Four-goal Lampard helps Chelsea Thrash Hapless Villa

Tuesday, 27th April 2010 at 12:10pm

Frank Lampard moved to third on Chelsea's all time top scorers list after netting four times against Aston Villa on Saturday to take his tally to 151.

Lampard opened the scoring in the 15th minute and completed the rout in stoppage time as Chelsea put Martin O'Neill's side to the sword at Stamford Bridge.

Florent Malouda and Solomon Kalou completed the scoring for a Chelsea side that has scored 12 times in its past two matches.

Chelsea's win moved them temporarily back to the top of the Premier League before Manchester United scored four goals without reply against Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Satdium.

Oft-maligned striker Dimitar Berbatov scored twice for Sir Alex Ferguson's men who were sent on their way towards the three points thanks an own goal by Jlloyd Samuel just before half time.

After Berbatov's brace, Darren Gibson scored a fourth for United who returned to the top of the table ahead of the visit of Carlo Ancelotti's men.

Arsenal's bid for a first league title in six years suffered a blow when they conceded a last minute equaliser at St Andrews.

Substitute Samir Nasri put the Gunners ahead with less than 10 minutes remaining before Kevin Phillips grabbed a fortuitous leveller.

As time dwindled down the ball struck Phillips in the face and headed towards goal where keeper Manuel Almunia could only palm the ball into the net.

Tottenham kept up their push for 4th place thanks to a 2-0 win against Portsmouth at White Hart Lane, while Liverpool found some form to comfortably beat Sunderland at Anfield, two goals coming from Fernando Torres.

In Scotland, Rangers moved a step closer to the Premier League title with a 4-1 at Hearts, while Celtic beat Kilmarnock to cling to a glimmer of hope of catching their fierce rivals.

In Spain, Barcelona moved to the top of La Liga on Saturday with a 1-0 win away at Mallorca. Swedish Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovich scored the only goal of the game after 63 minutes.

Real Madrid moved back above Barcelona on goal difference after a 3-2 win over city neighbours Athletico. Jose Antonio Reyes gave the visitors the lead before Real struck back after half time with goals from Alonso, Arbeloa and Higuain before Forlan pulled one back with 22 minutes remaining.

In Italy, goals from de Rossi and Luca Toni gave Roma a 2-1 win over Jose Mourinho's Inter to move the giallorossi to within a point of Inter at the top of the table.

City rivals AC Milan missed the opportunity to join Roma on 62 points as they were held 1-1 at home to Lazio.

In Germany, Shalke moved to the top of the Bundesliga following a 2-1 win at title rivals Bayern Munich. Bayern took the lead on 32 minutes, but two second half goals for Shalke sent them two points clear of Bayern at the top of the table.

Have Your Say About This Post