Blues close the gap on United

Last Updated: April 20, 2011 9:57pm

Malouda celebrates his opener with Kalou

Chelsea closed the gap on leaders Manchester United to six points with a 3-1 win over Birmingham at Stamford Bridge.

Two goals from Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou's strike were enough to give Chelsea the three points and move them into second spot ahead of Arsenal and keep alive their slim hopes of retaining the title.

Malouda gave Chelsea the perfect start with the opener after just three minutes and Kalou doubled the lead on 26 minutes with a fine solo goal.

Chelsea made it 3-0 just past the hour mark when Malouda headed home debutant Ryan Bertrand's cross.

Birmingham netted a consolation 14 minutes from time when Sebastian Larsson converted from the penalty spot after David Luiz brought down Matt Derbyshire inside the box.

More to follow...

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Arsenal Close To Agreeing Deal For Swedish Wonderkid

Emirates boss wants to bring midfield starlet to North London.

Arsenal are on the verge of completing a deal for Swedish wonderkid Kristoffer Olsson.

The 15-year-old has had several trials with the Gunners and even turned out for the Arsenal U16s against Crystal Palace.

The IFK Norrkoping midfielder is set for a permanent move to North London with the deal costing around £200,000.

“They want him,” his agent, Per Jonsson, told Aftonbladet. “He has been over a few times and really made an impression.

“It’s up to the clubs to agree and also the personal contract, but Arsenal really want this to go through – that’s 100 per cent certain.”

Norrkoping’s sporting director Tony Martinsson confirmed the teenager has spent time with Arsenal but says any deal is yet to be agreed.

“He was over a week-and-a-half back to train and play games,” he said. “Now he’s home again and we haven’t heard more from Arsenal since then.

“He is a fantastic, interesting player. Sometimes you say things like that to get attention but he really is.”

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Gerrard close to Liverpool return

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard hopes to be fit to return to action against West Brom on Saturday after being out since the start of March.

Gerrard has missed three games since undergoing surgery on a groin injuury sustained in the 3-1 win over Manchester United on 6 March. "I'm hoping to be in full training on Thursday and available for selection for the weekend," he said.

"It's up to Kenny [Dalglish] whether he thinks I'm ready or not." Liverpool are sixth in the Premier League table, four points behind Tottenham, who have a game in hand, but Gerrard believes they can still snatch a European place next season, with Dalglish's inspirational qualities being a significant factor.

"Our league form since Kenny came in is the best in the league so it's really positive," Gerrard told talkSPORT. "He is a players' manager. Players like playing for him because he talks to them, he's honest with them. We're hoping Kenny can bring the glory days back. We know there's a lot of hard work to do yet but there has been an improvement.

"We're just going to try to win the rest of our games and try to finish as high as we can. The aim for us is to try to sneak back into Europe come the end of the season." Gerrard also said the Reds' new-look front pairing of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez could prove decisive.

"We believe now that we've got the most feared strikeforce in the league," he said. "One thing that's important to remember with Andy is that he's superb on the floor. If we are in a difficult game or we are chasing a game we can be more direct but the good thing is, because we can mix it up, we can play either way now. We can play in behind, we can play long and with Suarez running off him. It gives us a whole new dimension."

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Jose Mourinho Reveals How Close He Was To Taking The England Job

Bernabeu boss reveals he nearly took the Wembley hot-seat after Stamford Bridge exit.

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho says he was ‘hours’ away from accepting the Football Association’s offer to become the England head coach.

In 2007, Steve McClaren had lost the national job and Mourinho was searching for new employment after being released from Chelsea.

FA officials approached the ‘Special One’ to revive the nations hopes and fortunes after failing to miss out on qualification for Euro 2008.

But Mourinho, despite being tempted, decided to stay in club football and The FA went for Fabio Capello instead.

Mourinho was not short of offers in this period and said he nearly went for Paris St Germain but was put off by a major European City not having a thriving football team.

“When I left Chelsea, the first month was fantastic,” he told L’Equipe. “I went to Africa, to Japan, I did tons of things I had not been able to do.

“The second month was good too, but from the third onwards it was horrible, just awful.

“I was hours away – I almost signed up for the English national side.

“But at the last moment I began thinking: ‘I am going to coach a national side, there will be one match a month and the rest of the time I will be in my office or supervising matches. And then to have to wait until the summer to compete in a European Championship or a World Cup’? No, it wasn’t for me.

“So at the last moment I pulled back preferring to wait for the right job to come along, a good club, a challenge that could motivate me. That was Inter.”

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