Frank Lampard scored twice as Chelsea leap-frogged champions Manchester United into top spot in the English Premier League with a 5-0 rout of Blackburn Rovers at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
An own-goal in the 20th minute from French defender Gael Givet, who turned Nicolas Anelka’s cross past goalkeeper Paul Robinson under pressure from Didier Drogba, put the Blues ahead.
England midfielder Lampard scored his first Premier League goal since April when he fired home from Drogba’s pull-back, before Michael Essien wrapped up the points in the 52nd minute when he beat Robinson with a curving shot from fully 35m out.
Lampard scored his second, and Chelsea’s fourth, from the penalty spot after Drogba was brought down seven minutes later by Rovers captain Ryan Nelsen, the New Zealand defender.
The impressive Drogba then added a fifth in the 64th minute as Chelsea made it nine goals in two matches after their midweek 4-0 Champions League defeat of Atletico Madrid.
It was an important result for the Blues after they had lost 2-1 to Aston Villa last time out in the Premier League.
Lampard was especially pleased by the confident return of fellow England international Joe Cole, playing his first Premier League match since suffering a knee injury against Southend United in January.
“He is different class,” Lampard said.
Cole said: “When you’re out for 10 months, just getting back on the training pitch is great, so to come back to a game like that was fantastic.”
Earlier, Tottenham Hotspur missed the chance to go level on points with Manchester United after losing 1-0 late on at home to Stoke City.
The match was goalless until four minutes from time when Glenn Whelan, played in by Ricardo Fuller, struck against a home team a man down, with England winger Aaron Lennon off the field after the north Londoners had used all three substitutes.
Lennon took himself off and Spurs manager Harry Redknapp said: “We’re not sure what the problem is. He just said he couldn’t carry on and that was that.”
Stoke boss Tony Pulis, once Redknapp’s assistant at Bournemouth, said: “Ricardo’s pulled a genie out of the bottle again. That was terrific and Glenn finished it with aplomb.”
Meanwhile, Colombia’s Hugo Rodallega scored twice as Wigan Athletic came from behind to end Burnley’s 100 percent home record this term in a 3-1 win.
Burnley took an early lead at Turf Moor when Steven Fletcher turned in Robbie Blake’s cross in the fourth minute, but Wigan equalized in bizarre fashion seven minutes later when Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen slipped as he came for a Mario Melchiot cross, allowing Rodallega to shoot into the unguarded net.
Jensen went off injured moments later.
Rodallega then made it 2-1 when he turned in Jason Scotland’s 51st-minute cross, before Emmerson Boyce scored from a corner.
At St Andrews, in Birmingham City’s first home game since Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung bought the club, City went ahead against Sunderland eight minutes before halftime when Liam Ridgewell got on the end of a Sebastian Larsson free-kick.
Soon after the break, Scotland striker James McFadden doubled Birmingham’s lead following good work by Larsson, but Sunderland gave themselves a lifeline when Birmingham’s Scott Dann put through his own net eight minutes from time.
At the bottom of the table, Portsmouth were held to a goalless draw by fellow strugglers Hull City.
In a dire opening half at the KC Stadium, Portsmouth’s Tommy Smith squandered a couple of chances for the visitors. After halftime, Pompey’s Aruna Dindane and Hassan Yebda were both denied by Hull keeper Boaz Myhill.
SIBLING RIVALRY: Marc Marquez was locked in a duel with his little brother, falling behind at one point before recovering for his first season-opening victory since 2014 Six-time world champion Marc Marquez yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening Thailand Grand Prix to complete a dominant debut weekend at his new Ducati Lenovo Team, having also romped to Saturday’s sprint. The Spanish great took the 26-lap grand prix by 1.732 seconds for his 63rd MotoGP victory from younger brother Alex Marquez, who is still seeking a first checkered flag, with Francesco Bagnaia third to complete an all-Ducati podium. It completed a perfect weekend for Marc Marquez, who took pole position, the sprint victory and the grand prix win for a maximum 37 points to open the 22-leg 2025 campaign. He led from
Donovan Mitchell on Wednesday scored 26 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers punched their ticket to the NBA playoffs with a hard-fought 112-107 victory over the Miami Heat. A seesaw battle in Cleveland saw the Heat threaten to end the Cavs’ 11-game unbeaten streak after opening up a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but the Cavs clawed back the deficit in the closing minutes to seal their 12th straight victory and a place in the post-season. The Cavaliers improved to 52-10, maintaining their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference with 20 games of the regular season remaining. Mitchell was one of six Cleveland
VALUABLE POINT: Relegation-threatened Valencia snatched a thrilling 3-3 draw at CA Osasuna thanks to a remarkable backheel volley by Umar Sadiq Barcelona on Sunday secured a comfortable 4-0 win over Real Sociedad to move back top of La Liga. Aritz Elustondo’s early red card gave Hansi Flick’s side a comfortable afternoon, with Gerard Martin, Marc Casado, Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski on the score sheet. Atletico Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao on Saturday to temporarily knock the Catalans from their perch, while Real Madrid, third, lost at Real Betis Balompie. Flick was able to rotate his side a little ahead of the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 visit to face SL Benfica tomorrow and still move one point above Atletico. “There were a lot of things that
Frenchman Romain Gregoire could hardly believe his luck on Saturday watching the lead group of about 12 riders take a wrong turn at a roundabout at the Ardeche Classic. The slip follows a similar incident at The Volta ao Algarve last week where Gregoire was also present. On Saturday it was the lead group, including race favorite and defending champion Juan Ayuso of UAE Team Emirates, who made the embarrassing gaffe. “I have to admit it’s a very strange feeling with these riders who made a mistake 300m from the line,” said Groupama-FDJ rider Gregoire, who held his head in disbelief at the
RSS