© EuroFootball.com
On Tuesday evening, the last two matches of the 22nd round were played in the English Premier League. Once again, London's Chelsea stumbled, failing to beat Aston Villa from Birmingham. This was their third consecutive draw, leaving them 6 points behind the leader, Man Utd. In other matches, Arsenal, led by Thierry Henry who returned to the field after an injury, crushed Charlton 4-0.
As expected, Chelsea took the initiative and dominated almost the entire match, but failed to score. In the first half, Didier Drogba missed a shot from the penalty area, and goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly saved a dangerous header from Ashley Cole. In the 58th minute, Salomon Kalou missed a good opportunity.
Aston Villa, defending almost throughout the game, almost punished the favorites in the 77th minute with a header from Liam Ridgewell just missing the mark.
In the final minutes, Frank Lampard and Drogba could have scored as well.
Lost points were not Chelsea's only loss. Recently, the injury-plagued team lost another defender – Dutchman Khalid Boulahrouz suffered a knee injury in the first half.
After returning to the field following injury, Thierry Henry led Arsenal's players as they took control of the game from the first minutes. Already in the 13th minute, a header from T. Henry hit the crossbar.
The events in the 29th minute essentially determined the course of the match. "Charlton" defender Osei Sankofa received a red card for a foul in the penalty area against Robin van Persie, and the penalty was successfully converted by T. Henry. In the 37th minute, the Frenchman shook the crossbar with a long-range shot, and Justinas Hoyte doubled the score just before half-time.
In the 53rd minute, Czech forward Tomas Rosicky hit the crossbar, and in the 75th minute, R. van Persie scored another penalty, while in the 89th minute, the same Dutchman completed the 4-0 triumph against Charlton with his second goal. The victory lifted Arsenal to 4th place, while Charlton remained in 19th.
