Chelsea bounced back from their Champions League exit to Man United with a 3-1 come-from-behind win at West Brom hat moved them within a point of second-placed Arsenal FC, who host Liverpool FC on Sunday.
Peter Odemwingie’s 12th goal of the season had given West Brom the lead, but Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and Frank Lampard all scored before half-time as the defending champions kept up the pressure on leaders Man United, who lead Chelsea by eight points now. A win would probably have ensured the safety of West Brom in the Premier League for another season. West Brom will try and get that win against Spurs next weekend.
There were several six-pointers at the bottom of the table Saturday, with none bigger than Wigan’s 3-1 win at Blackpool. This was only Wigan’s third away victory of the season, and the three points moved them out of the bottom three. Replacing them in the relegation zone is Blackpool for the first time this season.
Gabriel Agbonlahor’s added-time winner gave Aston Villa a massive 2-1 success at Upton Park. Robbie Keane had given the Hammers a 2nd minute lead, but once again West Ham threw away a lead at home and lost. With the win, Villa move up to 9th in the table and should be safe for another season. West Ham on the other hand, are now in 19th place and look more and more likely to get relegated with each passing week.
Elsewhere, Birmingham City put distance between themselves and the drop zone with a 2-0 victory against Sunderland, their goals coming from Sebastian Larsson and Craig Gardner. Seventh-placed Everton beat Blackburn Rovers 2-0 to drop Rovers further into the relegation zone.