Chelsea regain top spot

FE Team | Published: April 07, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

Chelsea bounced back from their mini-slump and surged to the top of the Premier League with a 3-0 home victory over Stoke City thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Frank Lampard and Willian at Stamford Bridge Saturday, reports AP.
A 32nd minute strike by Salah, making his first start since joining Chelsea in January, and second-half efforts from Lampard, whose initial penalty was saved by Asmir Begovic, and Brazilian Willian saw the Blues move on to 72 points.
They are one point ahead of Liverpool, who can return to the summit by avoiding defeat at West Ham United on Sunday, and two ahead of Manchester City, who beat Southampton 4-1 in Saturday's early match and have two games in hand on the leaders.
Manchester United moved above Tottenham Hotspur into sixth place with a 4-0 win at Newcastle United ahead of Wednesday's Champions League return at Bayern Munich, while Fulham moved off the bottom of the table with a 2-1 victory at Aston Villa.
Chelsea's win brought some cheer back to west London after a tough seven days which saw Jose Mourinho's side lose 1-0 at Crystal Palace last weekend and 3-1 at Paris St Germain in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday.
"Normally after a defeat you don't start confidently but this team today went upwards all the time," the Portuguese told Sky Sports. "In the first half we should have been 2-0 or 3-0 up because we played well. After the second goal the game was over.
"I think the team played well and we were solid defensively. That was only possible with the contribution of every player. With the ball we were fast, Mohamed Salah and Willian won individual duals.
"It's a pity Fernando Torres didn't score because goals give confidence but he worked hard for the team and I'm pleased with him," added Mourinho, having criticised his strikers after the defeat at PSG who they host on Tuesday in the second leg.
Stoke seem like a new side under Mark Hughes and four wins in their last five matches means no threat of relegation, but they struggled to create any real openings.
Salah settled home nerves after 32 minutes, calmly finishing after Nemanja Matic created space for himself down the left and cut the ball back for the Egyptian.
Chelsea thought they had doubled their lead just before the break but Branislav Ivanovic was correctly ruled offside after heading in Salah's cross.
The hosts got a deserved second after 61 minutes when Salah was hacked down in the box by Andy Wilkinson.
Lampard's spot kick was saved but he buried the rebound before Willian capped an industrious display with Chelsea's third goal, clipping a delightful shot into the corner.