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Cosmopolitan Chelsea International lineup overpowers Sheffield Wednesday
Posted: Wednesday December 29, 1999 06:26 PM
LONDON (AP) -- Uruguayan midfielder Gustavo Poyet set up all three goals as Chelsea overpowered last place Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 on Wednesday to keep alive its slim chances of the Premier League title. Poyet provided strikes for Dennis Wise, Tore Andre Flo and Jodi Morris as Gianluca Vialli's team made it two wins in a row after a slide down to halfway in the 20-club standings. The victory moved Chelsea up two places to seventh. In the other Premier League game in the final series of matches before the new Millennium, Aston Villa and Tottenham tied 1-1 at Villa Park. With 17 points to make up on Premier League leader Leeds United, Chelsea badly needed a victory against struggling Wednesday despite still having two games in hand. Wednesday's Czech goalkeeper, Pavel Srnicek made a stunning early save to push away a header from Poyet who was a constant danger to the visiting defense. Chelsea lost French World Cup star Didier Deschamps early in the game through injury, and the appearance of substitute Wise meant that the Blues had one Englishman on its multinational lineup. The fiery Englishman made an instant impact when he fired home in the 31st minute from close range from a header down by Poyet. Three minutes later Flo took a pass from Poyet to finish a well-worked Chelsea move for the second and Wednesday was headed for its 14th loss out of 19 Premier League games. Five minutes from the end Poyet set up the third goal with a header to substitute Morris. With only nine points and five fewer than next-to-last Watford, Danny Wilson's team seems headed for division one. Its next game is against third-place Arsenal. After Spurs goalkeeper Ian Walker had saved from Ian Taylor, Julian Joachim and George Boateng at Villa Park, Tim Sherwood gave the visitor the lead a minute before halftime against the run of play. The England midfielder netted with a 25-yard shot via the underside of the crossbar after he had been set up by David Ginola. It was his third goal in two games after two in the 4-0 victory over Watford on Sunday. After Spurs had twice gone close to increasing the lead, Taylor netted a close range equalizer with 15 minutes to go. The game between Middlesbrough and Coventry at the Riverside stadium was postponed until some time in the new Millennium because of a frozen field. The three games were the last in the Premier League until January 3 where the campaign resumes with a full program.
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