By Ibukun Badmus
Chelsea missed the opportunity to go eight points clear at the top of the Premier League by drawing 1-1 against Southampton in an enthralling game at Stamford Bridge Sunday where the officials’ decisions will once again be scrutinised.
Jose Mourinho’s men were looking to respond from their European exit by tightening their grip on the title after Manchester City’s loss at Burnley on Saturday and went in front in 11 minutes through Diego Costa’s first Premier League goal in almost two months.
Dusan Tadic equalised in the 19th minute after a contentious penalty, awarded for a foul by Nemanja Matic on the impressive Sadio Mane.
Replays showed Matic slid in from behind and made contact with the ball, but referee Mike Dean pointed to the spot and booked the Chelsea midfielder.
Chelsea might have had a spot kick of their own for a Tadic foul on Branislav Ivanovic, but then Dean gave the Blues the benefit of the doubt rather than reduce them to 10 men for all but the opening minute of the second half.
Chelsea, under pressure for much of the contest, finished on the attack, but Fraser Forster put up a man of the match performance with fine saves from Oscar, Eden Hazard and Juan Cuadrado to earn Southampton a point.
The Stamford Bridge outfit have a game against relegation-bound Leicester City in hand.
Wayne Rooney ensured Manchester United finished their 29th league match of the season on a high as they tightened their grip on a top-four place with an impressive 3-0 victory over Tottenham on Sunday.
After going out of the FA Cup against Arsenal last Monday, the sole remaining target for Louis van Gaal’s first season in charge is to finish at least fourth in the Premier League to seal a return to the Champions League.
A record of just two league defeats since the start of November had given them every chance, but the unconvincing nature of some of their performances raised doubts that they would stay the course.
A run of games against Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea within their next five fixtures was supposed to be the acid test.
And van Gaal’s side could not have made a better start by overwhelming a Tottenham side with top-four aspirations of their own thank to an impressive run which had lifted them to within three points of United before kick-off.
Spurs had also won on their two previous visits to Old Trafford but any chance of a hat-trick disappeared with first-half goals from Marouane Fellaini, Michael Carrick and Rooney, who had woken to unwanted headlines after footage emerged of him supposedly being knocked out during a sparring session at his home in Cheshire with former United team-mate and Stoke City defender Phil Bardsley.
The United and England captain celebrated the goal with self-mocking boxing knockout stunt.
Everton’s season turned a big corner as a first home league win of 2015 against 10-man Newcastle United eased worries of a relegation battle.
Midfielder James McCarthy’s first goal since May was followed in the second half by Romelu Lukaku’s 17th of the campaign, before Newcastle captain Fabricio Coloccini was sent off and Ross Barkley made it 3-0 in added time.
It was a comfortable, if not commanding, performance, and Everton were greatly aided by Newcastle, who rarely threatened and contributed much to their own downfall.
Given Everton’s struggles, with one win in their past 12 league games, any slice of good fortune is welcomed. But even they could not have imagined the assistance they got by Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul’s horrendous misjudgement.
Despite having a clear view of McCarthy’s shot, he embarrassingly dived the wrong way and watched as the ball went in past his outstretched feet.
Afterwards, Everton manager Roberto Martinez said: “We’ve been growing during the season to be in a position so that whatever changes you make they will ready to perform. We showed today we are ready to cope with European demands. I am delighted in the manner we managed the game. We took our chances and we kept a clean sheet and took control of a big occasion because we had to win the game.”
