Pro Eleven Headline News

Chelsea falls to Spurs, United also stumbles

Chelsea missed out on a glorious chance to close the gap on Manchester United as the Blues fell 1-0 to Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Saturday.

United entered the weekend four points up on Chelsea with a game in hand, but the Red Devils lost 2-0 at Fulham, giving the Blues a chance to cut the gap to only one point.

However, Chelsea had a difficult time getting started, and after falling behind 1-0 on a goal from Luka Modric in the 50th minute, Guus Hiddink's team created a number of chances but failed to find the net.

The loss leaves Chelsea four points behind United, but it gives Liverpool a chance to take over sole possession of second place with a point at home against Aston Villa on Sunday.

Chelsea started well with Michael Essien forcing a diving stop from Spurs goalkeeper Gomes eight minutes into the game, while the home side almost opened the scoring one minute later when Jermaine Jenas smashed a shot inches over the crossbar.

Robbie Keane had the best chance of the first half when he was alone at the back post but volleyed right at goalkeeper Petr Cech from 12 yards.

Tottenham was looking like the more dangerous team and they finally found a goal five minutes after the break.

Aaron Lennon drove a low cross towards the top of the box for Modric, and he hammered a first-time shot perfectly into the bottom right corner.

Chelsea put together a few good chances in the final 30 minutes as they desperately searched for an equalizer, but a bit of bad luck prevented them from finding one.

Substitute Ricardo Quaresma floated a good cross to Frank Lampard at the back post, but his header was kept out by defender Vedran Corluka, who appeared to hit the ball with his arm.

Gomes then made a terrific reaction stop on a John Terry header with 10 minutes to play, but the keeper needed some help from the woodwork in stoppage time to keep the lead.

A corner kick was played into the middle of the box and Alex got up and headed the ball down. It bounced up off the turf and had the keeper beaten, but it came back off the crossbar and Tottenham emerged with the maximum points.

United suffered its second straight defeat as Paul Scholes was sent off for handling the ball on his own goal line in the 18th minute, allowing Danny Murphy to convert from the penalty spot, while Zoltan Gera completed the 2-0 Fulham win with a goal in the 87th minute.

Portsmouth moved out of the bottom three with a 2-1 win over Everton as Peter Crouch scored twice, while a goal from Ryan Shawcross in the 84th minute helped Stoke City also move three points clear of the drop zone as the Potters beat Middlesbrough, 1-0.

West Bromwich stole a point against Bolton as the teams finished 1-1, Blackburn and West Ham also played to a 1-1 draw, and Arsenal moved three points clear of Aston Villa in fourth place as the Gunners downed Newcastle, 3-1. SportsNetwork



Liverpool determined to sustain the high

Liverpool head into their match with Aston Villa desperate to avoid another feeling of anti-climax at Anfield.

The Reds know that they will have to win almost all of their remaining nine games in the Premier League to stand a chance of overhauling the leaders Manchester United.

And they go into the game with top-four challengers Villa on the back of a 4-0 win over Real Madrid and a 4-1 victory at Manchester United.

But Rafael Benitez's team will be mindful that the last time they returned to a more modest league encounter, they suffered a major jolt.

Following the high of a 1-0 win over Real Madrid in the Bernabeu, their Premier League hopes suffered a major blow with a 2-0 loss against Middlesbrough.

While Villa are a more dangerous proposition than Gareth Southgate's team, Liverpool accept that this will be seen as another test of their staying power.

Liverpool's title push has often foundered at home, where they have regularly been stifled.

They remain unbeaten in the league at Anfield but have been held to draws in six of their 14 home games.

The 12 points they have dropped - against Stoke, Fulham, West Ham, Hull, Everton and Manchester City - are likely to prove costly come the end the season.

And Benitez, who is sure for a warm reception at Anfield after signing a new five-year contract, knows that his team can not afford any more slip ups if they are to maintain the pressure on Sir Alex Ferguson's men.

He said: "This week has been really good for us. To beat United away and score four goals is massive. But we cannot say anything if we don't go on to beat Aston Villa.

"If we want to be contenders and stay in the title race, clearly it depends on United. But we also have to win our games, starting with three points against Villa.

"The players know we have to win our games and try to be as close as possible to United. We can be talking and talking but all this doesn't matter unless we win.

"I'll think about Villa and see what the position is in a week. To win the title you always have to be almost perfect, and when you are four points behind and they have a game in hand, clearly you have to win almost every game."

The Spaniard has a full squad, apart from long-term absentee Philipp Degen to select from and although all the attention will be on whether the Reds can stay in touch with United, Villa are also coming under pressure.

Having spent much of the campaign pushing for a top four place, they have slipped out of the Champions League places with a miserable run that has seen them fail to win in seven matches in all competitions.

Although Benitez is assured of plenty of cheers from the Reds supporters, the reception given to Gareth Barry, who came close to moving to Anfield last summer, is likely to be far cooler.

Martin O'Neill knows all about how to come away from Anfield with a share of the spoils after picking up a 2-2 draw at Liverpool last season.

He is calling on a repeat of that performance to pull Villa out of their tail-spin and is sure that he can bring the Reds back down to earth.

He said: "They've had a fantastic victory against Manchester United at Old Trafford, they've beaten Real Madrid, so at this moment their form and results have been terrific.

"But last year we went up there, we fought back from a goal behind to get ourselves in front and conceded a late goal.

"What we have to do is keep hold of that self-belief and the players have got to try and remain as strong as possible. They are certainly capable of doing it." AFP