By DPA
London : Frank Lampard scored four goals as Chelsea hammered bottom placed Derby County 6-1 to keep alive their hopes of winning the English Premier League (EPL) title.
The win Wednesday lifted Chelsea to within five points of leaders Arsenal with a game in hand.
Derby restricted Chelsea for the initial 25 minutes but once Lampard converted a penalty, there was no stopping Chelsea as they stormed to victory to move up to 61 points, three behind second-placed Manchester United.
Salomon Kalou made it 2-0 and it stayed that way until halftime, but Lampard, Joe Cole and two more from Lampard sealed victory, rendering David Jones’ late goal barely a consolation.
Aston Villa was indebted to a contentious second-half penalty as they drew 1-1 at home with Middlesbrough.
Stewart Downing gave Middlesbrough a deserved lead in the first half but Luke Young was desperately unlucky to give away a penalty when a shot hit his arm, as he looked the other way.
Gareth Barry stepped up to take the penalty and made no mistake to give Villa a share of the points, but they are now seven points behind Liverpool and Everton in the race for fourth spot.
In the night’s other game, Portsmouth beat Birmingham City 4-2 to move up to the ninth spot. Jermain Defoe set the win for Portsmouth netting two goals inside the first 10 minutes.