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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 19 MARCH 2017 51 Sport FOOTBALL Chelsea march on, Arsenal's Wenger to soon reveal his future after loss CHELSEA'S march towards the Premier League title continued at Stoke, but they had to rely on a Gary Cahill goal in the 87th minute to grab a 2-1 win. Antonio Conte's side went ahead in the 13th minute when Stoke goalkeeper Lee Grant could only palm Willian's free- kick inside his own near post. Mark Hughes' men levelled through a Jonathan Walters pen- alty in the 38th minute, but they were denied a point when Cahill, who had conceded the spot-kick, made amends with a late winner which took the Blues 13 points clear at the top. Worse was to come for Stoke, who had Phil Bardsley sent off for a second booking in added time. Arsene Wenger felt the venom of the Arsenal fans as his side's Champions League hopes suf- fered another blow with a 3-1 loss at West Brom. The Frenchman, who is yet to reveal whether he will remain in charge beyond the end of the season, saw his side beaten by two Craig Dawson headers, ei- ther side of a Hal Robson-Kanu goal. Alexis Sanchez's equaliser briefly brought the Gunners lev- el, but it offered little cause for celebration for Wenger, who saw his side lose for the fourth time in five Premier League games, while he again bore the brunt of supporters' anger as travelling fans called for his exit. Woeful defending contributed to Arsenal's downfall. Dawson headed home corners in the 12th and 75th minutes, while Robson-Kanu's 55th-min- ute goal, just 75 seconds after coming on, came as a result of a collision between replacement goalkeeper David Ospina, on for the injured Petr Cech, and Hec- tor Bellerin. Sanchez had levelled in the 15th minute with his 18th league goal of the season, but the Chil- ean's substitution in the second half had the fans turning on Wenger once more. Defeat left Arsenal five points off the top four, with the poten- tial to fall further adrift on Sun- day. Leicester continued their re- markable resurgence under Craig Shakespeare as a flying start set them on their way to a 3-2 win at West Ham. Goals from Riyad Mahrez and Robert Huth had the Foxes two up after only seven minutes and, although Manuel Lanzini pulled one back in the 20th min- ute with a brilliant free-kick, a Jamie Vardy finish restored the visitors' two-goal cushion before the break. Andre Ayew headed home a second for the Hammers, but they could not find a leveller. Victory maintained Shake- speare's perfect record since replacing Claudio Ranieri and lifted his side six points clear of the bottom three. Dominic Calvert-Lewin's first Everton goal paved the way for the Toffees' 4-0 win at home to struggling Hull, who had Tom Huddlestone sent off in the 73rd minute for a foul on Idrissa Ga- na. Enner Valencia added a second for Everton five minutes later, with Romelu Lukaku netting twice at the end. Troy Deeney's own goal con- demned Watford to a 1-0 loss at Crystal Palace, who boosted their survival hopes with a third straight win and clean sheet. Basement boys Sunderland drew 0-0 at home to Burnley, but the point does little for their fad- ing survival hopes. Bournemouth moved nine points clear of the bottom three with a 2-0 victory over relega- tion rivals Swansea in Saturday's final top-flight game. Eddie Howe's side had ad- dressed a slide in form with a vital win over West Ham last weekend and this 2-0 success - courtesy of an Alfie Mawson own goal and a Benik Afobe strike - will go a long way to se- curing the Cherries' safety for another season. Newcastle stutter again but stay on course for promotion NECASTLE United 's stut- tering progress towards pro- motion back to the Premier League continued as they were held 0-0 by Birmingham City on Saturday, although they re- main in pole position. Rafa Benitez's side's third Championship match without a win could have proved more damaging but second-placed Brighton & Hove Albion went down 2-0 at playoff-chasing Leeds United. Third-placed Huddersfield Town were thrashed 4-0 at lowly Bristol City on Friday. Leaders Newcastle have 78 points, a point ahead of Bright- on and seven in front of Hud- dersfield, who have a game in hand on their promotion ri- vals. Leeds are fourth with 69 points. Fulham missed the chance to move into the playoff plac- es when they were beaten 3-1 at home by Wolverhampton Wanderers. "People may expect us to win every away game but this was a valuable away point," Ben- itez said. "There are still eight matches to be played and as Huddersfield lost we are now in a better position than we were before the game." The point leaves Gianfranco Zola's struggling Birmingham side five points above the drop zone. Nottingham Forest grabbed a stoppage time equaliser against Derby County as the East Midlands derby ended 2-2 at the City Ground in Mark Warburton's first match in charge, with visiting manager Gary Rowett also making his debut in the dug out. Derby led 2-1 with goals from Matej Vydra and David Nugent after falling behind, but For- est's Daniel Pinillos struck in the 94th minute to earn a point that keeps the former English and European champions just above the relegation zone. "It would have been very up- setting not to take something from the game," former Rang- ers boss Warburton said. "After a really pleasing first half, it was frustrating to find yourself 2-1 down. But they showed great character and that got the late reward. We deserved the point." Forest are a point above the drop zone where Blackburn Rovers, another club to have won the English title, have 40 after being denied a victory at home to Preston North End when the visitors scored in stoppage time for a 2-2 draw. Newcastle United's Dwight Gayle is fouled by Birmingham City's Maikel Kieftenbeld