Thaindian News

London, Jan 31 (DPA) Chelsea captain John Terry shrugged off his off-field problems to head the winning goal as Chelsea edged past Burnley 2-1 at Turf Moor Saturday to extend their lead at the top of the English Premier League to four points.
Terry, who has been the subject of newspaper stories about his private life, powered in a header from 10 metres with eight minutes of the match remaining after Burnley had put up a spirited fight against the league leaders.

The England captain’s goal lifts the leaders onto 54 points, four points clear of Manchester United, who take on Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday in the biggest game of the weekend.

Chelsea took the lead shortly before the half hour mark at Turf Moor with a goal from Nicolas Anelka. The in-form French striker finished off from close range after a superb counter-attack involving Joe Cole and Florent Malouda.

The leaders were stunned five minutes into the second half as Steven Fletcher fired a clinical low shot past Petr Cech to pull the home side level.

But with eight minutes remaining, Terry claimed the winner, rising higher than the Burnley defenders to head the ball superbly down and past Brian Jensen in the Burnley goal.

Earlier on Saturday, Liverpool gained ground on Tottenham in the race for fourth place after a 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers at Anfield while the London side were denied victory over Birmingham City in a 1-1 draw.

A stoppage time goal from Liam Ridgewell at St Andrew’s claimed a draw for Birmingham and leaves Spurs in fourth place on 42 points, just one point ahead of Liverpool in fifth.

Liverpool opened the scoring at Anfield after 39 minutes through a scruffy goal from Dirk Kuyt. The Dutch striker scored his third goal in as many games after good work from Alberto Aquilani and Emiliano Insua.

Insua was also crucial to the game’s decisive goal midway through the second half. The Argentinian’s shot from outside the penalty area took a cruel deflection off Kevin Davies and past Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez admitted after the match that the important thing was to win, even though his team’ performance was not one of their best.

“I’m really pleased because the team is winning. We didn’t play well in the first half but we played with more confidence in the second half and that was the difference,” said the Liverpool manager.

In a tight game at St Andrew’s, Spurs had looked set to claim a narrow victory when Jermaine Defoe opened the scoring after 69 minutes. Defoe fired powerfully into the net after Peter Crouch had headed Gareth Bale’s cross into the England striker’s path.

But Harry Redknapp’s side were stunned in the first minute of stoppage time as Cameron Jerome headed across goal for defender Liam Ridgewell to claim the equaliser.

Also in the hunt for a Champions League position are Aston Villa, who moved into sixth place with a 2-0 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage thanks to two first half goals from striker Gabriel Agbonlahor.

The victory is the first time that Villa have claimed all three points since the start of the year and lifts them into sixth place above Manchester City, who have two games in hand and take on Portsmouth Sunday.

Elsewhere, a late goal from Tim Cahill gave Everton a 1-0 victory away at Wigan Athletic, while struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers and Hull City played out a 2-2 draw. At Upton Park meanwhile, West Ham could not find a way past Blackburn Rovers in a goalless draw.