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Chelsea’s Serbian defender Branislav Ivanovic (left) jumps for the ball with Liverpool’s Slovakian defender Martin Skrtel (centre) during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, northwest England. — AFP

LONDON. — Chelsea remained in the hunt for a Premier League and Champions League double after a 2-0 win away at leaders Liverpool yesterday. Victory saw Jose Mourinho’s men close to within two points of top spot in the Premier League with two games to play. Senegal striker Demba Ba put Chelsea ahead in first-half stoppage-time when a slip by Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard allowed him to charge through and beat Reds goalkeeper Simon Mignolet in a one-on-one.

Chelsea put the result beyond doubt in added-on time at the end of the match when, with the hosts pressing for an equaliser, former Liverpool striker Fernando Torres led a counter-attack before squaring the ball to substitute Willian for a simple finish.

Chelsea face Atletico Madrid in the second leg of a Champions League semi-final at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday after a goalless initial encounter in Spain.

Earlier yesterday, Sunderland climbed out of the Premier League relegation zone with a 4-0 win at home to 10-man fellow strugglers Cardiff.
Connor Wickham headed Sunderland, who kicked off bottom of the table, into a 26th-minute lead at the Stadium of Light but the match turned decisively in favour of the home side on the stroke of half-time.

Wickham burst clear and was bearing down on goal when his shirt was tugged by Cardiff centre-back Juan Cala, whose poor back-pass had let him in.

Phil Dowd played an advantage after Wickham stayed on his feet but, when that didn’t lead to a goal, the referee blew for a penalty and sent off Cala.
Fabio Borini, as he’d done in Sunderland’s shock win over Chelsea, scored from the spot.

Emanuele Giaccherini put the result beyond doubt by making it 3-0 in the 76th minute before Wickham headed in his second goal four minutes from time.

Sunderland’s victory saw Gus Poyet’s side move above Norwich, who dropped into the relegation zone on goal difference, with a game in hand on the teams around them at the foot of the table.

Defeat plunged Cardiff to the bottom, two points shy of safety with two games to play.
An elated Wickham told the BBC: “I’m over the moon. I can’t ask for much more.

“We’re out of the relegation zone and we’ll keep fighting to stay there.”
Saturday saw Ryan Giggs launch his reign as interim Manchester United following the sacking of David Moyes with a 4-0 thrashing of Norwich at Old Trafford, Wayne Rooney and substitute Juan Mata scoring two goals apiece.

Everton missed the chance to go above Arsenal in the race for fourth position, and a place in next season’s Champions League, after two own-goals condemned them to a 2-0 loss at Southampton.

Arsenal will move four points in front of Everton with two games to play if they beat Newcastle at the Emirates Stadium today.
Meanwhile, Manchester City took advantage of Liverpool’s slip to put the destiny of the Premier League title back in their own hands as Yaya Toure inspired a 2-0 victory against Crystal Palace yesterday. Manuel Pellegrini’s side had received a huge boost when leaders Liverpool crashed to a 2-0 home defeat against Chelsea earlier in the day.

That result put a spring in City’s step and before the first half was over at Selhurst Park they had seized the unexpected opportunity to regain control of the title race thanks to Edin Dzeko’s opener and a sublime effort from Cote d’lvoire midfielder Toure. City remain third but they are now only three points adrift of Liverpool, crucially with a game in hand and a vastly superior goal difference, and one behind second placed Chelsea.

After a potentially defining weekend in the title race, Pellegrini’s men know that, whatever Liverpool and Chelsea do in their last two matches, City will be crowned champions for the second time in three years if they win their final three fixtures at Everton next Saturday and then at home against Aston Villa and West Ham — providing they maintain their goal difference advantage over Liverpool.

Pellegrini has had never much time for Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho after a series of spats during their time in Spain, but the City boss received a major favour from his old rival, to the delight of 2 500 City supporters watching the conclusion of the Blues’ win at Anfield just before kick-off on a big screen inside Selhurst Park. — AFP.