Liverpool loanee Fabio Borini boosted his parent club's
Premier League title bid as Sunderland claimed a shock 2-1 win at Chelsea.
Borini, who was once on the books at Stamford Bridge,
converted an 82nd-minute penalty after Cesar Azpilicueta had fouled substitute
Jozy Altidore to end Jose Mourinho's 77-match unbeaten run in home league
encounters as Chelsea boss.
It is the second time this week that Sunderland have
bolstered Liverpool's cause following the 2-2 midweek draw with third-placed
Manchester City.
And the result simultaneously provided a huge lift to the
survival chances of Gus Poyet's side, who are now only three points from
safety.
Having scored a brace in Wednesday's encounter at the
Etihad Stadium, Connor Wickham struck in the 18th minute to cancel out a Samuel
Eto'o opener for Chelsea.
An error from Vito Mannone had handed City a point but
Chelsea found Sunderland's goalkeeper in superb form as he produced an inspired
string of saves before half-time.
Eto'o and substitute Demba Ba spurned chances in the
second period before Borini struck - meaning that Liverpool can now open up a
five-point cushion ahead of the top two's crunch meeting at Anfield next week
if they beat Norwich City in Sunday's early kick-off.
Chelsea went into the match boasting nine consecutive
home clean sheets - a record that 41-year-old goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer had to
protect on his Premier League debut, with Petr Cech laid low by a virus.
The veteran Australian watched Borini fire a
seventh-minute drive wide following some impressive hold-up play from Wickham.
Eto'o was then denied by a perfectly timed sliding tackle
from Santiago Vergini but responded to volley home the resulting 12th-minute
corner.
The lead was soon wiped out, though, when Schwarzer
spilled Marcos Alonso's dipping drive and Wickham reacted quicker than John
Terry to convert the rebound.
Slack set-piece marking almost undermined Sunderland
again in the 37th minute but Mannone grasped Branislav Ivanovic's header at the
second attempt via the crossbar.
There was little let up for the Italian goalkeeper as
half-time approached and he produced impressive saves to thwart Willian and
Nemanja Matic from close quarters.
In the 44th minute, after Mannone had parried from
Willian, Sebastian Larsson out-muscled Ramires as the Brazilian looked to
convert into an empty net.
Perhaps still suffering the frustration of that incident,
Ramires was then fortunate to escape punishment when he struck Larsson with his
elbow.
A breathless opening period concluded when Chelsea
defender Azpilicueta made a last-ditch challenge to deny Adam Johnson having
conceded possession to the Sunderland winger.
Chances continued to flow for Chelsea and Eto'o guided
the ball wide after Willian had driven forward on the counter-attack in the
48th minute.
Mourinho sent on Ba in place of the ineffective Oscar but
the player who netted vital goals in the recent triumphs over Paris
Saint-Germain and Swansea City found the Midas touch had deserted him, losing
his footing when trying to get on the end of Willian's 66th-minute cutback with
the goal gaping.
Sunderland weathered further pressure before Azpilicueta
clumsily bundled Altidore to the floor and Borini stole the points from the
spot with eight minutes left.
Poyet's team remain bottom of the table but three of
their four remaining games are at home against fellow strugglers Cardiff City,
West Brom and Swansea City.
Culled from Soccerway
0 comments:
Post a Comment