Former Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov scored after 52 minutes to give Fulham a rare victory at White Hart Lane
Frank Lampard scored his 200th
Chelsea goal as his side beat West Ham United 2-0 on Sunday to snatch
third place in the English Premier League from faltering London rivals
Tottenham Hotspur.
Tottenham's 1-0 loss at home to Fulham had
opened the door for Chelsea and they took full advantage by recording a
victory that lifted them to within four points of second-place
Manchester City.
Lampard broke the deadlock against his former
club West Ham in the 19th minute at Stamford Bridge, springing to head
Eden Hazard's dinked cross into the top-right corner.The England midfielder, 34, now stands only two goals behind Bobby Tambling in the list of Chelsea's all-time top goal-scorers.Hazard added a delightful second goal five
minutes into the second half, exchanging passes with Juan Mata on the
right and drifting past Winston Reid before drilling a left-foot shot
into the bottom-right corner.
Spurs setback
Fulham dealt Spurs' challenge for a European
Champions League place another setback by condemning Andre Villas-Boas'
side to a second consecutive Premier League defeat.
Having eliminated Inter Milan from the Europa
League on Thursday, Spurs were bidding to tighten their grip on third
place in the table and Gareth Bale had an early header cleared off the
line by Sascha Riether.
However, the hosts lost Michael Dawson to
injury at half-time and then saw former striker Dimitar Berbatov claim
the game's only goal in the 52nd minute when he converted Riether's low
right-wing cross.Spurs' best chance fell to Jermain Defoe in
the dying stages, but his effort from Bale's cut-back met its match in a
superb reflex save from Mark Schwarzer.Coming in the wake of last weekend's 3-2 loss
at Liverpool, Spurs' defeat left them a point below Chelsea and four
points above fifth-place north London rivals Arsenal, both of whom have a
game in hand.
Wigan win
At the other end of the table, Arouna Kone
struck in the final minute to give Wigan Athletic a 2-1 win at home to
Newcastle United that injected fresh momentum into their quest to escape
relegation.
Jean Beausejour's first Wigan goal put Roberto
Martinez's men ahead in the 19th minute, but Italian full-back Davide
Santon drilled home an equaliser in the 72nd minute.
Then, in the 90th minute, Ivorian striker Kone
lashed the ball into the roof of the net following a goalmouth scramble
to leave Wigan three points from safety with a game in hand on
fourth-bottom Aston Villa.
The game had threatened to be overshadowed by a
horrendous, knee-high challenge from Wigan midfielder Callum McManaman
on visiting defender Massadio Haidara in the first half.
McManaman escaped punishment for the foul, but
Haidara had to be stretchered off and Newcastle coach John Carver was
sent to the stands after losing his temper at the half-time whistle.
Earlier, relegation-threatened Sunderland
failed to capitalise on the dismissal of Norwich City goalkeeper Mark
Bunn as they were held to a 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light.
After Wes Hoolahan headed Norwich in front in
the 26th minute, the visitors lost Bunn to a straight red card when he
handled the ball outside his area.Craig Gardner levelled for Sunderland with a
40th-minute penalty after a handball by Sebastien Bassong, but
Sunderland could find no way past the visitors' 10 men in the second
half.
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