Bournemouth 1 Chelsea 3
Frank Lampard marked his 100th game in Premier League management by picking up his first points since returning to Chelsea thanks to two late goals in a 3-1 victory at Bournemouth.
Strikes from Benoit Badiashile and Joao Felix in the final eight minutes at Vitality Stadium earned the Blues a first success in almost two months to halt their six-game losing streak under interim boss Lampard.
The west London club looked like they would have to settle for a draw on the south coast after Cherries defender Matias Vina cancelled out Conor Gallagher’s early header.
Bournemouth also had the better of the chances before the late drama, with Dango Ouattara squandering a golden opening by heading over from inside the six-yard box.
Yet Badiashile and Felix punished that profligacy, leaving visiting fans to salute the overdue triumph with ironic chants of “we are staying up”.
Victory in Dorset moved the two-time European champions on to 42 points, three ahead of their hosts, albeit they remain in the bottom half of the table.
For Lampard personally, it was a first victory in 17 matches including his Everton days and his first with Chelsea in 832 days dating back to a 3-1 FA Cup success over Luton in January 2021 during his initial spell as manager.
Liverpool 1 Brentford 0
Mohamed Salah’s goal in a 1-0 win over Brentford propelled Liverpool closer to the Premier League top four and deflected attention away from the booing of the national anthem at Anfield on coronation day.
The pre-match playing of ‘God Save the King’ was roundly jeered by the majority of fans, who have not forgiven the establishment for its attitude to the city in the 1980s and, more recently, the handling of the Hillsborough disaster and the fight for justice.
But with the airing of the first bars of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ the atmosphere flipped and Salah kicked off the celebrations with yet another milestone goal in a career of Liverpool landmarks.
While his 13th-minute finish was far from his classiest, requiring two touches from four yards to bundle home Virgil van Dijk’s header, it was significant for being his 100th at Anfield. He became the first Liverpool player to score in nine successive home matches in all competitions.
The statistics continue to rack up as it was the third successive season – and fourth in six – he had reached 30 in a campaign and it took him level with Steven Gerrard in fifth place on the club’s all-time goalscoring list with 186.
A sixth successive win also moved Liverpool within a point of fourth-placed Manchester United and three away from Newcastle in third, teams who play the first of their two matches in hand on Sunday against West Ham and Arsenal respectively.
Tottenham 1 Crystal Palace 0
Harry Kane’s first-half header helped Tottenham earn a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace that keeps alive their faint Europa League hopes.
Kane’s 28th goal of the season in all competitions settled a drab contest and also moved him ahead of Wayne Rooney into outright second on the Premier League’s all-time leading scorer list with 209 goals.
It was enough for Ryan Mason to secure a first victory in his second spell in charge of Spurs, who have jumped up to sixth but seventh-placed Brighton have three games in hand and are only two points off the London club.
Wolves 1 Aston Villa 0
Resilient Wolves edged derby rivals Aston Villa 1-0 to end any lingering fears of relegation from the Premier League.
Toti Gomes’s first Wolves goal secured a fourth straight home win and leave them 10 points clear of the Premier League relegation zone.
It would now take a staggering set of results to send Wolves, who are 13th, down on 40 points.
Villa’s European hopes suffered a potentially fatal blow as it leaves them eighth, a point behind Brighton – who they host on the final day – having played three games more.
That they were even in European contention remains a tribute to the work Unai Emery has done since replacing Steven Gerrard in October.
Villa do at least face Tottenham, Liverpool and the Seagulls – those immediately above them – in their final three games but any hopes of Europe are fading.
