Football story by Carl Anders, Wed, 04 Jan 2006 02:36:00 GMT


LONDON - Chelsea continued their relentless pursuit of a second successive Premiership title with a 3-1 win over West Ham United at Upton Park last night. The Hammers were helpless spectators are Jose Mourinho's side moved to a 14 ponit lead over second placed Manchester United who take on Arsenal tonight.

Frank Lampard, who was given a testing time by the fans at the Park, put Chelsea into the lead with a trademark volley at 25 minutes. West Ham fans love to hate Lampard and he was called a "fat Paul Ince" by fans as the match began. Lampard's classic volley was a fitting reply to the fans and he said afterwards that the goal was special, “To score against my former club is something I have been looking forward to doing,” he said.

“It was very special, but at the end of the day the three points is what we needed.” Marlon Harewood pulled one back for the Hammers after the break, but the introduction of Hernan Crespo changed the complexion of the match. The Argentinean put Chelsea back into the lead, just 30 seconds after coming on and Didier Drogba sealed the win for the Blues with a late goal.

West Ham manager Alan Pardew felt that his team was good despite the defeat, "I cannot fault this team - although we are lacking a bit of quality we stuck at it against a team of superstars," he said. "We worked hard and made if difficult for Chelsea. In terms of honest endeavour and staying disciplined we did very well."

Blues boss Jose Mourinho was furious at Reo-Coker's foul on Michael Essien and said that if it was the other way round Essien would have been carded, "Nobody asks for suspensions, nobody says this is the country of football and we must go for a pure situation. But it is not a problem. We get stronger. We can fight and we can play," he said.

Match Details
Referee: H Webb.

West Ham: Carroll, Dailly, Ferdinand, Collins, Konchesky, Benayoun, Fletcher, Reo-Coker, Mullins (Zamora 71), Etherington (Bellion 78), Harewood.
Goals: Harewood 46.

Chelsea: Cech, Geremi, Ricardo Carvalho, Terry, Del Horno, Duff (Crespo 60), Essien (Gudjohnsen 13), Lampard, Makelele, Robben, Drogba, Crespo (Wright-Phillips 83).
Goals: Lampard 25, Crespo 61, Drogba 80.

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