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John Terry seals win over Burnley
Chelsea best defender John Terry scoring the winning goal as Chelsea battled to a 2-1 win over Burnley.
The storm of controversy surrounding John Terry is fierce indeed at present after it was alleged that he had an affair with the former partner of England colleague Wayne Bridge. It was doubtful whether the defender would even play at Turf Moor but he made a decisive contribution as Chelsea moved four points clear at the top of the table.
The Blues took the lead through Nicolas Anelka but Burnley scored their first goal under new manager Brian Laws when Steven Fletcher took advantage of a mistake from Alex. That set the scene for Terry who headed home after 82 minutes.
The Reds Liverpool moved to within one point of fourth place in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon thanks to a 2-0 home win over Bolton.
Tottenham Hotspur are in the final Champions League place with 42 points, while The Reds Liverpool have 41 and Aston Villa, having played a game less, have 40 after beating Fulham. Manchester City, who play Portsmouth on Sunday, are four points behind Spurs but have three games in hand.
Liverpool, with just seven wins in their past 24 games in all competitions prior to kick-off, handed Alberto Aquliani only his fourth Premier League start and the Italian made a decisive impact on 37 minutes when he headed back across goal from Emiliano Insua's cross to set up Dirk Kuyt, who finished through the legs of Gary Cahill for his third goal in three games.
French player David Ngog, restored to the starting line-up, had a golden chance to double Liverpool's lead at the start of the second half but the Frenchman somehow missed from six yards, hitting the woodwork after getting his shot all wrong. Liverpool did secure all three points on 70 minutes though when a wayward shot from Insua deflected off Kevin Davies and into the back of the net.
An important game between Hull City and Wolverhampton Wanderers at the bottom of the table ended in a 2-2 draw at the KC Stadium, meaning Mick McCarthy's are one point clear of the Tigers and the relegation zone.
With Wolves fans demanding that Mick McCarthy adopt a more attacking philosophy by chanting "four four two", it was Hull who took the initiative after 11 minutes when Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink grabbed his third goal of the season.
Just four minutes into the second half, a freak own goal from Anthony Gardner saw Wolves draw level but Ronald Zubar soon gave away a silly penalty and Stephen Hunt, who has been the subject of strong interest from the visitors, restored Hull's lead from 12 yards. Once again Wolves responded though as Matt Jarvis netted after 67 minutes.
David Gold and David Sullivan were in attendance at West Ham's first home game since their takeover at Upton Park but Gianfranco Zola's side could not mark the occasion with a victory as they drew 0-0 with Blackburn Rovers.
Morten Gamst Pedersen hit the crossbar for the visitors but neither side could find a breakthrough. West Ham move ahead of Bolton into 15th but are only one point clear of the relegation zone. A point takes Blackburn above Fulham into tenth.
Tottenham were unable to maintain their three-point advantage over the Reds though as they succumbed to a late equaliser when drawing 1-1 with Birmingham at St Andrew's. The home side had seen their 15-game unbeaten run brought to a brutal end at the hands of Chelsea in midweek and Alex McLeish's men went behind again on 68 minutes when Peter Crouch flicked on a Gareth Bale cross to Jermain Defoe, who claimed his 17th goal of the season.
But in the final minute of normal time, defender Liam Ridgewell extended his side's unbeaten home run to nine games as Birmingham stay in eighth place.
Tottenham's slip allowed Aston Villa to move to within two points of fourth place, with a game in hand, following a 2-0 win at Fulham.
No doubt determined to respond to Arsene Wenger's claim that they are a long-ball side, Villa enjoyed a comprehensive first half performance as Gabriel Agbonlahor tormented Chris Smalling and then Brede Hangeland to score twice at Craven Cottage.