Lampard inspires Chelsea

LONDON – Chelsea maintained the pressure on Premier League leaders Manchester United on Saturday when another Frank Lampard special gave the champions a 1-0 win at strugglers Charlton Athletic.

In the early kickoff, Liverpool’s hopes of mounting a late title challenge suffered a knock when they were held 0-0 at home by Everton in the Merseyside derby. Thierry Henry spared fourth-placed Arsenal’s blushes with a 77th minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough after Yakubu Aiyegbeni had won and converted a penalty.Philippe Senderos was dismissed for the second time this season for the foul on Yakubu.At the basement end, new signing John Carew scored his first goal to help Aston Villa beat relegation-threatened West Ham United 1-0 while fifth-placed Bolton Wanderers won 1-0 at bottom side Watford.Wigan Athletic, who had lost a club record eight league games in a row, opened up a five-point gap on the relegation places thanks to a 1-0 victory over Uefa Cup hopefuls Portsmouth.In other matches, Blackburn Rovers beat Sheffield United 2-1, Reading won 2-0 at Manchester City and Fulham edged out Newcastle United 2-1.Chelsea, missing the injured Ashley Cole, had little trouble shrugging off second bottom Charlton and were boosted by the return of captain John Terry, who came on for the final few minutes after two months out following back surgery.Lampard struck his 10th league goal of the season and eighth in eight games on 18 minutes when he fired in a trademark 25-metre shot.He almost doubled his tally on the stroke of halftime when keeper Scott Carson saved his drilled free kick, while substitute Salomon Kalou hit the post shortly after coming on.Liverpool and Everton both had chances during a typically high-tempo start to the derby before home striker Craig Bellamy had a goal ruled out for offside after 10 minutes.Everton, who beat their rivals 3-0 at home in September, came closest in the second half when Andy Johnson’s effort was saved by Pepe Reina after a mix-up in the home defence.- Nampa-Reuters —- Platini backs stance on violence NYON – Uefa president Michel Platini gave his support on Saturday to the Italian Football Federation’s (FIGC) decision to suspend play at all levels of the game in the country following the death of a policeman at a match.Platini, elected Uefa president on January 26, also offered condolences to the family of the policeman killed in clashes between fans at a Serie A game in Sicily on Friday, the second soccer-related death in Italy in a week.”Firstly, I extend my heartfelt personal condolences, together with those of the entire European football family.”ReutersThierry Henry spared fourth-placed Arsenal’s blushes with a 77th minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough after Yakubu Aiyegbeni had won and converted a penalty.Philippe Senderos was dismissed for the second time this season for the foul on Yakubu.At the basement end, new signing John Carew scored his first goal to help Aston Villa beat relegation-threatened West Ham United 1-0 while fifth-placed Bolton Wanderers won 1-0 at bottom side Watford.Wigan Athletic, who had lost a club record eight league games in a row, opened up a five-point gap on the relegation places thanks to a 1-0 victory over Uefa Cup hopefuls Portsmouth.In other matches, Blackburn Rovers beat Sheffield United 2-1, Reading won 2-0 at Manchester City and Fulham edged out Newcastle United 2-1.Chelsea, missing the injured Ashley Cole, had little trouble shrugging off second bottom Charlton and were boosted by the return of captain John Terry, who came on for the final few minutes after two months out following back surgery.Lampard struck his 10th league goal of the season and eighth in eight games on 18 minutes when he fired in a trademark 25-metre shot.He almost doubled his tally on the stroke of halftime when keeper Scott Carson saved his drilled free kick, while substitute Salomon Kalou hit the post shortly after coming on.Liverpool and Everton both had chances during a typically high-tempo start to the derby before home striker Craig Bellamy had a goal ruled out for offside after 10 minutes.Everton, who beat their rivals 3-0 at home in September, came closest in the second half when Andy Johnson’s effort was saved by Pepe Reina after a mix-up in the home defence.- Nampa-Reuters —- Platini backs stance on violence NYON – Uefa president Michel Platini gave his support on Saturday to the Italian Football Federation’s (FIGC) decision to suspend play at all levels of the game in the country following the death of a policeman at a match.Platini, elected Uefa president on January 26, also offered condolences to the family of the policeman killed in clashes between fans at a Serie A game in Sicily on Friday, the second soccer-related death in Italy in a week.”Firstly, I extend my heartfelt personal condolences, together with those of the entire European football family.” Reuters