Chelsea fight back to beat West Brom

Florent Malouda of Chelsea turns away to celebrate after scoring his team's second goal during the Barclays Premier League match against West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge on Saturday in London, England. (GETTY)

Published Saturday, August 20, 2011

By Reuters

Florent Malouda scored a late winner as Chelsea came from behind to beat visitors West Bromwich Albion 2-1 Saturday, while Arsenal’s woes deepened with a 2-0 defeat by Liverpool in the Premier League.

Sloppy Chelsea trailed from the fourth minute when Alex lost the ball to West Brom striker Shane Long, who scampered through and wrongfooted stand-in keeper Hilario to notch up his second goal in two games since joining the club this month.

They pulled level when Nicolas Anelka’s low shot took a deflection off defender Jonas Olsson in the 53rd minute and Malouda completed the rescue mission when he arrived at the back post to side foot in a Jose Bosingwa cross on 83 minutes.

Arsenal had no such luck as an own goal and a late Luis Suarez strike gave Liverpool a victory that marked the latest misery in a bad week for the London club.

Arsene Wenger’s side were reduced to 10 men for the second successive league game when Emmanuel Frimpong, making his first Premier League start, was sent off following a dangerous tackle on Lucas with 20 minutes to go.

They had already suffered misfortune barely a quarter of an hour into the match when they lost defender Laurent Koscielny to a back injury.

An own goal by Aaron Ramsey, the ball coming off his chest, handed Liverpool the lead in the 78th minute before Uruguay striker Suarez ensured his team would record their first win at the Emirates with a stoppage-time effort.

“I believe the (Suarez) goal was offside today and that is absolutely scandalous,” Wenger, whose side left the pitch to loud boos from home fans, told the BBC.

“It’s very difficult to take on the chin that defeat, because with the effort we put in I don’t think we deserved to lose the game.

“We cannot say at the moment we are very lucky.”

There was a change in fortune for newcomers Queens Park Rangers, who seemed to have learned their lessons from last week’s 4-0 drubbing by Bolton Wanderers as they beat Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park thanks to Tommy Smith’s first-half winner.

The first Premier League match to take place in Wales ended 0-0, as lively Swansea City held firm in the face of a late Wigan Athletic onslaught, while Aston Villa marked manager Alex McLeish’s first home game with a 3-1 win over Blackburn Rovers.

Newcastle United won the northeast derby with Ryan Taylor’s 62nd-minute free kick securing a 1-0 victory over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, where the hosts finished with 10 men after Phil Bardsley was sent off.

Chelsea’s fellow title hopefuls Manchester City travel to Bolton Wanderers on Sunday and champions Manchester United entertain Tottenham Hotspur on Monday.

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