Lampard inspires Chelsea

Chelsea maintained the pressure on Premier League leaders Manchester United yesterday when another Frank Lampard special gave the champions a 1-0 win at strugglers Charlton Athletic.

In the early kick-off, Liverpool's hopes of mounting a late title challenge suffered a knock when they were held 0-0 at home by Everton in the Merseyside derby.

Chelsea are on 57 points, three behind Manchester United, who play at Tottenham Hotspur today, and seven ahead of Liverpool in third.

Thierry Henry spared fourth-placed Arsenal's blushes with a 77th minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Middles-brough after Yakubu Aiyegbeni had won and converted a penalty.

Philippe Senderos was dismissed for the second time this season for a professional foul on Yakubu.

At the basement end, new signing John Carew scored his first goal to help Aston Villa beat relegation-threatened West Ham United 1-0 while fifth-placed Bolton Wanderers won 1-0 at bottom side Watford.

Wigan Athletic, who had lost a club record eight league games in a row, opened up a five-point gap on the relegation places thanks to a 1-0 victory over UEFA Cup hopefuls Portsmouth.

In other matches, Blackburn Rovers beat Sheffield United 2-1, Reading won 2-0 at Manchester City and Fulham edged out Newcastle United 2-1.

Chelsea, missing the injured Ashley Cole, had little trouble shrugging off second bottom Charlton and were boosted by the return of captain John Terry, who came on for the final few minutes after two months out following back surgery.

Lampard struck his 10th league goal of the season and eighth in eight games on 18 minutes when he fired in a trademark 25-metre shot. He almost doubled his tally on the stroke of half-time when keeper Scott Carson saved his drilled free-kick, while substitute Salomon Kalou hit the post shortly after coming on.

Liverpool and Everton both had chances during a typically high-tempo start to the derby before home striker Craig Bellamy had a goal ruled out for offside after 10 minutes. Everton, who beat their rivals 3-0 at home in September, came closest in the second half when Andy Johnson's effort was saved by Pepe Reina after a mix-up in the home defence.

The visitors, who remain in eighth, then defended stoutly to deny a frustrated Liverpool their sixth successive league win.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, who employed three strikers, labelled rivals Everton as "small" and bemoaned their defensive mind-set.

"We are really disappointed. You could see one team that wanted to win and one didn't want to lose," he told Sky Sports.

Argentina midfielder Javier Mascherano, who has been given special FIFA dispensation to move to Liverpool from West Ham, was in the stands but is awaiting the green light from the Premier League to join his new club.

"With confidence, we are waiting," Benitez said.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho reacted angrily yesterday to media reports that he wants to take over as the next Real Madrid coach. Reports in Spain said he was in talks to replace Fabio Capello at the end of the season. Mourinho's long-term future with Chelsea has been questioned after tensions with club bosses over January transfer targets. "I don't play this game. I respect Capello and Real Madrid and I have spoken with nobody," Mourinho said. "A big club like Real don't deserve this type of game and I am certainly not playing it."

Upcoming fixtures...

Playing today
Tottenham vs Man. United 17.00

Tuesday
International friendly 8.45 p.m. Northern Ireland vs Wales.

Wednesday
International friendly 9 p.m. England vs Spain.

Saturday
Premier League
1.45 p.m. Reading vs Aston Villa.
4 p.m. Chelsea vs Middlesbrough; Everton vs Blackburn; Manchester United vs Charlton; Newcastle vs Liverpool; Sheffield United vs Tottenham; West Ham vs Watford.
6.15 p.m. Portsmouth vs Manchester City.

Sunday
Premier League 2.30 p.m. Bolton vs Fulham
5 p.m. Arsenal vs Wigan.