Chelsea crush Everton

Chelsea crushed Everton 4-1 at Stamford Bridge on Monday to move up to third in the premier league as the battle intensified for a Champions League qualifying place. Goals from Icelandic-Dutch strike pair Eidur Gudjohnsen and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, plus Danish winger Jesper Gronkjaer and Italian substitute Gianfranco Zola gave them a fully-deserved win and 63 points with three games to go.

With leaders Manchester United (74) and Arsenal (71) not playing, the focus switched to the third and fourth places which carry a coveted place in the Champions League qualifiers. Just two points now separate the three teams involved in that battle. Newcastle United slipped to fourth on 62 points after they could only draw 1-1 at home to Aston Villa, while two goals in the last five minutes from skipper Sami Hyypia and Steven Gerrard gave Liverpool a vital 2-1 win over Charlton Athletic at Anfield and 61 points.

Everton stay sixth on 56 points and are now realistically out of the running, and must concentrate instead on defending their UEFA Cup place from a Blackburn Rovers side on 53 points after a 0-0 draw with Bolton Wanderers. At the other end of the table, third-from-bottom West Ham United kept alive their faint hopes of avoiding relegation by beating Middlesbrough 1-0 to reach 32 points — three behind Leeds United, who play Fulham on Tuesday. (Reuters)