Race for Champions League heats up as Chelsea and West Ham both win

2021-03-09 01:35:28 GMT2021-03-09 09:35:28(Beijing Time) Xinhua English

LONDON, March 8 (Xinhua) -- The battle for Champions League places heated up in the Premier League as both Chelsea and West Ham United won on Monday night.

Chelsea beat Everton 2-0 thanks to an own goal and a Jorginho penalty, to open a four-point gap over a team that had been just a point behind them at the start of the game.

Ben Godfrey deflected Kai Havartz's flick into his own net on the half hour to put Chelsea ahead and Jorginho assured the win in the 65th minute after Everton Pickford had brought down Havartz.

Everton have not won in 26 league visits to Stamford Bridge, while Chelsea coach, Thomas Tuchel is unbeaten in his first nine league games in charge, with six wins and three draws since replacing Frank Lampard.

West Ham beat Leeds United 2-0 to move into fifth place above Everton, just two points behind Chelsea with a game in hand.

Jesse Lingard put West Ham ahead, following up to score the rebound after a penalty had been saved and Craig Dawson doubled West Ham's lead seven minutes later with a powerful header from a corner.

Both sides had chances to score in the rest of the game, with Dawson and Pablo Fornals both hitting the woodwork for the home side, while Patrick Bamford was guilty of a couple of misses for Leeds.

The weekend's games in England saw Manchester United end Man City's winning run with a 2-0 victory in the Manchester derby, while Fulham won at Anfield to extend Liverpool's disastrous run of league form. Enditem

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