John Terry scored a goal on his comeback but went off injured as Chelsea drew 1-1 with Liverpool yesterday, allowing Manchester City to go second in the Premier League by beating Tottenham.
Terry was making his return after a four-game domestic ban and he broke the deadlock against Liverpool with a 20th-minute header.
However, 19 minutes later he left on a stretcher, his head in his hands, following a collision with Luis Suarez, who added insult to injury by scoring the visitors’ equaliser with 17 minutes to play.
“We’ll have to have an MRI scan on John Terry to fully understand the extent of the injury,” said Chelsea coach Roberto Di Matteo.
“I thought we pushed on and had the chances to score the second goal, but their keeper made good saves and we missed chances.”
The result left the European champions three points behind leaders Manchester United and one point below City, who came from behind to win 2-1 at home to Spurs thanks to an 88th-minute winner from substitute Edin Dzeko.
At Stamford Bridge, Terry glanced home Juan Mata’s corner to break the deadlock and claim his 50th goal in Chelsea’s colours, but the former England defender did not make it to half-time.
His right knee buckled after Suarez fell on top of him, prompting an anguished cry that was picked up by television microphones and necessitating five minutes of treatment before he was carried off by medics.
Chelsea came close to extending their lead on several occasions, most notably when Mata fired over late in the first half and when Liverpool goalkeeper Brad Jones blocked Fernando Torres’s second-half header.
Suarez had been having a quiet game but in the 73rd minute he popped up to claim the equaliser, nodding in from close range after Jamie Carragher flicked on Suso’s corner to record his eighth league goal of the campaign.
It was Liverpool’s third consecutive draw and left Brendan Rodgers’s side in 13th place.
Dzeko’s late strike gave City victory over Spurs at the Etihad Stadium, as Roberto Mancini’s side emulated United’s 3-2 win at Aston Villa on Saturday by coming from behind to win.
City trailed to Steven Caulker’s opener but drew level through Sergio Aguero in the second half before Dzeko struck late on to close the gap on United to two points.
“It was a huge win because it was a difficult moment,” said Mancini.
“We had a lot of important players injured and today I saw the same spirit from the players that I saw last year.”
In the day’s other game, Kevin Nolan returned to haunt former club Newcastle by scoring the only goal of the game as West Ham won 1-0 to climb into the top six.
Summaries
Chelsea 1
Terry 20;
Liverpool 1
Suarez 73;
HT: 1-0. Att: 41,000.
Man. City 2
Aguero 65; Dzeko 88;
Tottenham 1
Caulker 21;
HT: 0-1. Att: 47,208.
Newcastle 0
West Ham 1
Nolan 37;
HT: 0-1. Att: 51,855.
Standings
P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
Man. United | 11 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 29 | 16 | 27 |
Man. City | 11 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 10 | 25 |
Chelsea | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 11 | 24 |
Everton | 11 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 21 | 14 | 20 |
West Brom | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 12 | 20 |
West Ham | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 11 | 18 |
Tottenham | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 16 | 17 |
Arsenal | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 11 | 16 |
Fulham | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 24 | 19 | 16 |
Newcastle | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 14 |
Swansea | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 15 | 13 |
Stoke | 11 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 12 |
Liverpool | 11 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 16 | 12 |
Wigan | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 11 |
Norwich | 11 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 18 | 11 |
Sunderland | 10 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 9 |
Aston Villa | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 17 | 9 |
Reading | 10 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 18 | 6 |
Southampton | 11 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 15 | 29 | 5 |
QPR | 11 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 20 | 4 |
The Championship
Bristol City 0 - Charlton 2