Didier Drogba scored his 100th Premier League goal as Chelsea maintained the pressure on Arsenal in the race for fourth place with a 1-0 win over 10-man Stoke City yesterday.
Drogba bagged his eighth goal of the season after 68 minutes of a tense encounter at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea notched their second victory since last week’s sacking of manager Andre Villas-Boas.
The win saw interim manager Roberto Di Matteo’s side go level on points with fourth-placed Arsenal, who can restore their three-point lead with victory over Newcastle United tomorrow.
Stoke, who were reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of Ricardo Fuller for a stamp on Branislav Ivanovic, slipped to 11th.
Di Matteo said he was satisfied with his team’s ability to grind out the win.
“Today was a step in the right direction and sometimes you have to win like this to get three points,” Di Matteo said.
“It’s not easy and sometimes you have to win scrappy.”
With league leaders Manchester City and second-placed Manchester United playing today, yesterday saw a reduced fixture schedule.
At Goodison Park, Tottenham Hotspur crashed to their third consecutive league defeat as Nikica Jelavic’s first goal for Everton clinched a 1-0 win.
Harry Redknapp’s third-placed side are in danger of being passed by rivals Arsenal after Croatian striker Jelavic – a January signing from Rangers – struck with a fine finish from Leon Osman’s pass in the 22nd minute.
Spurs, who have also lost to Arsenal and Manchester United in their poor run, had a Jermain Defoe effort ruled out for offside and hit a post through Louis Saha in stoppage time to leave them four points ahead of the Gunners.
Liverpool’s faint hopes of qualification for next season’s Champions League suffered another blow as the Merseysiders crashed to a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland.
Nicklas Bendtner scored the winner for the Black Cats on 56 minutes as Liverpool slumped to a second consecutive loss following their defeat against Arsenal at Anfield last weekend.
Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish refused to admit his side’s hopes of a top-four finish were over.
“We will say what we said at the very first game of the season... we will play all the matches, count the points up and see where we finish then,” Dalglish said.
At the other end of the table, the problems mounted for struggling Queens Park Rangers and Wolves, who both suffered defeats that left the two clubs in the relegation zone.
Bolton snatched a dramatic late 2-1 win over QPR as the debate over goal-line technology was reignited by a blunder from match officials.
An 86th-minute winner from substitute Ivan Klasnic bagged a vital three points for Bolton after Djibril Cisse’s equaliser looked to have earned a draw for Rangers following Darren Pratley’s opener.
Phantom goal
But the main talking point from an entertaining game was a disallowed goal from QPR centre-back Clint Hill after 20 minutes.
Replays showed Hill’s powerful header had clearly crossed the goal-line yet despite QPR protests, neither the linesman nor referee Martin Atkinson were inclined to give the goal and Bolton escaped.
Fuming Rangers coach Mark Hughes said the incident was further proof of the need for goal-line technology.
“I’m really disappointed in the performance of the officials,” Hughes told the BBC.
“The referee was let down by his assistants. Clearly the ball was over the line. The linesman is there to see that – that is what his job is.”
Meanwhile, Wolves were sent spinning to a 2-0 defeat at home to Blackburn Rovers after two goals from Canadian youngster David Hoilett.
The win – Rovers’ first clean sheet of the season – saw the Lancashire club go three points clear of the relegation zone.
Results and standings
Premier League
Aston Villa 1
Weimann 90;
Fulham 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 32,375.
Bolton 2
Pratley 37; Klasnic 86;
QPR 1
Cisse 48;
HT: 1-0. Att: 21,551.
Chelsea 1
Drogba 68;
Stoke City 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 40,945.
Red card: Fuller (S) 25.
Everton 1
Jelavic 22;
Tottenham 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 34,992.
Sunderland 1
Bendtner 56;
Liverpool 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 41,661.
Wolves 0
Blackburn 2
Hoilett 43, 69;
HT: 0-1. Att: 26,121.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Man. City | 27 | 21 | 3 | 3 | 69 | 19 | 66 |
| Man. United | 27 | 20 | 4 | 3 | 66 | 27 | 64 |
| Tottenham | 28 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 52 | 34 | 53 |
| Arsenal | 27 | 15 | 4 | 8 | 55 | 38 | 49 |
| Chelsea | 28 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 48 | 32 | 49 |
| Newcastle | 27 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 39 | 39 | 44 |
| Liverpool | 27 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 30 | 26 | 39 |
| Sunderland | 28 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 36 | 31 | 37 |
| Everton | 27 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 28 | 28 | 37 |
| Fulham | 28 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 37 | 37 | 36 |
| Stoke City | 28 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 27 | 39 | 36 |
| West Brom | 27 | 10 | 5 | 12 | 34 | 35 | 35 |
| Norwich City | 27 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 38 | 44 | 35 |
| Aston Villa | 28 | 7 | 12 | 9 | 31 | 35 | 33 |
| Swansea City | 27 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 30 | 34 | 33 |
| Blackburn | 28 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 40 | 60 | 25 |
| Bolton | 28 | 7 | 2 | 19 | 31 | 57 | 23 |
| QPR | 28 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 29 | 48 | 22 |
| Wolves | 28 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 30 | 58 | 22 |
| Wigan | 27 | 4 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 52 | 20 |
Playing today
Man. United vs West Brom - 15.00
Norwich vs Wigan - 17.00
Swansea vs Man. City - 15.00
Tomorrow
Arsenal vs Newcastle - 21.00
Leading scorers
25 goals: Van Persie (Arsenal).
18 goals: Rooney (Man. United).
16 goals: Aguero (Man. City), Ba (Newcastle).
13 goals: Yakubu (Blackburn), Dzeko (Man. City).
Next fixtures
Tuesday: Premier League 9 p.m. Liverpool vs Everton.
Saturday: FA Cup quarter-finals 1.45 p.m. Everton vs Sunderland. 18.30 Tottenham Hotspur vs Bolton Wanderers. Premier League 16.00 Fulham vs Swansea; Wigan vs West Brom.
Sunday: Premier League 14.30 Wolves vs Manchester United; 17.00 Newcastle United vs Norwich. FA Cup quarter-final 15.05 Chelsea vs Leicester; 17.00 Liverpool vs Stoke.
The Championship
Brighton 2 - Portsmouth 0
Bristol City 1 - Cardiff City 2
Burnley 1 - Crystal Palace 1
Coventry 1 - Birmingham 1
Derby County 1 - Watford 2
Hull City 2 - Ipswich Town 2
N. Forest 3 - Millwall 1
Peterborough 3 - Blackpool 1
Reading 3 - Leicester 1
Southampton 2 - Barnsley 0
West Ham 1 - Doncaster 1
Playing today
Middlesbrough vs Leeds - 13.15
Standings: Southampton 69; West Ham, Reading 66; M’boro 59; Brighton 58; Cardiff 57; Birmingham, Blackpool 56; Hull 54; Leeds 50; Crystal Palace 49; Leicester, Burnley 48; Watford 47; Derby 46; Ipswich 45; Barnsley 43; Peter-borough 41; Millwall 37; Notts Forest 35; Bristol City 34; Coventry City, Doncaster 30; Portsmouth 26.
League One
Brentford 0 - Sheffield Utd 2
Carlisle United 4 - Bury 1
Charlton 2 - Notts County 4
Huddersfield 2 - Rochdale 2
MK Dons 3 - Exeter City 0
Oldham 1 - Yeovil 2
Preston 0 - Scunthorpe 0
Sheff. Wed. 3 - Bournemouth 0
Stevenage 2 - Chesterfield 2
Tranmere 2 - Leyton Orient 0
Walsall 0 - Hartlepool 0
Wycombe 0 - Colchester 0
Standings: Charlton Athletic 78; Sheffield United 68; Sheffield Wed-nesday 67; Huddersfield Town 64; MK Dons 62; Notts County 56; Carlisle 55; Stevenage 51; Colchester 48; Brentford 47; Hartlepool 46; Bournemouth 44; Oldham Athletic, Preston North End, Yeovil 42; Bury 41; Leyton Orient 40; Scunthorpe United 39; Tranmere Rovers 38; Walsall 37; Exeter City 34; Wycombe Wanderers 33; Chesterfield 32; Rochdale 31.
League Two
Wimbledon 2 - Dagenham 1
Bradford 2 - Oxford 1
Gillingham 3 - Crewe 4
Macclesfield 2 - Crawley 2
Morecambe 0 - Hereford 1
Northampton 3 - Aldershot 1
Port Vale 1 - Barnet 2
Rotherham 1 - Plymouth 0
Shrewsbury 1 - Burton 0
Southend 2 - Accrington 2
Swindon 1 - Cheltenham 0
Torquay 2 - Bristol Rovers 2
Standings: Swindon 73; Shrewsbury 65; Southend, Cheltenham 64; Torquay 63; Crawley 58; Oxford 55; Gillingham 54; Crewe 52; Rotherham 50; Morecambe 47; Accrington, Aldershot 46; Port Vale, Burton 43; Bristol Rovers 42; Wimbledon 41; Bradford 39; Barnet 37; Macclesfield, Hereford 35; Northampton 34; Plymouth 32; Dagenham 31.