Chelsea keep rolling on as Gunners slip
GARY Cahill kept Chelsea’s title charge on track as the defender’s 87th-minute winner gave the Premier League leaders a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Stoke City yesterday.
Willian’s cheeky free-kick put Chelsea ahead in the 13th minute but Stoke equalised when Jonathan Walters converted a penalty conceded by Cahill seven minutes before half time.
Stoke were never out of it but Cahill fired home to punish a mistake by Erik Pieters, who failed to clear David Luiz’s header from a corner.
Victory for Chelsea made it 12 matches unbeaten in all competitions and they are now 13 points clear of second-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who face Southampton today.
Stoke had Phil Bardsley sent off for two bookable offences, both in stoppage time.
ARSENAL fans again rounded on under-fire manager Arsène Wenger as defender Craig Dawson scored twice in a comprehensive 3-1 victory for West Bromwich Albion yesterday.
Dawson headed home from corners either side of half time to book-end the scoring action in West Brom’s eighth win in their last 10 Premier League home matches.
In between Dawson’s goals, Alexis Sánchez equalised for Arsenal before substitute Hal Robson-Kanu restored the home side’s lead.
But it was the renewed criticism of Wenger that grabbed the attention as fans displayed “Wenger Out” banners after two aeroplanes had towed banners above The Hawthorns with rival views on the Frenchman.
One banner read: “NO CONTRACT #WENGER OUT”, while another proclaimed: “IN ARSENE WE TRUST #RESPECTAW”.
The visitors also lost goalkeeper Petr Cech to injury during the first half, with David Ospina taking his place.
West Brom began purposefully, with James McClean heading Nacer Chadli’s cross tamely at Cech before bursting forwards and stinging the Arsenal goalkeeper’s hands.
It was little surprise when West Brom went ahead from the corner that followed. Chadli delivered it from the left and Dawson rose above Laurent Koscielny to head home.
The visitors were level within four minutes as Granit Xhaka floated a pass to Sánchez, who finished off the underside of the crossbar with his right foot.
Second-half replacement Robson-Kanu grabbed the second Albion goal just a minute after stepping off the bench.
The third Albion goal arrived with 15 minutes left as McClean delivered a corner from the right and the unmarked Dawson dispatched another header.
Wenger responded by replacing fans’ favourite Sánchez with BLUE FLAG FLYING HIGH: Chelsea centre-back Gary Cahill, middle, celebrates with teammates after scoring the winning goal away at Stoke City’s Britannia Stadium yesterday Alex Iwobi and was immediately derided by the club supporters, who sang: “You don’t know what you’re doing!”
A DAY after being drawn against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinals, Leicester City won 3-2 at West Ham United to record a fourth straight win since Craig Shakespeare succeeded Claudio Ranieri as manager.
The Foxes led 2-0 inside seven minutes, Riyad Mahrez’s cross from the right curling straight in before Robert Huth headed in a cross from Marc Albrighton.
Manuel Lanzini’s 20th-minute free-kick reduced the arrears before Jamie Vardy smashed in Leicester’s third. Despite Andre Ayew reducing the arrears, the visitors held on to pull six points clear of the bottom three.
EVERTON drew level on points with fifth-place Arsenal, albeit having played two more matches, after top marksman Romelu Lukaku scored his 20th and 21st goals of the campaign in a 4-0 home win over struggling Hull City.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Enner Valencia were also on target, while Hull lost Tom Huddlestone to a straight red card for a foul on Idrissa Gueye.
WATFORD captain Troy Deeney’s own goal gifted Crystal Palace a 1-0 win — their third successive victory — that elevated Sam Allardyce’s side four points clear of danger.
BOTTOM club Sunderland spurned an opportunity to make up ground in a 0-0 draw at home to Burnley that left them seven points from safety. — AFP