Soccer: Chelsea win again but Robben sees red

Goals from Didier Drogba and Joe Cole gave English premier soccer league leaders Chelsea a 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion in a bad-tempered match at the Hawthorns yesterday in which Arjen Robben was sent off.

Drogba struck just after the break and, following Robben's dismissal, Cole wrapped up the points for the champions with a close-range effort 10 minutes after replacing Damien Duff.

Nwankwo Kanu hit a late consolation for West Brom.

Chelsea moved on to 72 points from 28 games, stretching their lead to 17 points after Liverpool could only draw 0-0 with Charlton Athletic.

The disappointing point allowed Liverpool to rise above Manchester United into second place with 55 points, although United, on 54 points, play at Wigan Athletic tomorrow.

Arsenal revived their hopes of a top-four finish with a 4-0 thumping of Fulham at Craven Cottage to move into fifth place.

West Ham United's surge was checked by a 2-2 home draw against Everton and Newcastle United's improvement continued with a 3-1 defeat of Bolton Wanderers.

Fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who are two points above Arsenal, host Blackburn Rovers tomorrow.

At the bottom, Birmingham City failed to take advantage of West Brom's defeat, losing 0-1 at Middlesbrough when a win would have taken them out of the relegation zone.

Portsmouth's survival prospects look grim after a Milan Baros winner for Aston Villa left them without a league win this year.

They are second from bottom, eight points adrift of safety.

Chelsea, who face a daunting Champions League trip to Barcelona on Thursday when they will try to overturn a 1-2 deficit, hardly mustered a shot in a dreary first half.

But the game crackled into life after the break as tempers frayed on and off the pitch.

West Brom manager Bryan Robson was infuriated by the late arrival of Chelsea's players for the resumption of play, and his mood worsened when Drogba was allowed to run unchallenged to plant a low shot past goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak after 50 minutes.

Robben then had a rush of blood to the head, diving in recklessly on Jonathan Greening to get a red card from referee Mark Halsey in the 62nd minute, a decision met with sarcastic applause by grizzly Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.

But West Brom failed to capitalise and Cole made the points safe in the 74th after the home defence failed to clear.

There was still time for another angry exchange between the managers after Drogba's theatrical reaction to a tackle from Greening and for substitute Kanu to set up a frantic finale.

"Drogba just dives around all the time," Robson said.

Liverpool showed a worrying lack of killer instinct against Charlton just four days before they attempt to claw back a 0-1 deficit against Benfica in the Champions League.

Charlton goalkeeper Thomas Myhre made great saves from Djibril Cisse before the break, while England striker Peter Crouch missed a second-half sitter and Robbie Fowler had a goal ruled out for offside.

Arsenal's season has been sabotaged by eight away league defeats, but they finally clicked at Fulham.

Thierry Henry scored twice for the Gunners with Emmanuel Adebayor and Cesc Fabregas also on target to give them an injection of confidence as they prepare for Friday's Champions League second leg against Real Madrid.

- REUTERS