Pep Guardiola refused to criticise Ilkay Gundogan and Erling Haaland over the missed penalty in Manchester City’s unexpectedly narrow 2-1 win over Leeds.

Regular taker Haaland deferred to Gundogan when City were awarded a late spot-kick at the Etihad Stadium to allow the German a chance to complete a hat-trick.

Yet, much to Guardiola’s obvious frustration, Gundogan’s effort was saved by Joel Robles and Rodrigo pulled one back for relegation-threatened moments later.

That set up a grandstand finish to what had seemed a straightforward Premier League assignment for the champions after Gundogan’s two well-taken efforts in the first half.

Guardiola seemed quite annoyed at the time and was caught on camera saying he felt Haaland, who did not add to the 51 goals he has scored this season but twice hit the woodwork, should have taken it.

The Spaniard, however, had calmed down by the time he undertook post-match media duties.

Guardiola said: “The performance was excellent, we played really good.

“I am not going to explain my feelings about the last five, six or seven minutes because in general it was really good.

“Who knows if Erling had taken the penalty and missed? What happens if Riyad (Mahrez) takes it and misses? What happens if Ilkay Gundogan takes the penalty and scores?

“The question is, if it is 2-0 who is the taker? If it is 2-0 Erling or Riyad has to take it.

“But (it shows) how Erling is as a person. He is incredible and wants to score goals, but at the same time mates are important. He is so nice and generous.

“The game could have been over, but I understand both sides. Ilkay has never scored a hat-trick and he wanted him to do it.

“Gundo scored two incredible goals. How good did he play today? He has everything.”

Gundogan, who is out of contract at the end of the season, admitted the matter had taken the gloss off the game for him.

He said on Sky Sports: “I saw Erling with the ball, looking for me, telling me to take it. I asked him a couple of times, ‘Are you sure?’ and he was quite sure and confident to give me the ball.

“I wish I would have scored. The sad thing now, looking back, the disappointment of failing to score the penalty is a bit higher than actually scoring two goals and maybe winning the game.”

The frantic finish gave new Leeds manager Sam Allardyce some positives to cling to from what had been a largely poor performance from the relegation-threatened side.

Leeds are outside the bottom three only on goal difference and Allardyce, appointed earlier this week, now has just three games to guide them to safety.

He said: “In the second half you would probably think, and rightly so, how many is it going to be?

“We were defending with spirit but playing nowhere near the way we needed to.

“When we stopped giving the ball to City we grew in confidence. We gave a stupid penalty away, but Joel made a wonderful save.

“We scored and then the game was on and they were showing a bit of nerves. When you get Manchester City playing by the corner flag in the last five minutes you know you must still be in with a chance.”

Frank Lampard encouraged his players to celebrate with a beer or glass of wine after Chelsea took a “small step forward” by halting their six-match losing streak with a 3-1 win at Bournemouth.

Late goals from Benoit Badiashile and Joao Felix earned the Blues an overdue victory after Cherries defender Matias Vina cancelled out Conor Gallagher’s early header at Vitality Stadium.

Success on the south coast was Lampard’s first since returning to Stamford Bridge on an interim basis a month ago and a fitting way to cap his 100th game in Premier League management.

The former England and Blues midfielder urged his team to embrace the club’s first triumph in almost two months but warned they cannot ease off going into their final four fixtures of a dismal campaign.

“They should enjoy it and we’re happy because when you don’t have that feeling for a while, it gradually knocks you down,” said Lampard.

“It was very evident in the dressing room from coming in that there was a lot of picking up that needed to be done and unfortunately you need results to come in line with that to keep you stepping forward, so that’s been tough.

“Today was a nice small step forward.

“The lads are all human, we’re all affected in similar ways when you’re not winning games or you don’t feel like you’re at your best and the only way to get through that is to fight and to work through it.

“I’ve been in relative periods where they’re tough, so absolutely they should enjoy tonight and have a beer or have a glass of wine or do whatever they do.

“But we cannot take our foot of the pedal in terms of trying to take steps forward until the end of this season because it’s important.”

Victory in Dorset moved the two-time European champions on to 42 points, three ahead of their hosts, albeit they remain in the bottom half of the table.

Bournemouth had the better of the chances before the late drama, with Dango Ouattara squandering a golden opening by heading over from inside the six-yard box.

Badiashile and Felix punished that profligacy in the final eight minutes, leaving Chelsea supporters to salute the long-awaited win with ironic chants of “we are staying up”.

Some of the away end had jeered substitutes Hakim Ziyech and Raheem Sterling but the pair responded by claiming assists for Badiashile and Felix respectively.

Lampard hopes to help rebuild the bond between fans and players and backed the under-fire duo to show their true class following underwhelming campaigns.

“Our fans were fantastic today so I personally appreciate their support,” said Lampard.

“I appreciate we had a moment on the end of the pitch where everyone feels good for a day.

“I think that’s important to build a connection between players and fans.

“Opinion can always change in a period but Hakim and Raheem want to do well, as football players they’ve got big talent both of them.

“I think their class is permanent and I’m pleased for them for having some impact when they came on.”

Bournemouth boss Gary O’Neil rued his side’s missed opportunities.

“I thought it was an even contest,” he said. “There were lots of bits in it that I liked.

“When we were on top, Vina has a one-on-one where Kepa (Arrizabalaga) makes a good save, Kepa makes a great block from Dango as well from four, five yards out and obviously the massive chance, Dango’s free header.

“If we get our noses in front then the game will probably finish very differently.

“I’m disappointed we weren’t clinical enough and then we get punished at the other end.

“We were well in the game.”

Max Verstappen took top spot in final practice for the Miami Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton finished only 13th.

Verstappen clocked the best time in Saturday’s running, and the world champion will head into qualifying at 4pm (9pm BST) as the favourite to secure pole position.

Charles Leclerc finished second for Ferrari – four tenths slower than Verstappen – with Sergio Perez, six points behind Red Bull team-mate Verstappen in the driver standings, third.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished fourth. Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell was 10th.

Hamilton has described Mercedes’ form at the first of three rounds to be staged in the United States as a “kick in the guts”.

He heads into Sunday’s race 45 points behind championship leader Verstappen after just four rounds of the season.

The British driver’s Mercedes team have endured a turbulent campaign. Hamilton finished second in Australia at the beginning of last month to raise hope of a Mercedes fightback.

But the 38-year-old, whose contract with the Brackley team expires in just over six months, was a distant sixth in Azerbaijan last weekend.

And, despite an encouraging opening practice session on Friday, with Russell leading his team-mate in a Mercedes one-two, the Silver Arrows look poised for another troubling weekend.

Hamilton ended the concluding running before qualifying 1.1 seconds slower than Verstappen. Russell outpaced his team-mate by 0.1 sec.

Mercedes are due to introduce an upgrade at the next round in Imola in a fortnight’s time, but team principal Toto Wolff has already warned Hamilton that he will not have the speed to fight with Red Bull.

“I am going to stay optimistic, but it feels like we are racing the same car as last year,” said Hamilton.

“We desperately need those upgrades, that is for sure. We have to keep our heads down for one more race and hopefully we will start a new path at the next race.”

Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell revealed he has set his team the target of finishing seventh this season following their 2-0 home win over Kilmarnock.

Goals from Blair Spittal and Kevin van Veen – the Dutchman’s 25th of the campaign – ensured the Fir Park side are all but safe from relegation with four games remaining.

Kettlewell, though, insisted his focus has always been looking up the table rather than down the way, and wants Motherwell to aim to overhaul Livingston in seventh spot.

He said: “It’s another good home win with a clean sheet for us.

“We would maybe have liked that second goal to have come a wee bit earlier to calm the nerves. But it’s testament to the players who dealt with everything that came their way.

“Their goalkeeper has had an outstanding day with some massive stops. Paul McGinn misses one from two yards that might haunt him, but we created a number of chances and deserved the win.

“At no point have we been looking at what’s happening behind us. It’s a case of what we can affect. We have to go every week and approach it the way we did today. If we do, we have a chance to be a successful club.

“What’s the best we can achieve? To finish top of the bottom six. We’d love to take that position but we only do that by doing our work through the week.”

Kettlewell insisted there would be no prospect of his players now easing through to the summer break.

He said: “We are functioning really well as a team. It seems a long way from when I first took over but these guys are knocking down barriers.

“They are speaking about having Monday off but it’s not going to happen. We have four games to go and we need to give the utmost respect to what our goals are and reach them.”

Kilmarnock boss Derek McInnes was left frustrated with his team’s performance, especially on the back of their victory at St Mirren last time out.

He said: “It was very disappointing. We need better performances than that at this stage of the season.

“This was always going to be the toughest of the five games, taking in mind our away form. We took confidence from beating St Mirren but we never got to those levels.

“Motherwell have a maverick player in Van Veen and he inspires them. We missed Kyle Vassell but we still had enough as a team to get something from the game. If you can’t win, then make sure you don’t lose it.

“The second goal was disappointing. Van Veen’s technique was good but we should defend that better.”

St Johnstone interim boss Steven MacLean praised the attitude of his players as the Perth side edged closer towards cinch Premiership safety with a vital 1-0 win over Dundee United at McDiarmid Park.

Captain Liam Gordon steered home the crucial goal from close range after a Stevie May miscue before United saw Charlie Mulgrew sent off for hauling down Melker Hallberg.

Steven Fletcher hit the goalframe for the visitors in the last minute but St Johnstone held on for a first victory since they beat the same opposition in February. It was also their first triumph at McDiarmid Park since they beat Rangers in early November.

After taking four points from his two games in charge, MacLean hopes his side have stopped the rot.

He said: “I’m proud. Happy for the players and happy for the supporters. I think it was deserved. I thought we played well.

“We had to defend at the end which is what you have to do because they’re fighting for their lives as well.

“They threw caution to the wind and threw bodies towards, put (Ryan) Edwards on up front so it’s always going to be tricky but we defended really well.

“If I’ve got a gripe, it would be that we could’ve scored more. We had 17 shots. That’s 14 shots and 17 shots in the last two games which is good but we want to keep building.

“I’m delighted. The players have reacted well and I’ve got a reaction out of them but it’s only one game.

“We’re in tomorrow and we’re going to prepare for Motherwell and we’re going to do everything right.”

MacLean also insisted he has not had any conversations with chairman Steve Brown about his long-term future, with his focus firmly on Saints’ fight against the drop.

He added: “There’s been nothing. Hopefully he’ll be happy with me for getting a result. I’m sure I’ll speak to him. I spoke to him on Thursday.

“He was good – he asked me how it had been and I thank him for giving me the opportunity. Hopefully he can sleep well tonight.

Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin, meanwhile, rued Fletcher’s late miss as he praised his side for staying in the game.

He said: “Credit to the players, they never gave up. We tried to get as many offensive bodies on the pitch as possible towards the end and we knew we’d leave ourselves light and we were hit on the counter on a couple of occasions.

“I think if Fletcher’s effort at the end goes in then, over the piece, a draw would have been a fair outcome.”

The United boss also said he has not decided if his club will appeal against the red card shown to Mulgrew.

The defender was beaten to the ball by Hallberg and he caught the midfielder who was through on goal, although the offence did take place out wide towards the touchline.

Goodwin added: “I haven’t had the chance to watch it back so I’ll wait and see, and sit with the analyst. Then we’ll give a response.

“I’m reluctant to comment (on the prospect of losing Mulgrew) but of course Charlie has been a very important player.

“We’ll have a look back at the situation. Was there a covering defender? Was it a clear goalscoring opportunity? And we’ll assess that on Monday morning and decide which way we want to go.”

Boss Julen Lopetegui believes keeping Wolves in the Premier League will be his biggest achievement as they all but ended any relegation fears – and damaged Aston Villa’s European dream.

Toti Gomes’ first-half header earned a gritty 1-0 win and moved Wolves onto 40 points after they were bottom of the table at Christmas.

It was their fourth straight top-flight home win – for the first time since 1975 – and depending on other results they could be mathematically safe by Monday night.

Lopetegui was appointed in November before taking over after the World Cup in December and Wolves are now 10 points clear of the relegation zone.

“It was one of the biggest challenges of my life, as a coach. It has been my most difficult achievement as a coach, much more difficult than (winning) the Europa League and putting Sevilla in the Champions League,” said the manager, who celebrated vigorously at full time.

“It was a very bad situation. A lot of people called me, ‘you are crazy, why do you go there?’

“It’s very important points for us. To arrive at 40 points, it’s not mathematic but we are very close to our aim. I’m very happy for the club, fans, players. We arrived here in December with 10 points at the bottom.

“Today I showed more emotion, I am human. We’ve suffered a lot.”

Gomes bagged the winner after nine minutes when he headed in Ruben Neves’ corner off the bar.

Villa dominated much of the first half with Jose Sa saving from Emi Buendia and Ollie Watkins wasting their best chance when he planted a free header straight at Sa.

Matheus Cunha fired over just before the break with Emi Martinez thwarting Diego Costa soon after the re-start.

Villa struggled to break a resilient Wolves – who lost 6-0 at Brighton last week – down but should have made it 1-1 with 19 minutes left.

Douglas Luiz floated in a free-kick which landed perfectly for Tyrone Mings but the defender volleyed over from six yards.

Defeat delivered a blow to Villa’s European hopes as they remain eighth, having played more games than Brighton, Tottenham and Liverpool – who they face in their final three matches.

Boss Unai Emery said: “I’m frustrated with the result but overall in 90 minutes we tried to keep going with the game plan, we did it, we had good positioning, good progress with passes and then got in the box.

“At half time I said I liked to watch our team playing like that, the best way to get a good result is like that.

“In the second half the rhythm was going down, they were trying to waste time and we didn’t get our best performances.

“We tried to change the match but we didn’t. We have to be excited because three months ago we were thinking of a different target, even if two weeks ago the possibilities were better.

“Tyrone’s chance was the best chance. In the first half we had more but not as clear. It’s football.”

Sport paid tribute to the King on the day of his coronation, but thousands of Liverpool fans booed the national anthem before kick-off in the Premier League match against Brentford at Anfield.

On Saturday morning Chelsea forward Sam Kerr led the Australian delegation in the formal procession in London as they made their way into Westminster Abbey for the service.

After cricketers stood to observe the national anthem ahead of day three of the current round of LV= Insurance County Championship matches, the afternoon’s football and rugby union matches also honoured the King.

Premier League leaders Manchester City hosted Leeds at the Etihad Stadium, where the national anthem was played before kick-off as the players stood around the centre circle, while the big screen showed a symbol to mark the coronation.

Ahead of the games at Bournemouth and Tottenham fans were given the opportunity to watch the ceremony, as were spectators at the Badminton Horse Trials in Gloucestershire, where events were paused during the ceremony.

At the Recreation Ground, the big screen showed a message to mark the King’s coronation during the Gallagher Premiership match between Bath and Saracens, while the national anthem was also played ahead of the game between Sale and Newcastle in Salford.

However, the anthem was not impeccably observed before the 5.30pm Premier League kick-off at Anfield.

As the first notes of God Save the King began to play while both teams lined up around the centre circle, the majority of Anfield voiced its opposition before the Kop broke into chants of “Liverpool”.

Booing the anthem is not new among Liverpool supporters, who have been doing so for years because of a long-standing resentment of the establishment due to Government attitudes towards the city dating back to the 1980s and, more recently, in relation to the handling of the Hillsborough disaster and the fight for justice.

Liverpool felt they had been put in an impossible position by the Premier League “strongly suggesting” the anthem was played and sources admitted they had taken a “tough” decision to play it, but believed in safe freedom of expression, even though they were fully aware the response would not be favourable.

During Wednesday’s win over Fulham the Kop sang “You can stick your coronation up your a***”.

However, in his match programme notes Jurgen Klopp, who admitted he was “not an expert on English history or the monarchy”, wrote: “We will be busy with our own concerns, of course, but I would like to take this opportunity to wish King Charles III well, not just today but also for the future.”

Further afield, Formula One sent its congratulations to the King, with several teams displaying the coronation emblem at the Miami Grand Prix.

Sir Alastair Cook, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2019, was among those cricketers who stood to observe the national anthem.

Cook joined his Essex team-mates and opponents from Surrey, including England players Ollie Pope, Ben Foakes and Will Jacks, as they lined the boundary edge at Chelmsford while God Save the King played out to those in attendance.

There were similar scenes at the likes of Headingley, the Ageas Bowl and Trent Bridge, although some of the fixtures were unable to start on time due to rain.

England stars James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Jonny Bairstow were among the best known faces to take part in proceedings.

Charles, previously the Prince of Wales, has been a patron of Glamorgan since 1986 and they posted a picture of him holding a bat during a visit to Sophia Gardens.

Two matches in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, at Old Trafford and Chester-le-Street, were marked in similar fashion.

Events in London also had an impact at the Badminton Horse Trials.

Saturday’s dressage started at 8am and paused at 10.15am to allow spectators to watch the coronation on big screens.

The action resumed at 12.45pm, with some screen access still available for those wishing to take in the full ceremony.

Manager Lee Johnson praised Hibernian for holding their nerve to see out a crucial 2-1 victory over St Mirren after admitting their “dominant” first-half performance “fizzled out” after the break.

Goals from on-loan duo Elie Youan and Will Fish gave the Hibees a deserved 2-0 lead at the interval before St Mirren threatened to claim a point in the closing stages after Alex Greive pulled one back.

“I thought we made hard work of it in the second half, we should have had more control than we did,” said Johnson, whose fifth-placed side closed to within a point of city rivals Hearts in the battle for European places. “We didn’t dominate the midfield at all and in the first half we were very dominant.

“A lot of the stuff we worked on through the week was executed to perfection (in the first half). I thought the ball speed and our passing and movement was good and we had good opportunities in the first half.

“In the second half, for whatever reason, we just fizzled out. Not enough were on their game but we continued to work hard.

“We shuffled the pack and changed the shape to cope with a St Mirren side who were throwing caution to the wind after the poor goal we conceded and in the end it was good to see it out. Even in injury time I think we managed it quite well.

“Overall it’s a great win for us, it’s an important win because of that fifth place but also we’re now chasing down everybody ahead of us.”

Hibs lost Jake Doyle-Hayes to a head knock in the first half and Johnson admitted the midfielder will need to be assessed.

“Hopefully he’s OK,” said the manager. “He had quite a nasty bump on the side of his head.

“I just hope it’s not concussion, firstly for him but also for us because he’s an important player. I thought he was outstanding until he went off.”

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson lamented the two goals his side lost.

“It was a disappointing start,” he said. “We gave ourselves a mountain to climb, two individual errors have cost us.

“I’ll take my share of the responsibility. I want us to keep the ball from throw-ins, I don’t want us to just chuck it down the line, I want us to try and switch play. We got caught on it today.

“The second is a set-play where we let a runner go. They are goals we don’t usually concede which is frustrating.

“Our response to that was terrific. I asked them to go out and be brave and step forward and we should have taken something out of the game.”

Marnus Labuschagne put down a marker for the Ashes, capitalising after being dropped on 11 to record a mammoth century and advance Glamorgan’s push for victory over Yorkshire.

A diving Finlay Bean got two hands to the ball but could not cling on at backward point, preventing a boundary and reprieving Labuschagne on the third morning of the LV= Insurance County Championship game.

There was no second chance as Labuschagne spectacularly went through the gears to record 170 not out off 207 balls in Glamorgan’s 352 for four declared, leaving Yorkshire 492 to claim an unlikely victory.

Leicestershire chased down 389 at Headingley on the final day last month to down Yorkshire, whose task will be to avoid a second defeat in four Division Two matches this season. They were helped in this endeavour as rain wiped out the last session after their depleted bowling line-up was put to the sword.

Sam Northeast (66) and Sheffield-born Billy Root (51no) put on 148 and an unbroken 130 with Labuschagne, whose contribution to this fixture has been a weighty 235 runs and he will be hoping to have a similar impact on his next visit to the ground for Australia in two months’ time.

He resumed on seven not out – with Glamorgan 196 ahead and eight second-innings wickets in hand – alongside a scoreless Northeast, with the outside edges of the pair frequently challenged early on.

Mickey Edwards was a handful but it was fellow seamer Jordan Thompson who created an opportunity, tempting Labuschagne into flashing at a short and wide delivery, with the ball darting to Bean.

Had a very difficult chance stuck, Yorkshire might have fashioned a route back into a contest where they have been behind the eight-ball for long spells but Bean’s parry gave Labuschagne a life.

Labuschagne had earlier gotten off and running with a sublime cover drive off compatriot Edwards although it was not all one-way traffic as the Yorkshire seamer, bowling with good pace, looked to exploit some early movement.

Gradually, though, Labuschagne started to find his feet alongside Northeast with Yorkshire a bowler down because of Ben Coad’s groin injury. It was for the most part a sleepy opening stanza with the visiting batters largely content to tick over as they brought up their half-centuries.

Only when Dom Bess was brought on just before lunch did Labuschagne cast off the shackles, reverse sweeping the off-spinner twice then lapping him over his shoulder for three fours in an over. It was a testing day for Bess, who leaked 76 in 10 chastening overs.

Either side of Northeast falling to his favoured cut shot off Thompson, Labuschagne hit Edwards out of the attack after lunch. There were five fours in the space of six balls, with Labuschagne backing away and agriculturally muscling across the line as the ball was dispatched to all parts.

Kiran Carlson nicked off to Matthew Fisher, who then left Labuschagne on his knees on 97 with a blow to the midsection. Labuschagne showed no sign of the issue bothering him as a cute dab off Thompson for his 17th four brought up a 142-ball hundred – his first three-figure score of the domestic campaign.

His second fifty was completed in just 38 balls and he continued to accelerate alongside Root, the younger brother of Yorkshire and England star Joe who needed just 68 balls to reach his fifty.

Labuschagne continued to toy with Bess upon his reintroduction to the firing line, taking 58 runs off the 41 balls he faced from the former Somerset bowler, including a towering straight six to go with his 24 fours in his innings.

Yorkshire, having taken only two wickets in as many sessions, were put out of their misery with Glamorgan’s lead approaching 500 but showers brought an early end to the day.

Andy Murray guaranteed a return to the top 50 with victory over Harold Mayot to reach the final of the ATP Challenger event in Aix-en-Provence.

The Scot, currently ranked 52, took a late wild card into the second-tier tournament after losing in the first round of the Madrid Open and has made the most of the opportunity with four victories in a row.

They have all come against French players, and Murray comfortably brushed aside 21-year-old Mayot, ranked 241, 7-5 6-1 to set up a finale against American Tommy Paul.

One consequence of the decision to extend the clay-court Masters events in Madrid and Rome to two weeks each has been the strong Challenger fields this week, with Paul a top-20 player and Australian Open semi-finalist in January.

Murray has certainly gained in confidence through the week and pulled well clear with a run of seven games in a row, Mayot bowing to the pressure being exerted on him by double-faulting to give away the opening set.

Finishing off matches has at times been a struggle for Murray in recent years and he wobbled slightly, missing two match points at 5-0 before finally taking his fifth opportunity to clinch it.

It is Murray’s second final of the season after the ATP Tour event in Doha in February, where he lost to Daniil Medvedev.

The Scot is bidding for his first title since Antwerp in 2019, while, should he beat Paul, he would claim his first trophy at Challenger level for 18 years.

He would also climb to just outside the top 40, which would be a major boost to his hopes of being seeded for Wimbledon.

Frank Lampard marked his 100th game in Premier League management by picking up his first points since returning to Chelsea thanks to two late goals in a 3-1 victory at Bournemouth.

Strikes from Benoit Badiashile and Joao Felix in the final eight minutes at Vitality Stadium earned the Blues a first success in almost two months to halt their six-game losing streak under interim boss Lampard.

The west London club looked like they would have to settle for a draw on the south coast after Cherries defender Matias Vina cancelled out Conor Gallagher’s early header.

Bournemouth also had the better of the chances before the late drama, with Dango Ouattara squandering a golden opening by heading over from inside the six-yard box.

Yet Badiashile and Felix punished that profligacy, leaving visiting fans to salute the overdue triumph with ironic chants of “we are staying up”.

Victory in Dorset moved the two-time European champions on to 42 points, three ahead of their hosts, albeit they remain in the bottom half of the table.

For Lampard personally, it was a first victory in 17 matches including his Everton days and his first with Chelsea in 832 days dating back to a 3-1 FA Cup success over Luton in January 2021 during his initial spell as manager.

The former Blues and England midfielder opted for five changes following Tuesday’s tame 3-1 defeat at Arsenal, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Raheem Sterling among those dropped, while the Cherries were unchanged from the 4-1 thrashing of Leeds.

Gary O’Neil’s in-form hosts began brighter but after Jefferson Lerma, who scored twice last weekend, curled narrowly wide, Chelsea snatched a ninth-minute lead.

Trevoh Chalobah’s pass afforded N’Golo Kante time and space to deliver an inviting cross from the right wing and recalled midfielder Gallagher beat Adam Smith to the ball to divert a simple, close-range header beyond goalkeeper Neto.

Chelsea supporters responded to the early breakthrough with self-deprecating chants about avoiding relegation and “we’ve scored a goal” after seeing their side net for only the third time in nine outings.

Yet they were not ahead for long.

Uruguay left-back Vina claimed the 21st-minute equaliser, delightfully curling home via the right post from just inside the Blues’ 18-yard box following slick interplay involving Ryan Christie and Dominic Solanke.

The Roma loanee’s eye-catching leveller prompted calls of “sign him up” from home supporters, in addition to light-hearted taunts of “you’re going down with the scummers” directed at the away end and referencing local rivals Southampton.

While Chelsea have endured a torrid season under their American owners, Bournemouth have gone from strength to strength since Texas businessman Bill Foley completed his takeover in December.

O’Neil’s men, who won six of their previous nine fixtures to banish relegation fears, remained relatively comfortable for the rest of the half, with Chelsea short of ideas and looking toothless in attack.

The away team continued to monopolise the ball following the restart but the lack of creativity persisted.

At the other end, Badiashile turned behind Ouattara’s dangerous low cross while lively winger Christie rippled the side-netting.

Lampard, who suffered league and Carabao Cup defeats on this ground with Everton earlier this season, then saw his side survive a VAR check for a possible penalty when Thiago Silva slid in on Solanke before Vina was denied a second when his shot was pushed wide by Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Ouattara should have given Bournemouth the lead 11 minutes from time when he somehow nodded over unmarked after Lerma headed a Lewis Cook corner back across goal.

That miss proved pivotal as Chelsea grabbed the three points with quick-fire goals in the closing stages.

Former Monaco defender Badiashile restored the Blues’ advantage in the 82nd minute, connecting with Hakim Ziyech’s searching free-kick into the box to volley beyond Neto and claim his first goal for the club.

Belated joy for Lampard was secured four minutes later as Felix put the result beyond doubt with a first-time finish after fellow substitute Sterling burst into the box and slipped the ball to his right.

Ross County picked up what could be a vital three points in their fight to avoid relegation with a 2-0 victory over Livingston.

Going into the weekend four points adrift at the bottom of the table, County knew they could not afford to lose against Livi and goals in either half from Alex Iacovitti and Alex Samuel secured a valuable win.

Livingston finished the match with 10 men after substitute Kurtis Guthrie was dismissed following a VAR review with eight minutes to go.

The stakes involved for the Staggies perhaps had an impact on how they started the match, as it was the visitors who did most of the probing.

Certainly it was Livingston who had more possession across the opening 20 minutes, but without much substance as Ross Laidlaw in the home goal barely got a touch of the ball.

Slowly, County then started to find something of a rhythm.

Some neat footwork from Victor Loturi just inside Livingston’s box beat his man, but his low cross was cleared off the line by Morgan Boyes.

Bruce Anderson – County’s conqueror the last time these two met in Dingwall – fashioned a shooting opportunity for himself at the edge of the box in response, but could only clip the side-netting.

Simon Murray then should have scored for the hosts when he met Yan Dhanda’s cross at the back post, only for a combination of Nicky Devlin and the woodwprk to deny him.

However, a similar ball from Dhanda five minutes before half-time led to the breakthrough, as Iacovitti made the most of being totally unmarked to head into the far corner.

County would then make it 2-0 on the hour mark.

Just beforehand, manager Malky Mackay made a triple substitution that involved Samuel coming on, and he would score his first goal for the club.

Again it was Dhanda who provided the assist, crossing for the Welshman to open his account over 20 months after moving to Dingwall – and having spent 10 months on the sidelines with a cruciate injury.

While that gave County a comfortable lead on the scoreboard, things would go from bad to worse for the visitors in Dingwall in the 82nd minute.

Guthrie, not long introduced as a substitute himself, was initially shown a yellow card for catching Keith Watson in the face, but on review by VAR it was upgraded to a red for violent conduct.

That meant it was a comfortable end to the match for County, who closed the gap at the bottom to a single point with results elsewhere.

Motherwell took a significant step towards securing cinch Premiership football for another season with a 2-0 home win over Kilmarnock, who remain immersed in relegation danger.

Blair Spittal’s fourth-minute strike and a late second from Kevin van Veen lifted Stuart Kettlewell’s side nine points clear of their vanquished opponents – and with a vastly superior goal difference – with just four games left of the season.

The defeat leaves Kilmarnock in 11th spot in the table and only now a point ahead of bottom side Ross County following the Dingwall side’s victory over Livingston.

Motherwell made just one change from the team that had drawn at Celtic, Mikael Mandron replacing Harry Paton.

There were two changes to the Kilmarnock team that won at St Mirren as out went Kyle Vassell and Lewis Mayo to be replaced by Joe Wright and Scott Robinson.

The home side went ahead with the first real chance of the game after four minutes. Sean Goss sent James Furlong clear down the left and his cutback was finished well by Spittal.

Kilmarnock responded with a Robinson shot that slid past the near post after Christian Doidge had played him in.

Spittal then nearly had his second of the game only to see his effort deflected wide for a corner. The forward took the set-play himself, finding Calum Slattery outside the box whose low driven shot was again diverted wide.

Both teams seemed intent on attacking and Danny Armstrong was unfortunate to see his free-kick beat the wall but strike the outside of the Motherwell post.

Motherwell continued to pursue a second goal and, from Paul McGinn’s deep cross, Mandron somehow headed over the bar from close range.

Van Veen is likely to be a contender when the Player of the Year nominations are shortly announced and the Dutch striker showed his class again with a back-heeled pass to set up Spittal. The former Ross County player cut inside and got his shot away only for Sam Walker to save with his legs.

Van Veen then created a chance for himself but once again the goalkeeper proved equal to it, Walker making a fine save to keep his side in the contest before looking alert to grab Dan Casey’s attempted lob.

McGinn ought to have made the game safe late on but somehow struck the post with the goal at his mercy, the ball then falling kindly into Walker’s arms.

However, Van Veen fared much better in stoppage time as he calmly slotted in his 25th goal of the season to net for a seventh game in succession.