Wednesday, February 12, 2014

ANICHEBE'S LATE GOAL DENIES CHELSEA A WIN

Chelsea missed the chance to move four points clear at the top of the Premier League as Victor Anichebe's late equaliser earned West Brom a share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw at The Hawthorns on Tuesday.
Branislav Ivanovic put Jose Mourinho's side ahead in first-half stoppage time when smashing the ball home from close range following David Luiz's flick on from a Chelsea corner.
Oscar went close to doubling the lead shortly after the restart, before Foster denied both Samuel Eto'o and Willian with a two solid saves.
Eto'o fired wide following a smart pass from Eden Hazard and Ivanovic was booked for squaring up to the linesman, but Chelsea were made to rue their missed chances as Anichebe levelled proceedings three minutes from time.
Saido Berahino sent in a cross and Anichebe beat Petr Cech and Luiz to head the ball against the base of the post and into the net.
With all the momentum and six minutes of stoppage time, West Brom pushed for a winner to ease their relegation fears but Anichebe wasted a chance to ease their relegation fears before Willian failed to claim all three points for Chelsea at the death.
Fear gripped the other three games of the evening, with five of the six teams in action fighting against relegation, and it showed on the scoresheet with just three goals in total.
West Ham secured a vital three points thanks to a star turn from substitute Mohamed Diame in a 2-0 win over Norwich at Upton Park.
Six minutes from time he provided the cross for James Collins to flick a header beyond John Ruddy and into the Norwich net.
Then, with virtually the last kick of the game, Diame struck with a deflected effort to seal three points that catapult West Ham from 15th to 10th in the Premier League table.Southampton scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win at the KC Stadium as Hull slid to 13th in the table, just four points above the relegation zone.It was a scrappy goal that won the match, with a goalmouth scramble seeing four attempts on goal.
Ricky Lambert was initially credited with the goal at the fourth attempt, but it was later confirmed by the Goal Decision System that Jose Fonte’s effort -- the third of the scramble -- had in fact crossed the line.
Cardiff City and Aston Villa settled for a 0-0 draw in a match almost completely devoid of adventure in Wales.
Only in the closing stages did Villa threaten to break the deadlock, with Gabriel Agbonlahor wasting a fine opportunity before David Marshall produced an astonishing save to deny Andreas Weimann.
Villa move up to 11th thanks to Hull’s defeat, but Cardiff could go to the foot of the table on Wednesday evening if Fulham defeat Liverpool at Craven Cottage.

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