Chelsea extend lead after Manchester stalemate

Chelsea extended their lead at the top of the Premier League with a 1-0 victory over local rivals Fulham as the Manchester derby failed to live up to expectations.

A Michael Essien goal after half an hour saw Chelsea bounce back from Sunday’s defeat to Liverpool to open a four-point lead after Manchester United were held 0-0 by Manchester City in a dour stalemate at Eastlands.

Chelsea’s delight at victory was tempered however by a red card for goalscorer Essien deep in injury time for a second bookable offence.

Meanwhile a disappointing Manchester derby saw City and United cancel each other out in a cagey encounter at Eastlands where goalscoring opportunities were thin on the ground.

United manager Alex Ferguson was dismayed that his team were unable to break down their neighbours.

“Some of our football was very good, we were very confident, had good composure on the ball,” said Ferguson.

“But we needed to make chances, we needed to win the match. And in that sense we had only two chances from open play so that’s a bit of a disappointment for us.”

Arsenal recovered from the shock of their home defeat to Newcastle on Sunday by easing past struggling Wolves 2-0 at Molineux.

The Gunners took the lead with one of the fastest goals of the season, Marouane Chamakh netting his seventh goal of the campaign in less than a minute to set the Gunners on the way to victory.

Chamakh added a second in injury time to leave Arsenal in third place, five points adrift of leaders Chelsea, and one behind Manchester United in second.

Liverpool’s revival suffered a blip as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Wigan. The Reds looked to be on course for a fourth consecutive league victory after Fernando Torres slotted his fourth goal in as many games after seven minutes at the DW Stadium.

But Wigan came back into the match and netted a deserved equaliser early in the second half when Hugo Rodallega steered in a low shot from 10 yards.

After their superb away victory over Arsenal, Newcastle were brought crashing down to earth in a 2-1 home defeat by Blackburn.

Results

Aston Villa 3
Downing 28; Delfouenso 60; Collins 89;
Blackpool 2
Harewood 45; Campbell 87;

HT: 1-1. Att: 34,330.

Chelsea 1
Essien 30;
Fulham 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 41,593.
Red card: Essien (C) 90.

Everton 1
Beckford 90;
Bolton 1
Klasnic 79;

HT: 0-0. Att: 31,808.

Man. City 0
Man. United 0

Att: 47,210.

Newcastle 1
Carroll 47;
Blackburn 2
Pedersen 3; Roberts 82;

HT: 0-1. Att: 41,053.

West Ham 2
Parker 4; Piquionne 50 pen;
West Brom 2
Odemwingie 38 pen; Pablo 71;

HT: 1-1. Att: 33,023.

Wigan 1
Rodallega 52;
Liverpool 1
Torres 7;

HT: 0-1. Att: 16,754

Wolves 0
Arsenal 2
Chamakh 1, 90;

HT: 0-1. Att: 27,329.