twice shot wide before a Drogba mishit found Kalou, seemingly in an offside position, and the striker put the ball into the net for the winner.
“We’re fighting to the end,” Lampard said. “We had a couple of months where we let ourselves down a bit and let it slip, but you saw the character today. We deserved it today.
“They (Manchester United) are in the driving seat and it’s theirs to lose, but if they do slip up we’re in a position now where we’ll have a real go to try and do it.
“We’ve kept ourselves alive today and we can sit back and watch and hope tomorrow.”
Blackburn beats Bolton
Earlier, Blackburn improved their chances of survival after they edged their way to a 1-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers.
Martin Olsson’s 20th-minute goal proved enough to give Blackburn all three points and a cushion of three points over the bottom three, much to the relief of manager Steve Kean.
“It was a big win for us,” he said. “We knew it would be tough but Bolton were off the back of a tough schedule and there was a big chance for us to win.
“We can go into the West Ham game full of confidence and hopefully put the whole relegation thing to bed.” Wigan remain in the relegation zone as they could only draw 1-1 with Everton.
With three games apiece remaining, Blackburn have 38 points, three better than Birmingham City, who play Wolverhampton on Sunday.
Blackpool, who drew 0-0 at home with Stoke City on Saturday, sit one place above the bottom three on 35 points, but only thanks to a superior goal difference to Wigan.
Charles N’Zogbia put Wigan ahead on 21 minutes but Everton, who had a Mikel Arteta penalty saved in the first half, equalized with 12 minutes to go when Leighton Baines made no mistake from the spot after a hand ball.
WBA completes comeback
West Bromwich Albion, with 10 men after the sending-off of Paul Scharner, came from behind to beat Aston Villa 2-1, thanks to goals from Peter Odemwingie and Youssouf Mulumbu.
Sunderland have 41 points and may not be out of trouble yet after they were humbled 3-0 at home by Fulham, for whom Simon Davies scored twice.
