Lampard's 200th sparks Chelsea

Lampard's 200th sparks Chelsea

Frank Lampard scored his 200th goal for Chelsea in a 2-0 win over his former club West Ham that took the Blues into third place in the Premier League ahead of Tottenham.

Lampard, who is now only two short of the club's all-time record set by Bobby Tambling, headed Chelsea in front from an Eden Hazard cross after 19 minutes at Stamford Bridge.

Hazard then added a second of his own after 50 minutes when exchanging passes with Juan Mata and going on a superb run before finding the bottom corner with an accurate finish.

With Tottenham falling to a home defeat to Fulham, the win sees Chelsea move one point ahead of their local rivals having played one game fewer, with Arsenal a further four points behind in the race for the final two Champions League places.

Chelsea continued their recent policy of leaving Fernando Torres and John Terry on the bench for weekend Premier League games, so Demba Ba was given the lead striker's role as he went in search of only a second goal in 10 games in all competitions.

Arouna Kone scored a 90th-minute winner as Wigan Athletic kept their survival chances alive with a 2-1 victory over Newcastle.

Dimitar Berbatov struck a second half goal against his former club as Fulham recorded only their third away victory of the season against a disappointing Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.

The result moved Fulham to tenth in the table above Stoke City with a further game in hand whilst Spurs remain third.

Norwich City survived a first-half red card shown to goalkeeper Mark Bunn and two controversial handball decisions to hold on for a 1-1 draw at Sunderland in the Premier League.

Wes Hoolahan nodded Norwich in front from close range after 26 minutes but the visitors' hopes of recording only a second win in 10 were terminally damaged soon after when Bunn was shown a red card for handling outside his box and denying Danny Graham a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Bunn was livid but it appeared to be the correct verdict from referee Chris Foy. His next major decision, however, was rather more controversial as he harshly penalised Norwich defender Sebastien Bassong for another handball, allowing Craig Gardner to strike the equaliser from the spot after 40 minutes.

Norwich's frustration continued when, remarkably, yet another handball decision went against the visitors in the second half as a cross from Russell Martin clearly caught the arm of Danny Rose.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT