Premier League round-up

Chelsea stunned by Man City as Pompey lift gloom

Last updated: 28th February 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Premier League round-up

Manchester City celebrate their stunning win

Click below for individual match reports and stats
Chelsea 2 Man City 4
Birmingham 1 Wigan 0
Bolton 1 Wolves 0
Burnley 1 Portsmouth 2
Stoke 1 Arsenal 3

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Manchester City shocked nine-man Chelsea at Stamford Bridge as Arsenal narrowed the gap at the top with a 3-1 victory over Stoke.

Portsmouth beat Burnley at the other end of the division, while Bolton and Birmingham also claimed narrow wins against Wolves and Wigan respectively.

Having beaten Chelsea 2-1 in December, Manchester City completed the double over Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea and did Manchester United a massive favour in the title race with a convincing 4-2 victory.

An enthralling afternoon in West London started with the eagerly awaited pre-match rituals and Wayne Bridge, who this week made himself unavailable for England, declined to shake the hand of former team-mate John Terry.

The drama continued on the pitch when Frank Lampard latched onto a fine pass from Joe Cole to break the deadlock in the 42nd minute, before Carlos Tevez equalised on the stroke of half-time with a scuffed shot past Hilario.

Stand-in goalkeeper Hilario was again at fault early in the second period as Gareth Barry released Craig Bellamy down the left and the Welshman struck into the far corner from a narrow angle to give City a 2-1 advantage.

The crucial moment perhaps arrived in the 75th minute when last man Juliano Belletti was sent off for bringing down Barry in the box and Tevez converted the resulting penalty.

Michael Ballack was shown a second yellow card for a bad challenge on Tevez just a few minutes later and Bellamy then turned home a cross from Shaun Wright-Phillips to make it 4-1.

Lampard netted the final goal of the game from the penalty spot following a foul by Barry on Nicolas Anelka but it mattered little as Chelsea failed to extend their one-point lead at the top of the table and City took pole position in the battle for fourth.

Third-placed Arsenal overcame Stoke 3-1 at the Britannia Stadium in the day's late game, although the result was overshadowed by a sickening injury to Aaron Ramsey.

In scenes reminiscent of Eduardo's leg break against Birmingham in February 2008, Ramsey's concerned team-mates gathered round the Welsh midfielder following a collision with Ryan Shawcross.

A distraught Shawcross was sent off and Ramsey was eventually stretchered from the field after several minutes of medical attention.

The Potters had earlier gone ahead when Arsenal failed to deal with a Rory Delap long throw and Danny Pugh netted from close range.

An excellent Nicklas Bendtner header from Cesc Fabregas' cross brought the Gunners back on terms on 32 minutes but they had to wait until the 90th minute before making a sustained period of pressure count.

Fabregas managed to squeeze a penalty past Thomas Sorensen after a Pugh handball and Thomas Vermaelen then added another goal in an extended period of stoppage time to bring Arsenal back to within three points of Chelsea.

Countdown

A day after becoming the first Premier League club to enter administration, Portsmouth gave their supporters something to cheer about with a 2-1 win away to Burnley.

Pompey dominated the initial skirmishes and shrugged off the disappointment of having a goal disallowed to go in front on 25 minutes, Frederic Piquionne providing the simplest of finishes to a Danny Webber delivery.

Martin Paterson showed superb vision to hook an exquisite lob over David James from the edge of the area six minutes later and draw Burnley level.

Portsmouth had the opportunity to restore their lead after Clarke Carlisle tripped Piquionne to concede a spot-kick early in the second period, but Jamie O'Hara's powerful effort was too close to Brian Jensen and beaten away to safety.

Countdown contestant Carlisle's brain cells deserted him again with 14 minutes remaining when he gave away another penalty for a foul on John Utaka, and this time there was no mistake from Pompey as Hassan Yebda stroked the ball home.

Portuguese defender Ricardo Rocha was dismissed for two bookable offences late on but there was not enough time for another goal and the Clarets remain just above Pompey at the bottom of the table.

Controversial

Birmingham returned to winning ways after a couple of defeats by overcoming lowly Wigan 1-0 at St Andrews.

The decisive goal came on the stroke of half-time following a controversial refereeing decision from Anthony Taylor, who ruled that Keith Fahey had been felled by Mario Melchiot when replays suggested contact was minimal at most.

James McFadden stepped up to send Chris Kirkland the wrong way and Wigan were unable to find a way back into the game in the second half.

Hugo Rodallega was denied by a smart stop from Joe Hart as Wigan's winless sequence stretched to seven games.

Bolton climbed out of the relegation zone and up to 15th with a hard-fought 1-0 triumph at home to fellow strugglers Wolves.

An entertaining first half looked like ending goalless until Zat Knight tapped home just before the break following good work by Lee Chung-yong with an exciting run and pass.

Wolves pressed for an equaliser and David Jones rattled the post with a curling free-kick, while Kevin Foley was also thwarted by the woodwork with Jussi Jaaskelainen beaten.

But it was not to be their day and Mick McCarthy's men are now only outside the relegation zone due to their superior goal difference over Hull City, who are not in action this weekend.