Crespo, Robben strike as Chelsea win easily

London, January 1:

Hernan Crespo and Arjen Robben scored first-half goals on Saturday to lift Chelsea to a 2-0 win over 19th-place Birmingham City and keep it 11 points clear in the English title race.

Second-place Manchester United outplayed Bolton 4-1 with two goals by Cristiano Ronaldo, and third-place Liverpool made it 10 straight wins by edging relegation-threatened West Bromwich Albion 1-0 through Peter Crouch’s goal.

With Tottenham beating Newcastle 2-0, all top four clubs won. There was more woe for Newcastle as England striker Michael Owen limped off with a broken bone in his foot. The Magpies say he will be out of action for eight to 10 weeks.

Arsenal was held 0-0 at Aston Villa and, in the other games on the final day of 2005, Charlton downed West Ham 2-0, Everton won 1-0 at last-place Sunderland, Portsmouth edged Fulham 1-0, Blackburn won 2-0 at Wigan, and Middlesbrough tied 0-0 with Manchester City. Starting in place of Didier Drogba at Stamford Bridge, Crespo scored in the 25th minute after Birmingham goalkeeper Maik Taylor had blocked a shot from Arjen Robben.

In the 43rd, Crespo’s shot hit the crossbar and Robben made it 2-0 after receiving the ball on the left from Eidur Gudjohnsen. After dropping two points against Birmingham City, Manchester United couldn’t afford to slip up against Bolton at Old Trafford.

Although Bolton’s veteran midfielder Gary Speed equalised after an early own goal by defender Bruno N’Gotty, United took control with Louis Saha’s strike and two more by Ronaldo to help manager Alex Ferguson celebrate his 64th birthday.

Liverpool made it five shutout victories in a row over West Brom with Crouch taking his tally to seven goals in seven games with the only goal in the 52nd. Liverpool’s winning streak is its best since Bob Paisley’s 1982 team won 11. Tottenham’s Teemu Tainio scored his first goal in English soccer two minutes before halftime after Ahmed Mido had flicked the ball to him. Mido added the second in the 66th.