Late-game goals give Chelsea, Fulham big victories

LONDON (Reuters) – Fulham scored twice in the dying minutes to beat Arsenal 2-1 and deny them a return to the top four in the Premier League in a dramatic match at Craven Cottage on Monday.

Arsenal led from the 21st minute with a Laurent Koscielny header but, after they had Johan Djourou sent off 12 minutes from time for hauling back Bobby Zamora, Fulham struck twice to win for the first time in four matches.

Steve Sidwell, who started his career at Arsenal but never played for them, equalized for Fulham with a header after 85 minutes before Zamora smashed in a left foot volley in the third minute of added time to give Martin Jol’s team all three points.

Arsenal started the day in fourth place but were knocked back to fifth by Chelsea who ended a four-match winless streak when Frank Lampard struck late to secure a 2-1 Premier League victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Chelsea, who drew three successive matches before losing 3-1 at home to Aston Villa on Saturday, went ahead through Ramires who scored after Wolves failed to clear a corner after 54 minutes. Stephen Ward equalized in the 84th before Lampard struck the winner a minute from time.

“It’s a massive win,” Lampard told the BBC. “Everyone knows we are having a tough time but the determination shone through and I think we deserved it.

“The character showed as we battled through to the end and that is what the players are all about. We have resilience because we have players who have been here and won medals.”

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-boas told Sky Sports: “To win today has a special flavor due to the tremendous physical effort that you are put through when you play 48 hours after [the last match].

“But it is an excellent sign for the team because it is in these moments of difficulty that you have to dig deep and get a good result and we did exactly that and I am very proud.”

Chelsea have 37 points, one clear of Arsenal on 36. The top three – Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – were not in action and play later this week.

In the other early matches, all four afternoon kickoffs ended in victories for the away team with Swansea City winning 2-0 at Aston Villa, Stoke City beating Blackburn Rovers 2-1 and Norwich City prevailing 2-1 at Queens Park Rangers who had Joey Barton sent off after he gave them an early lead. Steve Morison scored Norwich’s late winner.

Swansea won away for the first time since being promoted with Nathan Dyer scoring after four minutes at Villa Park and Wayne Routledge adding the second two minutes into the second half, his first goal in the Premier League since he first played in the top division eight years ago.

Blackburn failed to capitalize on their stunning 3-2 win at Manchester United on Saturday when they were beaten at home by Stoke with Peter Crouch scoring the 100th and 101st league goals of his career.

Blackburn fans, who have been unrelenting in their criticism of manager Steve Kean until Saturday’s win, again booed him at the end of their eighth home league defeat from 10 matches this season.

Kean told the BBC: “We’re kicking ourselves because we feel it is a big missed opportunity. The second goal was a tough one – we should have dealt with it better.” Monday’s results: Aston Villa 0, Swansea City 2; Blackburn Rovers 1, Stoke City 2; Queens Park Rangers 1, Norwich City 2; Wolverhampton Wanderers 1, Chelsea; Fulham 2, Arsenal 1. Tuesday on TV: Manchester City vs Liverpool (live on Sport 1 at 9:45 p.m.)