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maltatoday SUNDAY 14 JANUARY 2018 49 FOOTBALL Sports Hamrun held by St Andrews St. Andrews ............... 1 Hamrun Spartans ....... 1 WARREN ZAMMIT THE Spartans went ahead on the 10th minute. Davide Succi hit a low shot that went past Matthew Calleja Cremona. St Andrews equalised on the 57th minute. Kemar Reid went past two defenders and finished home from inside the penalty area. Following this result, St An- drews sit 12th, ahead of Tarxien Rainbows and Lija Athletic. Hamrun Spartans starting line- up: Jake Galea, Mario Criaco, Daniel Zerafa, Karl Micallef, Felipe de Castro, Julian Galea, Davide Succi, Thiago Espindola de Paula, Terence Agius, Dale Camilleri, Lydon Micallef St Andrews starting line-up: Matthew Calleja Cremona, Adrian Borg, Misael Miranda Gomez, Tano Azian, Marcus Grima, Joseph Farrugia, Mat- thew Gauci, Jacob Walker, Tristan Grant, Travis Blagrove, Kemar Reid Referee: Etienne Mangion Assistant Referees: Chris Fran- calanza, Sammy Attard Fourth Of ficial: Fyodor Zam- mit BOV Player of the Match: Ke- mar Reid (St Andrews) St Andrews won a vital point as they shared the spoils with Hamrun Spartans in a 1-1 draw PHOTOGRAPHY BY DOMINIC BORG Hammers thrash Huddersfield; Chelsea draw again West Ham United produced their most impressive performance of the season to thrash Huddersfield Town 4-1 and continue their rise up the table as the Premier League relegation battle became all the more difficult to call. WITH most of the leading clubs idle, and third-placed Chelsea held to a goalless draw by Leicester City, attention switched to the scrap at the bottom with Crystal Palace also winning against Burnley who provided further evidence that their season may be run- ning out of steam. When David Moyes took over as West Ham manager many observers questioned his abil- ity to get the team scoring again. But the Scot has proved all the doubters wrong with Hammers scoring 12 goals from his last five league games in charge. A Manuel Lanzini double plus strikes from Mark Noble and Marko Arnautovic gave the vis- itors a comfortable victory that took them above Huddersfield, for whom Joe Lolley scored and new 14 million pound ($19.2 million) signing Alex Pritchard came on as substitute. At Selhurst Park, Palace's re- vival under Roy Hodgson con- tinued with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Burnley which put them five points above the rel- egation zone. Watford fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Southampton, although they benefited from a contro- versial second goal from Ab- doulaye Doucoure. A seventh Premier League defeat in eight games looked likely for Marco Silva's side af- ter James Ward-Prowse scored twice but Andre Gray set up a thrilling finale, with Doucoure eventually scoring, although video replays suggested the ball had been handled into the net. The controversy came days after the video assistant referee (VAR) system was introduced in English football for the first time, although the technology was not available at Vicarage Road. Had it been, Watford's Troy Deeney admitted the goal might not have stood. "If VAR comes in, we prob- ably wouldn't have got it," he said. Alan Pardew was another manager breathing easier after West Bromwich Albion beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 to record their first win in 21 league games and his first in nine as their manager. Both Albion goals came via headers from Chris Brunt cor- ners, with Jonny Evans and Craig Dawson rising above Brighton's defence. There was less excitement at Chelsea, who recorded their fourth goalless draw in seven games as Leicester hung on de- spite the 68th-minute dismiss- al of Ben Chilwell. Bottom side Swansea City will be disappointed to only come away with a point after Jordan Ayew gave them the lead at Newcastle United, who equalised through substitute Joselu. Swansea are now four points off safety, with fellow strugglers Bournemouth and Stoke City in action on Sunday and Monday. Tottenham closed the gap on third-placed Chelsea with a convincing 4-0 victory over Everton. Harry Kane's grip on the Golden Boot tightened with a brace, preceded by an opening tap-in goal for Son Heung-min and followed by a fine team goal which Christian Eriksen scored. Everton's new signing Cenk Tosun was a peripheral figure as his side failed to conjure a single shot on target in what amounted to little more than a training-ground stroll for the home side. Spurs stay fifth, behind fourth-placed Liverpool on goals scored; they will move ahead of the Reds if they lose to Manchester City today. Mark Noble opened the scoring for West Ham