LONDON — The late American crooner Andy Williams once sang about being ‘almost there' and about being close to a ‘paradise so rare' and that is how Chelsea must have felt after its 1-0 victory at West Ham United. Manager Jose Mourinho strode purposefully on to the pitch at the end of a typically rumbustious London derby Wednesday night, fist-pumping the air as he celebrated a potentially significant win with each member of his team.
With 11 matches left, Chelsea can begin dreaming of its first Premier League title for five years with the leader five points clear of second-placed Manchester City and with a game in hand to come against rock bottom Leicester City.
Wednesday's encounter at Upton Park was one of the games of the season, a barnstorming end-to-end affair that could just as easily have finished 4-0 to Chelsea, 3-1 to West Ham or in a high-scoring draw.
Rival goalkeepers Adrian and Thibaut Courtois pulled off a string of excellent saves in a non-stop thriller that had the crowd on the edge of their seats.
Once again Chelsea was indebted to its livewire forward Eden Hazard. All the top five clubs scored wins on the night English football held its breath after another player collapsed at White Hart Lane.
Second-place Manchester City stayed in touch with Chelsea by beating Leicester 2-0, although goals by David Silva and James Milner masked an unimpressive display by the champion, which dropped captain Vincent Kompany.
Behind the top two, the race for Champions League qualification remains tight following victories for Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool that kept the teams separated by three points.
Seventh-place Tottenham also won, beating Swansea 3-2 in a match that started in alarming circumstances when Swansea striker Bafetimbi Gomis collapsed in the center circle in the seventh minute.
White Hart Lane fell silent as Gomis received treatment by medical staff, before being carried off and taken to hospital as a precaution. The France striker, who has a history of fainting during games, said hours later that he was “feeling well” and that he was stressed and suffering from fatigue because of his father's health.
Gomis fell to the ground in a similar area of the field to where Fabrice Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest playing for Bolton against Tottenham in an FA Cup match in 2012.
Man United left it late against Newcastle as Ashley Young capitalized on goalkeeper Tim Krul's error to score an 89th-minute goal in a 1-0 win. The game was marred by an angry exchange between Newcastle's Papiss Cisse and United's Jonny Evans, during which the players appeared to spit at each other.
United stayed a point behind third-place Arsenal, which beat Queens Park Rangers 2-1 through goals by Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez.
Liverpool comfortably beat Burnley 2-0 at Anfield thanks to goals by Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge to stay unbeaten since December — a run of 12 games — and within two points of United ahead of their meeting on March 22.
Tottenham is six points off the top four.
Elsewhere, Everton's woes continued with a 2-0 loss at Stoke, which climbed to eighth after a third straight win. Everton is winless in five matches and six points above the relegation zone.
PSG in semifinals
Paris Saint-Germain remains on course for a domestic treble after beating Monaco 2-0 to reach the French Cup semifinals Wednesday.
Former Chelsea player David Luiz gave PSG the lead in the third minute, and striker Edinson Cavani grabbed his 18th goal of the season to make it 2-0 after 52 minutes.
PSG joins fellow first division side Saint-Etienne in the semis. — Agencies
