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52 KIMI Räikkönen has played down the crash he suffered on the final day of this week 's Bahrain test. The Finn, who recovered from a troublesome first day at the wheel to complete 81 laps, spun out on the exit of Turn 4 in the final ten minutes of the session, causing significant damage to the front of the F14 T chassis. But with a four-day break before the next test gets underway in the Middle East, the Finn says the error will not hamper the team's schedule. "I just spun on the kerb at the exit of Turn 4, these things can happen," said a philosophical Räikkönen. "Luckily, it was right at the end of the day. I'm only sor- ry because it means the team now has more work to do." Putting the accident to one side, Räikkönen reckons Ferrari is mov- ing in the right direction with its new car. "We have managed to improve some things compared to [the opening pre-season test at] Jerez and we are continuing to under- stand more about the behaviour of the car," the former World Cham- pion explained. "We tried various solutions to try to be as well prepared as we can for the next test and the start of the season." maltatoday, SUNDAY, 23 FEBRUARY 2014 FOOTBALL FORMULA 1 Sport YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt Victory over Everton keeps Chelsea top A review of Saturday's Barclays Premier League as a late John Terry winner kept Chelsea top of the table. JOHN Terry bundled in a stoppage- time winner as Chelsea beat Everton 1-0 to remain top of the Barclays Pre- mier League. Victory kept Chelsea ahead of Ar- senal and Manchester City, who both also claimed wins on Saturday. Chelsea looked set to drop points for the second successive league match before returning captain Terry popped up right at the death to turn home Frank Lampard's cross and leave unlucky Everton empty- handed. That late drama in the day's early kick-off put Jose Mourinho's men four points clear at the summit ahead of the 3pm fixtures, but Arsenal and City both responded with home wins of their own. They did so in wildly contrasting fashion though, unlike in midweek when they suffered almost identical 2-0 home defeats in their Champions League last-16 first legs. Arsenal, fresh from being beaten by reigning European champions Bay- ern Munich, cruised to a 4-1 victory over Sunderland that took them back to within a point of Chelsea. The game was all but over by half- time with Olivier Giroud netting twice before Tomas Rosicky made it 3-0 in the 42nd minute. Arsene Wenger's men did not stop there and Laurent Koscielny added a fourth before third-bottom Sunder- land pulled a late consolation back through Emanuele Giaccherini. Manchester City, however, did not have it nearly as comfortable against their former manager Mark Hughes' Stoke. Looking to bounce back from their European loss to Barcelona, Manuel Pellegrini's men were frustrated dur- ing a goalless first half and were in- debted to a 70th-minute strike from Yaya Toure - his 13th league goal of the season - to get the 1-0 win. City, who play Sunderland in the Capital One Cup final next weekend, remain two points behind Arsenal but have a game in hand. At the other end of the table, Ful- ham came within four minutes of a much-needed victory in new man- ager Felix Magath's first game in charge, only to have to settle for a 1-1 draw at fellow strugglers West Brom. The Cottagers looked set to climb off the foot of the table after taking a 28th-minute lead through Ashkan Dejagah but they were denied a first victory in eight league and cup games by an 86th-minute equaliser from Matej Vydra. That goal kept Fulham in last place but they are now only a point behind Cardiff after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men were thrashed 4-0 at home by Hull. Nikica Jelavic notched twice for Steve Bruce's side, between goals from Tom Huddlestone and Jake Livermore, as Hull moved six points clear of 18th-placed Sunderland . In the other mid-afternoon kick- off, upwardly-mobile West Ham continued their impressive recent form with 3-1 a home win over Southampton. Visiting Southampton took an eighth-minute lead through Maya Yoshida but West Ham replied with goals from Matt Jarvis, Carlton Cole and Kevin Nolan to secure their fourth successive win. In the Saturday Night Football clash, Wayne Rooney added the gloss to his new contract with a well-taken goal in Manchester United's hard- fought Barclays Premier League vic- tory at Crystal Palace. The England forward signed a fresh £300,000-a-week deal on Fri- day and, after being on the periphery for much of the game, thrashed in United's second as they recorded a 2-0 win over the Eagles to move sixth in the table. Rooney had not scored since anoth- er sweetly-hit strike in the 3-2 come- back victory over Hull on Boxing Day but he pounced six minutes after a Robin van Persie penalty to secure the points for the champions. John Terry and Frank Lampard celebrate Chelsea's added-time winner Räikkönen plays down effect of crash