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By Martyn Herman
LONDON, Feb 5 - Chelsea emerged from a spate of
draws to grind out a 2-0 victory over third-placed Liverpool and
re-open their 15-point lead in the Premier League on Sunday.
After three successive 1-1 draws for the champions, two in
the league and one in the FA Cup, goals in each half by William
Gallas and Hernan Crespo all but extinguished Liverpool's remote
chance of overhauling them.
Liverpool have been a thorn in the side of Jose Mourinho's
team in their Champions League tussles but after a bright
opening half hour, they faded badly at Stamford Bridge.
The European champions' frustration boiled over eight
minutes from time when Spanish goalkeeper Pepe Reina was sent
off for raising a hand to Arjen Robben who collapsed to the
floor holding his face.
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez accused the Dutch winger of
making a meal of the incident.
"Now I must go quickly to the hospital to see Robben, he
must be in the hospital now," an angry Benitez told Sky Sports.
"It's unbelievable, we have to stop these things. Pepe just
touched him and he dived on the floor, it's so clear."
Earlier on Sunday, Tottenham Hotspur consolidated fourth
place with a comprehensive 3-1 home victory against Charlton
Athletic -- with Jermain Defoe twice on target.
Chelsea now have 66 points from 25 matches, Manchester
United are second with 51 and Liverpool have 45 with two games
in hand. Tottenham have 44.
United's 4-2 victory over Fulham on Saturday trimmed
Chelsea's lead to 12 points and a victory for Liverpool would
have raised the prospect of a revival of the title race.
Liverpool were the more impressive side early on, playing
the more fluent football on a threadbare pitch.
AERIAL PROWESS
Midfielder Steven Gerrard was influential, as was giant
striker Peter Crouch, whose aerial prowess ruffled Chelsea's
rearguard. After 23 minutes Crouch headed over, leaving Chelsea
keeper Petr Cech with a bloodied eye in the process.
Chelsea had hardly created a chance before they took the
lead after 35 minutes. Joe Cole's outswinging corner was headed
goalwards by Ricardo Carvalho and Gallas turned the ball past
Reina from close range.
Crespo thought he had made it 2-0 on the stroke of halftime
but his effort was ruled out for offside.
Liverpool sparked briefly after the interval with Mohamed
Sissoko and Gerrard having chances to equalise, but Crespo
killed them off after 68 minutes, racing away to smash a
powerful shot past Reina.
Liverpool's misery was complete after 82 minutes when
Reina's clumsy tackle after he had raced out of his goal left
Eidur Gudjohnsen in a heap near the touchline.
He then became embroiled in a row with Robben who fell
theatrically to the floor after a slight push in the face.
Tottenham's challenge for a top-four place got back on track
after a three-game winless sequence thanks to a double from
Defoe, who was granted a rare start alongside Robbie Keane by
coach Martin Jol.
The England striker, who has slipped behind Keane and
Egyptian striker Mido in the pecking order at White Hart Lane,
took just 12 minutes to make an impact with a deflected shot
past Charlton keeper Thomas Myhre.
Jermaine Jenas fired home a second goal five minutes before
halftime and Defoe, who began his career at Charlton, made it
3-0 a minute into the second half with a clinical right-foot
finish after being played in by substitute Tom Huddlestone.
Charlton substitute Jerome Thomas gave the visitors a
glimmer of hope when he cut in to flash a shot past Paul
Robinson with 20 minutes remaining.
Tottenham are four points above fifth-placed north London
rivals Arsenal, who beat Birmingham City 2-0 on Saturday.