Chelsea goes third as Spurs falter
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, March 19, 2013
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Frank Lampard scored his 200th goal for Chelsea which beat West Ham United 2-0 to move into third place in the English Premier League above Tottenham Hotspur which suffered a shock 0-1 home reverse to Fulham on Sunday. |
Frank Lampard scored his 200th goal for Chelsea which beat West Ham United 2-0 to move into third place in the English Premier League above Tottenham Hotspur which suffered a shock 0-1 home reverse to Fulham on Sunday.
Fulham put a huge dent in Tottenham's Champions League ambitions when former Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov scored the only goal after 52 minutes.
FA Cup semifinalist Wigan Athletic stayed in the drop zone despite Arouna Kone scoring a last-minute goal in a 2-1 home win over Newcastle United and Sunderland continued to flirt with danger after a 1-1 tie with 10-man Norwich City.
Most of the attention was focused on the two London derbies with Spurs and Chelsea involved in an increasingly tight battle for a top-four finish and a place in next season's Champions League.
West London prevailed in both games with Chelsea's win at Stamford Bridge moving it on to 55 points, one more than Spurs, which has played a game more.
Fulham's victory, only its third at White Hart Lane in the league since it first played Spurs there 104 years ago, was enough to consolidate its mid-table position and leave Spurs fans nervously dreading another end-of-season collapse.
Deserved victory
Chelsea, on the other hand, has regained form despite the unrest among fans surrounding interim coach Rafa Benitez and its deserved victory followed the 2-2 comeback draw with Manchester United in the FA Cup and a 3-1 win over Steaua Bucharest in the Europa League.
"It is a long race," Benitez told Sky Sports. "We have to carry on, win our next game and see what the others do."
Lampard struck his milestone goal after 19 minutes against his former club after converting a cross from Eden Hazard and the Belgian added the second in the second half to seal the points.
While Chelsea is battling through its crisis, Spurs seem to be entering one.
After going 12 league matches unbeaten and playing some excellent football to climb to third, Spurs have now lost three times in eight days following their 2-3 league defeat at Liverpool and a 1-4 Europa League loss to Inter Milan.
Spurs did squeeze into the quarterfinals of the European competition on away goals, but there was no reprieve against Fulham which defended superbly after taking the lead and goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer made two brilliant late saves to deny substitute Jermain Defoe.
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