Chelsea rebound, Burnley climb to top 4
Huddersfield (England), Dec 13 (IANS) Chelsea salved the wounds from last weekend’s loss to West Ham United with a decisive 3-1 victory here over Huddersfield Town, while surprising Burnley beat Stoke City to claim fourth place in the English Premier League (EPL).
The Blues, who were never really tested by the newly promoted Terriers, are now tied on points with second-place Manchester United, though the Red Devils have a game in hand, reports Efe.
Playing without the injured Alvaro Morata and David Luiz, Chelsea led 2-0 at the half on goals by Tiemoue Bakayoko and Willian. Pedro Rodriguez made it 3-0 soon after the re-start and Laurent Depoitre got a consolation goal for Huddersfield in the final minutes.
Meanwhile, 41 kilometers (25 miles) to the northwest in Burnley, the hosts needed a goal in the 88th minute from Ashley Barnes to beat Stoke City 1-0 and continue their improbable rise into the top four.
The team have won three of their last four matches, vaulting over Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham into the Champions League spots.
Burnley’s grip on fourth place may be short-lived, however, as Liverpool can take back the spot with a win on Wednesday.
Tuesday’s other match was in London, where last-place Crystal Palace hosted Watford, who are ninth in the table.
The visitors jumped out to an early lead with a goal in the 3rd minute by Daryl Janmaat and remained in control of the contest until the 87th minute, when they went down to 10 men with Tom Cleverley’s ejection for a second yellow card.
Palace’s Bakary Sako got the equalizer a minute later and James McArthur completed the comeback with a goal in the 90th minute.
It was only the third win of the season for the South London club, but the fans at Selhurst Park were ecstatic to see their side climb out of the cellar and into 17th place: out of the drop zone, at least for a day.
