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On Wednesday, three matches took place in the English Premier League. Leaders Chelsea and Liverpool secured solid victories, while Blackburn celebrated three points.
Liverpool celebrated a victory at home against Middlesbrough and climbed back to third place. Two goals from Steven Gerrard secured the win for the Reds. In the 58th minute, after a few quick passes in the middle of the field, he broke through closer to the goal and sent the ball into the far corner from 25 meters out with a clever shot. After 7 minutes, Liverpool's captain converted a penalty kick awarded for a foul by Andrew Davies on Peter Crouch in the penalty area.
West Ham, fighting for survival, hosted the in-form Chelsea.
In the 31st minute, Shaun Wright Phillips deceived two West Ham defenders and sent the ball into the bottom corner from the penalty box. However, the score became level at 1-1 in the 35th minute. Argentine Carlos Tevez, increasingly finding himself in the Hammers' club, cut inside from the left and curled the ball into the far corner from 20 meters out. The hosts quickly regained the lead. Soon after, Sh.W. Phillips scored his second goal, smashing the ball into the net from close range after a pass from Wayne Bridge.
The beginning of the second half once again belonged to Chelsea. In the 52nd minute, Frank Lampard's penalty kick caused chaos in front of the goal, and Salomon Kalou almost scored from the goal line. In the 62nd minute, he easily bypassed Lucas Neill in the penalty box and beat Robert Green again. After this episode, West Ham, whose defense looked very poor in these matches, completely collapsed.
After stumbling against Chelsea in the FA Cup semifinal on the weekend, Blackburn found their strength to battle against the underdog Watford. "Rovers" were in the lead 2-0 in the first 10 minutes, with Christopher Samba scoring from a corner with his head, and Jason Roberts scoring during a counterattack. In the 16th minute, Morten Gamst Pedersen scored a third goal, but it was disallowed as offside.
In the 21st minute, Brazilian Douglas Rinaldi responded with a precise header for Watford. However, the score became 3-1 in the 32nd minute when Benni McCarthy also scored with a header. No more goals were scored, and Blackburn, who secured three points, climbed to 10th place.
Statistics:
- Liverpool 2 – 0 Middlesbrough
- 58‘ [1 – 0] Steven Gerrard
- 65‘ [2 – 0] Steven Gerrard (penalty kick)
- West Ham 1 – 4 Chelsea
- 31‘ [0 – 1] Shaun Wright Phillips
- 35‘ [1 – 1] Carlos Tevez
- 36‘ [1 – 2] Shaun Wright Phillips
- 52‘ [1 – 3] Salomon Kalou
- 62‘ [1 – 4] Didier Drogba
- Blackburn 3 – 1 Watford
- 7‘ [1 – 0] Christopher Samba
- 10‘ [2 – 0] Jason Roberts
- 21‘ [2 – 1] Douglas Rinaldi
- 32‘ [3 – 1] Bennedict McCarthy
