(Adds later game)
By Justin Palmer
LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) – Fernando Torres, suddenly
oozing confidence in front of goal, netted his first Chelsea
hat-trick as the Champions League finalists capped a sensational
week by routing Queens Park Rangers 6-1 in the Premier League on
Sunday.
Chelsea remain firmly in the hunt for a top-four finish
along with Tottenham Hotspur, who took fourth spot on 62 points
ahead of Newcastle (62) and their London rivals (61) by beating
Blackburn Rovers 2-0 at White Hart Lane with goals from Rafael
van der Vaart and Kyle Walker.
Torres, a forlorn figure at Stamford Bridge for much of the
15 months since his 50 million-pound ($81.19 million) move from
Liverpool, produced three incisive finishes to add to his late
goal at Barcelona on Tuesday which eased Chelsea into a
Champions League final with Bayern Munich.
The Spaniard struck twice in the first half after the home
side had led through Daniel Sturridge’s goal after just 46
seconds and John Terry’s header.
Torres completed his hat-trick on 64 minutes by side-footing
past Paddy Kenny from Juan Mata’s pass, a goal that had beaming
owner Roman Abramovich high-fiving the fans around him.
Substitute Florent Malouda added a sixth with 10 minutes
left before Djibril Cisse netted for the relegation-threatened
visitors.
“It’s been a very hard week for us, but very important with
the win (on aggregate) against Barcelona and this important
result,” Torres, who had just three Premier League goals and
eight in all competitions this season before lining up against
QPR, told Sky Sports.
“We must keep on getting points. I’m very happy with the
hat-trick, hopefully the first of many.”
ATTACKING FLAIR
Leaders Manchester United and second-placed Manchester City,
who face each other on Monday, are guaranteed Champions League
places next season while third-placed Arsenal are in pole
position to secure the last automatic slot.
But it is no longer guaranteed the fourth-placed team will
qualify for the Champions League playoffs. If Chelsea beat
Bayern in the final next month and finish outside the top four,
they will take the last qualifying spot.
While Chelsea’s 2-2 draw at Barcelona – which secured a 3-2
semi-final win on aggregate – was based on defensive resilience
and counter-attacking nous, they showed their attacking flair
right from the whistle in Sunday’s demolition of more humble
Premier League opponents.
Sturridge began the goal glut when he beat Kenny with a
vicious shot from outside the box before the hosts doubled their
lead on 13 minutes when Terry, sent off at Barcelona and thus
banned against Bayern, headed in Mata’s corner.
Torres got his first six minutes later when he ran on to
Salomon Kalou’s angled pass to round Kenny and net. Then after
25 minutes he gleefully pounced after a mix up between Kenny and
defender Nedum Onouha.
There were no pre-match handshakes between the West London
rivals on Premier League orders because of tensions between
Terry and Anton Ferdinand.
Terry, who denies wrongdoing, has been charged with racially
abusing QPR defender Ferdinand in a league game in October.
There was no handshake before the FA Cup fourth-round match in
January between the two clubs.
Terry is due in court in July after the Euro 2012
tournament.
QPR remain one place above the drop zone on 34 points.
Bolton Wanderers, also on 34 but with an inferior goal
difference), Blackburn (31) and relegated Wolves are below them.
Spurs had little trouble brushing aside Blackburn. Van der
Vaart netted the opener midway through the first half after
Gareth Bale had headed against the crossbar and Walker sealed
the points 15 minutes from time with a superbly-struck curling
free kick.
($1 = 0.6159 British pounds)
(Editing by Ed Osmond)
