LONDON: John Terry lost his disciplinary case in the week but he was a winner back out on the pitch as European champions Chelsea won 2-1 away to previously unbeaten Arsenal.
Terry was fined £220,000 – equivalent to one week’s wages – and banned for four games by the FA for his racist comment clash with QPR’s Anton Ferdinand last October but played on while considering whether to appeal.
Manager Roberto Di Matteo had no hesitation in picking him for a difficult game even though Terry received the expected hostile reception from Arsenal fans. Di Matteo said: “It was right to pick John Terry, he showed his leadership again. We pressed Arsenal and never allowed them to find their rhythm.”
Fernando Torres converted a 20th-minute free-kick to give the visitors the lead only for Gervinho to level two minutes before half-time. Juan Mata scored the winner with a second-half free kick.
At least Arsenal were winners financially last week. Chief executive Ivan Gazidis revealed annual accounts for 2011-12 which saw the club double its profits, compared with the previous year, to £36m.
Gazidis added: “We have faced criticism for sticking to our philosophy of living sustainably within our financial means rather than reaching out for a quick fix injection of money to solve all our supposed problems . . . but football is moving powerfully in our direction.”
Other games
Edin Dzeko struck the late winner as champions Manchester City hit back from a goal down to win 2-1 against a Fulham side who had opened the scoring with an early penalty from Mladen Petric after Pablo Zabaleta’s foul on John Arne Riise.
Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick at Norwich for the second successive season as Liverpool won 5-2. Suarez also provided the assist, two minutes into the second half, so on-loan Real Madrid midfielder Nuri Sahin could score his first Premier League goal.
Demba Ba maintained his impressive start to the season with two more goals in Newcastle’s 2-2 draw away to promoted Reading. Ba is the league’s six-goal top scorer.
Swansea, after their bright start to manager Michael Laudrup’s first season in the Premier League, lost a third successive game to Stoke for whom Peter Crouch scored both goals.
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