Fernando Torres finally netted his first goal for Chelsea to keep alive their title hopes and leave West Ham at the bottom of the table.
Torres went 13 games without a goal following his 50 million pounds move from Liverpool in January but he ended that barren spell with the crucial second to seal all three points for Chelsea and keep them six points behind leaders Manchester United.
It was a moment for Torres to remember who celebrated like he had just scored the winner in the World Cup Final and was swamped by his team-mates as he raced over to the home fans.
The title dream is still alive for Carlo Ancelotti, but for West Ham they are facing an uphill task to retain their top-flight status and things do not get any easier as they face Manchester City next.
Despite their lowly position, it was the Hammers who came the closest to opening the scoring on 26 minutes.
Carlton Cole’s pass released Freddie Sears who burst his way past Ashley Cole and then crossed for Jonathan Spector whose diving header produced a superb save from Petr Cech.
You could not fault the spirit in the West Ham team and they came close once again on 32 minutes when Mark Noble’s corner picked out Sears whose shot was blocked on the line by Cole and the ball deflected into the hands of Cech.
West Ham were made to pay for those missed opportunities when Frank Lampard opened the scoring on 43 minutes.
Ashley Cole broke free into the box and cut the ball back for the Chelsea midfielder who made no mistake firing the ball into the roof of the net against his former club.
You always expect something special from David Luiz and he didn’t disappoint on 69 minutes when his spectacular 25-yard shot cannoned back off the bar.
This was a thrilling London derby in torrential rain and it was Danny Gabbidon who came to West Ham’s rescue on 80 minutes when he cleared off the line from Nicolas Anelka.
But Torres stole all the headlines when he grabbed the second on 84 minutes when he turned inside the box and fired the ball past Robert Green.
Florent Malouda sealed the victory for Chelsea in injury time when his shot from the edge of the box sailed into the roof of the net.
Sat 23 April, 2011
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