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Chelsea 5 points clear after 1-0 win over Man U

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By ROB HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
Associated Press Sports
updated 1:48 p.m. ET Nov. 8, 2009

LONDON (AP) -John Terry headed Chelsea to a 1-0 victory over Manchester United on Sunday that extended his team's Premier League lead to five points.

Chelsea had been frustrated by United for 76 minutes, but then profited from a contentiously awarded free kick when United midfielder Darren Fletcher was judged to have fouled defender Ashley Cole.

Frank Lampard whipped the ball into the penalty area and captain Terry connected with a glancing header to clinch Chelsea's 11th consecutive win in all competitions at Stamford Bridge.

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"It was a bad decision, but there's nothing we can do about it. You lose faith in refereeing sometimes," said United manager Alex Ferguson, who is already facing a Football Association punishment for criticizing match officials.

"The referee's position to make the decision was absolutely ridiculous, he can't see anything," Ferguson said. "He's got a Chelsea player (Joe Cole) standing right in front of him and he doesn't even move."

A third league loss for Ferguson's team leaves it, along with Arsenal, five points adrift of Chelsea going into the two-week international break. Sixth-place Liverpool hosts Birmingham in Monday's match.

Also Sunday, Fulham earned a point at Wigan after U.S. striker Clint Dempsey was brought down by Titus Bramble and then scored from the resulting penalty kick.

Everton won 2-1 at West Ham and Hull defeated Stoke by the same score.

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MADRID (AP) - Sporting Gijon beat Espanyol 1-0 and Athletic Bilbao topped Racing Santander 2-0 to maintain their strong early season form in the Spanish league.

Sporting and Athletic are tied for seventh in the standings with 16 points.

Almeria beat Osasuna 2-0 following an own-goal by Jose "Josetxo" Romero in the second minute and Kalu Uche's 90th-minute strike. Valladolid and Xerez drew 0-0.

Both Barcelona and Real Madrid maintained their strong starts to the season with victories on Saturday.

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FRANKFURT (AP) - Hamburger SV and Werder Bremen lost ground in the Bundesliga after draws.

Jiri Stajner earned and converted a dubious late penalty for Hannover to salvage a 2-2 draw with Hamburg, while Borussia Dortmund's Lucas Barrios scored an equalizer for his sixth goal in six games in a 1-1 draw with Bremen.

Milivoje Novakovic scored to give Cologne a 1-0 win at bottom-place Hertha Berlin.

Hamburg and Bremen both have 23 points to be three behind leader Bayer Leverkusen.

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PARIS (AP) - Yohan Cabaye and Florent Balmont scored in the second half to give Lille a 2-0 victory over defending champion Bordeaux in the French league.

Bordeaux's third defeat of the season means Lyon can move one point clear at the top if it beats Marseille at Stade Gerland in Sunday's late match.

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GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) - Celtic conceded a late equalizer in a 3-3 draw at bottom-place Falkirk, squandering the chance to build a bigger lead over second-place Rangers in the Scottish title race.

The draw left Celtic on 24 points, two points clear of defending champion Rangers, which has a game in hand.

Two goals from Kris Boyd gave Rangers a 2-1 victory against St. Mirren on Saturday.

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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