LONDON -- Chelsea scored four goals in the second half to thrash 10-man Tottenham 4-0 and provisionally move seven points clear in the Premier League on Saturday. Jose Mourinhos side was unconvincing before halftime but Samuel Etoo sparked a stunning revival by taking advantage of Jan Vertonghens slip and ill-judged back pass to nip in and score in the 56th minute. Etoo was then felled by Younes Kaboul in the area, earning the defender a straight red card, and Eden Hazard converted the 60th-minute penalty. Substitute Demba Ba completed a crushing win with two late goals in the space of 75 seconds. Chelsea has played a game more than second-placed Liverpool and third-placed Arsenal, who are both seven points adrift and not in league action this weekend. Fourth-placed Manchester City is nine points behind with three games in hand. This was meant to be one of Chelseas toughest matches of its run-in and a win -- coming despite a poor first half -- can only strengthen belief inside Stamford Bridge that the title could be theirs in Mourinhos first season back in charge. Chelsea has Arsenal at home and Liverpool away in its final nine matches; otherwise the schedule looks straightforward. And although City is in striking distance, points on the board are what matter at this stage. Chelsea has had the knack this campaign of winning without necessarily playing well and this was another case in point, taking its unbeaten run in the league to 14 games in the process. Spurs had drawn or lost on their previous 26 visits to Stamford Bridge, dating back to February 1990 when Gary Lineker scored the winning goal, but they looked in good shape to end that dreadful record in a first half that they edged. Hazard may have missed an open goal in the fifth minute after rounding goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, but most of the action was at the other end where Nabil Bentaleb dragged a shot wide, Sandro had a superb volley saved and Tottenhams fluid midfield caused all sorts of problems. But the visitors failed to make their dominance count and the inevitable happened at the start of the second half -- Chelsea took full advantage. The first goal can be put down to Vertonghens unfortunate slip, although the Belgium defender compounded his error by trying to hook the ball back to Lloris while scrambling on the ground. Etoo intervened and slotted a low finish into the corner. Etoo, who was only playing because Fernando Torres was injured in the warmup, was then bundled into by Kaboul from behind as he latched onto Hazards square ball. Kaboul was shown a straight red card and Hazard rolled home the penalty. From then on, it was damage limitation for Spurs and they resisted until the final two minutes. Ba tucked home a finish after Sandro made a mess of clearing Oscars cross and then Kyle Walkers strange headed backpass was pounced on by Ba, who finished under Lloris. . Make that, almost always subjective. Saturday at Carrow Road, the spirit of fair play trumped the rulebook, costing Norwich City three points. . "Ive got a lot of work to do on this team and the sooner that I can get back to my office and start that work, itll be better," he said straight-faced as the rest of the room erupted in laughter.
http://www.flyersauthority.com/authenti ... rs-jersey/. -- Canadian mens rugby coach Kieran Crowley has made four changes to his starting roster for Saturdays Pacific Nations Cup clash against the United States. . QUARTERBACKS Carson Palmer (vs Colts)Last week: 30/42, 419 yards, 2 TDsWinners of their last three and now tied for the final wild card spot in the NFC, the Cardinals are worth keeping an eye on. .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner.ZAGREB, Croatia -- Defending champion Marin Cilic of Croatia was first through to the Zagreb Indoors quarterfinals by beating Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 6-4, 7-5 on Wednesday. Fifth-seeded Cilic converted only three out of 10 break points, two of them Lajovic double-faults. Cilic improved to a 16-1 record in his last five attempts here, winning titles in 2009, 2010 and 2013. "I served very well," Cilic said, adding "some things did not work well today and I made a bit too many unforced errors." Eight-seeded Dutchman Igor Sijsling came back from 3-1 down in the third set to defeat Blaz Kavcic from Slovenia 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4 and reach the second rouund.dddddddddddd Dudi Sela of Israel ousted sixth-seeded Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-6 (2) in the first round. Sela led by a set and 5-3 before Rosol broke back and forced a tiebreaker. But Sela moved into an early lead again and closed out the match. Lucky loser Daniel Evans of Britain, who made the draw after the late withdrawal of Radek Stepanek with a heel strain, defeated another Czech, Jan Hajek, 6-3, 6-1. Russian qualifier Andrey Kuznetsov beat 2008 champion Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 6-4, 7-6 (8) for his first tour win since July, while Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan defeated Victor Hanescu from Romania, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 7-6 (5). ' ' '
