Chelsea claim vital win

Wednesday, 14, Mar 2007 10:59

Chelsea reduced the gap between themselves and Manchester United to six points with a hard fought 1-0 win against Manchester City.

The champions were not at their fluent best and struggled to create many opportunities, however their fighting spirit came through as they grabbed a vital victory in the title race.

Micah Richards gave Frank Lampard the chance to open the scoring from the penalty spot after a clumsy foul on Salomon Kalou.

The midfielder stepped up and sent City goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson the wrong way from 12 yards out just before the half-hour mark.

Before that City had competed well with the Blues in the middle of the park but failed to create any clear chances for their front men when they reached the final third.

The home side thought they had a claim for a penalty ten minutes later but their calls fell on deaf ears.

Moments before the break Petr Cech made a rare mistake and dropped a cross but Darius Vassell could not convert the half-chance.

Lampard missed a glorious opportunity to double the visitors' lead 15 minutes into the second half. The England man lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper only to see Richards head his goal-bound shot off the line.

Joey Barton had City's best chance of the second period. After linking up with Stephen Ireland the midfielder shot from the edge of the area but his fierce drive went just past the post.

Former City favourite Shaun Wright-Phillips replaced Arjen Robben after 77 minutes and soon after the winger smashed a shot off the City bar from 30 yards out.

Didier Drogba nearly added a second four minutes from time but Isaksson saved well to keep the score at 1-0.