LONDON: Fernando Torres hit his first Chelsea hat-trick as the Blues stepped up their bid for a top four finish with a 6-1 demolition of west London rivals QPR on Sunday.
Torres has endured a mostly miserable 15 months since his British record £50 million move from Liverpool, but the Spanish striker looks revitalised after his crucial late goal in Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final triumph against Barcelona.
He was far too hot for QPR’s statuesque defenders to handle and scored twice in the first half and once after the break to seal his first treble since September 2009, when he scored three for Liverpool against Hull.
Early strikes from Daniel Sturridge and John Terry had set the tone as the Blues destroyed QPR with four goals in the first 25 minutes at Stamford Bridge and Florent Malouda completed their biggest Premier League win of the season.
With the FA Cup final against Liverpool on Saturday and the Champions League final against Bayern Munich next month, Chelsea are eyeing a glorious end to a difficult season.
In contrast, QPR, who netted late on through Djibril Cisse, are above the relegation zone only on goal difference and face a nervous finale as they try to avoid an immediate return to the Championship.
Meanwhile, Kyle Walker’s stunning free-kick sealed a 2-0 win for Tottenham Hotspur over relegation-threatened Blackburn Rovers as they returned to the top four of the Premier League at White Hart Lane on Sunday.
Rafael van der Vaart opened the scoring in the 22nd minute with his 10th goal of the season before Walker made sure of victory — Spurs’ first since the beginning of April – with 15 minutes remaining.
Victory was crucial for Tottenham’s hopes of finishing in a Champions League qualifying place and kept Blackburn second from bottom, three points shy of safety with just two games left.
Fourth place would secure Tottenham a preliminary qualifying spot in next season’s Champions League, provided Chelsea do not win this term’s final against Bayern Munich on May 19.
Tottenham return to fourth place by virtue of better goal difference than Newcastle while Chelsea – 6-1 winners over Queens Park Rangers earlier on Sunday – are a point behind them. Spurs, who started the game having won just once in their last nine games, made four changes from last week’s loss to QPR, with Danny Rose and Aaron Lennon coming in for the injured Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Scott Parker. (Agencies)
