Drogba nets 100th EPL goal; Ronaldo reaches 40
LONDON (AP) ― The race for the final two Champions League berths in the Premier League tightened Saturday when Everton sent Tottenham to its third straight league loss and Chelsea defeated Stoke on Didier Drogba’s 100th goal in England’s top division.
Nikica Jelavic scored in the 22nd minute and American goalkeeper Tim Howard got the shutout in Everton’s 1-0 victory over Spurs at Goodison Park. Chelsea won 1-0 against visiting Stoke as Drogba scored in the 68th.
Tottenham (16-7-5) is third with 53 points, four ahead of Arsenal (15-8-4), which leads Chelsea (14-7-7) on goal difference.
The battle to avoid relegation was marked by a dispute in Queens Park Rangers’ 2-1 loss to Bolton. QPR was denied a headed goal by Clint Hill that clearly crossed the line in the 20th minute before goalkeeper Adam Bogdan batted the ball back into play.
American defender Tim Ream, who made his Bolton debut last month, had his first Premier League assist when Darren Pratley headed in his cross in the 37th minute.
“I’ve only been here for two months, but that’s definitely the most important game of the year so far,” Ream said. “That gets us out of the bottom three and puts in a good position with 10 games to go.”
Chelsea striker Didier Drogba celebrates his goal against Stoke City on Saturday. (AFP-Yonhap News)
Djibril Cisse tied it in the 48th but Ivan Klasnic put the hosts ahead for good in the 86th.
“The FA has been a leading proponent of goal-line technology for many years,” the governing body said in a statement. “We will continue to press for its introduction once further independent testing is complete later this year, so that anyone wishing to introduce the technology is able to do so at the earliest possible opportunity.”
Bolton moved up to 17th place with 23 points, one more than QPR. Wolverhampton stayed in the drop zone with 22 points after losing 2-0 at home to relegation rival Blackburn, which improved to 25 points on goals by Junior Hoilett in the 43rd and 69th minutes.
Spain
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to reach 40 goals for the second straight season, and Real Madrid came from behind to defeat Real Betis for a club-record 10th consecutive league road win.
Betis led on Jorge Molina’s goal in the 10th minute, but Real Madrid went ahead 2-1 when Gonzolo Higuain scored in the 25th and Ronaldo in the 52nd. Betis’ Jefferson Montero retied it three minutes later, but Ronaldo scored in the 73rd for his league-leading 32nd goal, four more than Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.
Madrid (23-2-1), playing its 100th game under coach Jose Mourinho, won its 11th straight league match overall and opened a 13-point lead over three-time defending champion Barcelona (17-2-6), which is at Racing Santander on Sunday.
Germany
Second-place Bayern Munich routed Hoffenheim 7-1 in the Bundesliga, and Augsburg drew 0-0 with Borussia Dortmund to end the league leader’s eight-game league winning streak.
Mario Gomez scored a hat trick for Bayern, with goals in the fifth, 35th and 48th minutes to raise his league-leading total to 21. Arjen Robben had two goals, twice, including a penalty kick. Toni Kroos and Franck Ribery had one goal each, and Ribery set up three for Bayern (16-6-3), which is five points behind Dortmund with nine games left.
“It was a lot of fun,” Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes said.
Dortmund extended its league unbeaten streak to 19.
France
Fresh from an embarrassing Champions League exit against APOEL Nicosia, Lyon got back into the race to qualify for next year’s competition by beating Lille 2-1 in the French league.
Alexandre Lacazette headed in a cross from Mouhamadou Dabo in the 12th minute and Lisandro Lopez scored off a pass from Lacazette in the 38th.
Aurelien Chedjou scored for visiting Lille just before the first half ended, and Lyon maintained the lead despite playing a man short after Dejan Lovren was ejected in the 70th for his second yellow card.
Italy
Fabio Borini scored his seventh goal in eight matches, and Roma won 1-0 at Palermo to move ahead of Inter Milan into sixth place in the Serie A.
Borini scored three minutes in off a pass from Erik Lamela as Roma (12-10-5) improved to 41 points, one ahead of Inter (12-11-4).
First-place AC Milan (16-4-6) hosts 18th-place Lecce on Sunday. Second-place Juventus (13-0-13), which is two points back, visits 14th-place Genoa.
Scotland
Hibernian assured an all-Scottish Premier League lineup in the semifinals of the Scottish Cup by beating Ayr 2-0.
Hearts was taken to a replay after conceding a late tying goal against St. Mirren.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
