Chelsea benefit from Lampard luck

Wolves 1 Chelsea 2

Frank Lampard eased the pressure on Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas with a late winner against Wolves in the Barclays Premier League clash at Molineux.

The veteran midfielder celebrated his return to the starting line-up by converting a cross from Ashley Cole with two minutes remaining.

Ramires had given the Blues a 54th-minute lead but Stephen Ward looked to have salvaged a point for the home side - until Lampard settled the issue.

However, it needed an injury-time save from goalkeeper Petr Cech - who tipped over a close-range header from Kevin Doyle - to deny Wolves a point.

Victory enabled Chelsea to end a four-game run without a win.

Fulham 2 Arsenal 1

Bobby Zamora's last-gasp volley earned Fulham victory against 10-man Arsenal in the Barclays Premier League match at Craven Cottage this evening.

The Gunners looked set for victory as the Cottagers struggled to breakdown their makeshift defence and level Laurent Koscielny's 21st minute header.

However, Johan Djourou's sending off 12 minutes from time allowed Fulham to come back as Steve Sidwell equalised and then Zamora struck a late winner.

Aston Villa 0 Swansea 2

Swansea deservedly claimed their first away win in the Barclays Premier League as Aston Villa's troubles at home continued.

The Welsh side went ahead in the fourth minute when Stephen Warnock got in a mix-up and gave the ball straight to Nathan Dyer, who took it on before firing past Brad Guzan.

Wayne Routledge then made it 2-0 shortly after half-time, pouncing when Danny Graham hit the post, to seal a maiden victory on the road for the Swans since their promotion to the top flight last summer and condemn their opponents to a fourth successive defeat at Villa Park.

The result brought Alex McLeish's team crashing back down to earth after their shock 3-1 win at Chelsea on New Year's Eve and sees them slip to 12th in the table, overtaken by Swansea, who are up to 11th after building on Saturday's 1-1 draw with Tottenham with another impressive performance.

QPR 1 Norwich 2

Queen's Park Rangers' captain Joey Barton scored and was then sent off as Norwich came from behind to win 2-1 at Loftus Road.

Barton rifled the home side ahead from 12 yards on 11 minutes, only to then see red after an apparent headbutt on Canaries midfielder Bradley Johnson.

Anthony Pilkington drew Norwich level just before half-time with a fine 20-yard effort, before substitute Steve Morison completed the turnaround with eight minutes left.

Canaries boss Paul Lambert always maintained this season would be all about his squad, and handed a Barclays Premier League debut this afternoon to former St Mirren midfielder Simon Lappin.

QPR's defeat at Arsenal on New Year's Eve was a seventh in the last 10 games, with manager Neil Warnock expected to do plenty more business in this month's transfer window to arrest that slide as on-loan Manchester United striker Federico Macheda was named among the substitutes.

Blackburn 1 Stoke 2

A first-half brace from Peter Crouch earned Stoke victory at Ewood Park as Blackburn failed to build on their stunning victory over Manchester United.

Rovers began well and Christopher Samba headed against the bar before seeing a goal disallowed but it was Stoke who took the lead in the 17th minute through Crouch.

The big striker grabbed his second on the stroke of half-time by finishing off a break and, although substitute David Goodwillie pulled one back with 21 minutes to go, it was not enough to prevent a third successive home defeat for Rovers.

The last time Blackburn played at Ewood Park in a 2-1 defeat by Bolton two weeks ago the abuse aimed at manager Steve Kean reached its peak, but four points from matches against Liverpool and United seem to have earned the Scot some breathing space.