Blues City suffer festive slumps

(MENAFN- Arab Times) SOUTHAMPTON United Kingdom Dec 28 (AFP): Chelsea's five-match winning streak came to an end in a 1-1 draw at Southampton on Sunday although the point was enough to keep them at the Premier League summit. Sadio Mane opened the scoring for the hosts who impressed in the first half but did little but defend for the second period as Chelsea who levelled through Eden Hazard just before half-time launched attack after attack.

Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin was sent off in the closing stages but the hosts held on.

The final whistle was greeted joyously by the home fans who have seen Southampton prosper under new head coach Ronald Koeman who previously worked alongside Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho at Barcelona.

Chelsea made three changes to the side that beat West Ham United 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on Boxing Day with Filipe Luis John Mikel Obi and Andre Schurrle coming in for Cesar Azpilicueta Willian and Oscar.

Jose Fonte returned from suspension for Southampton 3-1 winners at Crystal Palace that day but Ryan Bertrand was ineligible to face his former club and fellow full-back Nathaniel Clyne was unavailable due to injury.

The hosts were fortunate early on when goalkeeper Fraser Forster failed to collect a corner but John Terry scorer of the opening goal in Chelsea's two previous matches could not direct his header on target.

Forster was second to the ball again when Schurrle burst into the box on the left but the German could only poke wide from a tight angle.

Southampton almost took the lead when Schneiderlin and then Mane connected with a corner only for Terry to prevent Fonte from tapping in at the back post.

But Chelsea's defence was caught out by the next Saints attack as Mane put through by Dusan Tadic kept calm and flicked his shot past goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois as if it were a training exercise. Chelsea's response was a run from Cesc Fabregas but Schurrle right in front of goal could not get on the end of the former Arsenal captain's deflected cross.

Chelsea levelled in first-half stoppage time when Hazard out-paced Maya Yoshida on the left and cut inside to beat another defender before curling past Forster to convert his side's first shot of the afternoon.

Mourinho made a change at the break with Willian replacing the ineffective Schurrle.

The newcomer saw two shots blocked in quick succession before referee Anthony Taylor had a decision to make when Fabregas went down in the box under Matthew Targett's challenge.

The official ruled it had been a dive and booked the Spaniard much to Fabregas's consternation.

Hazard fired across goal and narrowly wide after chesting down a pass as Chelsea began to take control of the game.

Stout defending blocked Diego Costa's shot and he was joined up front by Didier Drogba for the final 15 minutes with defensive midfielder Mikel the man to make way.

Southampton had hardly threatened all half such was Chelsea's domination of possession but the home side continued to defend bravely and in numbers.

They were fortunate too with Costa losing his footing in the box after a mis-placed pass from substitute James Ward-Prowse put him in on goal.

The home team had to see out the final two minutes a man down when Schneiderlin previously booked for a foul on Hazard hacked Fabregas down and received another yellow card. This they managed despite Drogba twice threatening to finish off balls into the six-yard box while Forster had to react sharply after a clearance struck one of his team-mates and rebounded towards him.

City 2 Burnley 2

In Manchester Ashley Barnes's dramatic 81st-minute equaliser earned struggling Burnley a 2-2 draw at Manchester City on Sunday preventing the defending champions from closing on Premier League leaders Chelsea.

First-half goals from David Silva and Fernandinho had apparently put Manuel Pellegrini's side well in control as they attempted to close the gap behind Chelsea to a solitary point.

But with influential City midfielder Yaya Toure absent presumably rested goals from George Boyd and Barnes earned Burnley an improbable draw and denied Pellegrini's side a club-record 10th consecutive win.

The supposed gulf in class between the sides was highlighted by the manner of City's opening goal in the 23rd minute as Silva finished clinically to register his fourth goal in the last three games.

It came from a darting run down the right by the energetic Jesus Navas who reached the dead-ball line and pulled the ball back for Silva.

The former Valencia player switched feet neatly swivelled and sent an unstoppable finish past Tom Heaton in the Burnley goal.

Yet the goal followed a promising flurry of attacking activity from the visitors.

Kieran Trippier's cross into the box was just missed by Danny Ings Dean Marney shot straight at Joe Hart and Ings was guilty of a wasteful 22-yard attempt when there were better options available.

It was not difficult to see why Burnley had scored just 12 goals in their previous 18 league games and the contest looked likely to follow the form book despite City starting without an orthodox forward.

The stand-in 'false nine' James Milner shot over from six yards Martin Demichelis had an effort blocked by Jason Shackell from similar distance and Navas's angled drive rose over the bar before the opening goal.

Once again without the predatory Sergio Aguero in their side City turned to an unlikely source for their second goal in the 33rd minute.

The visiting defence stood off the hosts on the edge of their own area allowing Samir Nasri to move the ball along to Fernandinho.

With time and space the Brazil midfielder switched the ball to his right foot and deposited a magnificent shot in off the underside of the crossbar from a step outside the 18-yard box.

With leaders Chelsea having earlier drawn 1-1 at Southampton this appeared a perfect opportunity for City to close the gap and improve their goal difference.

But City were hugely disappointing and Burnley much improved almost immediately from kick-off in the second half.

Pablo Zabaleta failed to tackle Ings and the forward's low driven shot was glanced into the goal by Boyd despite replays suggesting the Scotland international did so from an offside position. Had Ings's first touch not let him down moments later as he attempted to carry Barnes's through ball towards goal Burnley might have claimed an equaliser even earlier.

Instead Heaton was required to keep his team in the contest with a one-handed save at the foot of his right-hand post from Nasri.

Unmoved Shackell headed just over and Ings shot narrowly wide for the visitors prompting Pellegrini to bring on Stevan Jovetic and Frank Lampard. Neither move improved matters greatly and Scott Arfield wasted a glorious chance to equalise after 78 minutes when his shot was blocked by Demichelis from only six yards.

No matter for Burnley. Within two minutes Shackell's long free-kick into the City area was poorly defended and the ball rebounded kindly for Barnes to lash a deadly 12-yard shot into the top-left corner.

Arsenal 2 West Ham 1

Arsenal withstood a second-half onslaught from West Ham to boost their Champions League charge with a 2-1 victory at Upton Park on Sunday.

Arsene Wenger's side secured their second successive win over the festive period to move up to fifth in the Premier League behind fourth placed Southampton only on goal difference.

West Ham surprise contenders for the coveted European places had been punching above their weight all season but back-to-back defeats have dented their challenge heading into 2015.

They were undone by two goals in three minutes late in the first half by Santi Cazorla and Danny Welbeck.

Senegal midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate scored his first West Ham goal to give the hosts renewed hope in the second half but despite mounting pressure the Gunners held on for a hard-fought win. West Ham midfielder Alex Song thought he had opened the scoring against his old club in the sixth minute.

Song's 25-yard shot through a crowd left Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny stranded but his view was obstructed by two West Ham players standing in an offside position.

Replays suggested the assistant referee had made the right call but Song protested angrily following the decision.

Wenger had opted to call up French centre-back Laurent Koscielny to help combat the aerial power of burly West Ham striker Andy Carroll. But Carroll shrugged off the attentions of Koscielny before the former Liverpool player saw his low shot scrambled clear.

Arsenal had barely got out of their own half but Alexis Sanchez sparked them into life when he was afforded too much room before driving a deflected shot just wide of Adrian's left-hand post.

West Ham were still in control with James Tomkins wasting a glorious chance when he blazed over from a good position.

But the Hammers would regret not taking their chances as Arsenal opened the scoring through Cazorla in the 41st minute.

Cazorla was tripped up by Winston Reid's trailing leg for a clear penalty which the Spanish midfielder calmly converted.

And it went from bad to worse for the hosts as Welbeck struck two minutes later.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's cross saw the England striker have the simple task of slotting in at the far post in the 44th minute.

Stewart Downing should have done better than shoot wide just before the break as West Ham tried to respond.

But just eight minutes into the second-half Kouyate gave Allardyce's men a lifeline.

Tomkins found room to deliver a cross and Kouyate rose above Arsenal right-back Mathieu Debuchy to scramble his header home.

The hosts dominated possession as they pressed for an equaliser but West Ham's Adrian was the busier goalkeeper.

He kept out Cazorla's shot and then denied Oxlade-Chamberlain's 74th minute header.

Sanchez and Welbeck wasted chances to give Arsenal some precious breathing space but despite a surviving a scare when Enner Valencia headed over in the final attack of the game the visitors held on.

Standings

P W D L GF GA Pts

Chelsea 19 14 4 1 41 14 46

Man City 19 13 4 2 41 17 43

Man Utd 19 10 6 3 33 19 36

Southampton 19 10 3 6 32 15 33

Arsenal 19 9 6 4 34 23 33

West Ham 19 9 4 6 30 23 31

Tottenham 19 9 4 6 24 24 31

Swansea 18 8 4 6 23 19 28

Newcastle 19 7 5 7 22 28 26

Liverpool 18 7 4 7 22 24 25

Stoke 19 7 4 8 21 23 25

Everton 19 5 6 8 29 31 21

Villa 19 5 6 8 11 22 21

Sunderland 19 3 11 5 16 27 20

QPR 19 5 3 11 21 34 18

West Brom 19 4 5 10 18 28 17

Hull 19 3 7 9 18 26 16

Palace 19 3 7 9 20 30 16

Burnley 19 3 7 9 14 29 16

Leicester 19 3 4 12 17 31 13

Note: Standings read as played won drawn lost goals for goals against & points.