Supersub Kalou rescues Chelsea with late equaliser

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LONDON: A late goal by substitute Salomon Kalou earned Chelsea a 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Stamford Bridge yesterday as the Premier League’s big two cancelled each other out.
Kalou, who came on in the 74th minute, headed home six minutes later after Park Ji-sung’s 18th-minute opener.
The draw takes Chelsea level with Liverpool on 11 points, one behind leaders Arsenal who beat Bolton 3-1 away on Saturday.
Aston Villa won 2-1 at West Bromwich Albion with two goals in two minutes yesterday to move to fourth on 10 points.
Tight contest: Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel winning an aerial battle with Dimitar Berbatov of Manchester United as Ashley Cole looks on during their Premiership match at Stamford Bridge yesterday. The teams drew 1-1. — AFP
Martin O’Neill’s side stunned West Brom with a first-half double blast from John Carew and Gabriel Agbonlahor at the Hawthorns.
West Brom hit back through James Morrison before the interval but it was to no avail.
Big-spending Manchester City went fifth after they turned on the style to thump Portsmouth 6-0, with Brazilian record-signing Robinho again on the scoresheet.
Everton came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Hull City, while Tottenham Hotspur remain two points adrift at the bottom of the table after they could only draw 0-0 at home with Wigan Athletic.
Champions United, beaten by Liverpool last week, have five points from one game less than their title rivals.
Aware that another defeat would leave them nine points adrift of Chelsea, they started well and Rio Ferdinand hit the woodwork in an early attack.
They went ahead after Patrice Evra surged into the box and squared for Dimitar Berbatov. The Bulgarian, a peripheral figure for most of the match, had his low shot parried by goalkeeper Petr Cech but straight into the path of Park, who turned it in.
Chelsea threw on Didier Drogba for the second half, with United introducing Cristiano Ronaldo, but neither forward was able to make an impact.
Joe Cole had a great chance to equalise after 65 minutes when through on goal but he shot weakly straight at Tomasz Kuszczak, on in place of Edwin van der Sar after the Dutchman was injured in a first-half collision.
Cole thought he had made amends seven minutes later when he whipped in a fierce low cross that Nicolas Anelka needed only to touch over the line but the Frenchman failed to make contact.
As the clock ticked down it appeared that Chelsea were heading for their first home league defeat since Arsenal beat them in February 2004.
However, when John Obi Mikel floated in a deep free kick Kuszczak remained rooted to his line and an unmarked Kalou headed home from six metres.
Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari said the loss of Deco to an injury in the warm-up disrupted his team and enabled United to take the initiative.
“They controlled the game for the first 15 minutes, we improved some but our mistakes were in front of goal,” he told Sky Sports.
Scolari felt Didier Drogba, sent on as a half-time substitute, gave Chelsea the physical presence to regain control of the match after a lacklustre first half display.
“I put on Drogba because he held up the ball and more players could arrive to support him,” he said. “I told them that if they fight again, play football and hold the ball more they could get a draw at least.
“The result is normal when you see the chances for both teams. We had more chances but we missed some of them.”
Man of the match Ji-sung, still stinging after being left out of the Champions League final between the teams in May, said: “It was disappointing after we led for so long.”
Park was furious that referee Mike Riley booked six United players in a fussy display that often broke up the play for both teams.
“I thought it was a bit unfair,” he said. “The Chelsea players were giving the same tackles but they weren’t getting yellow cards. It is the referee’s decision.”
United manager Alex Ferguson admitted they had only themselves to blame for failing to kill off Chelsea.
“We started the game well and I thought we dominated it,” Ferguson said. “If anything we should have been going for the jugular when it was 1-0.
“I feel we have missed a good chance obviously. If we had had a bit more energy we would have been OK