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On Wednesday, two postponed matches took place in the English Premier League, in which two London teams, Chelsea and Arsenal, secured narrow victories against Man City and Aston Villa.
Chelsea 0 – 1 Man City
28‘ [0 – 1] Frank Lampard (pen.)
Arsenal 0 – 1 Aston Villa
10‘ [0 – 1] Abou Diaby
Current champions Chelsea, who are trying to catch up with leaders Man Utd, faced another Manchester team, City, away. Blues defender John Terry returned to the team after a injury suffered in the League Cup final.
In the 20th minute, home defender Micah Richards brought down Salomon Kalou in the penalty area, leading to a penalty being awarded. Frank Lampard converted the penalty, marking his 20th goal this season. City created the most dangerous chance towards the end of the half, but Joey Barton's shot from 18 meters missed the target by a margin.
In the 56th minute, F. Lampard could have doubled the lead, but his shot was blocked by M. Richards.
City, who have been experiencing a run of bad luck recently, tried to "save" the match and attacked, but failed to create clear chances, except for Barton's shot off target. Meanwhile, Chelsea on counter-attacks could have increased their lead. In the 77th minute, Shaun Wright-Phillips hit the crossbar, and goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson saved a dangerous Michael Ballack attack in added time.
An injury-plagued Arsenal also struggled away against Aston Villa. The only goal came in the 10th minute in a bizarre situation when Abou Diaby, not a regular starter, scored. Julio Baptista shot from long range, the ball deflected off A. Diaby, changing direction and ending up in the net.
