LONDON — Frank Lampard provided a timely reminder of his value to Chelsea by scoring twice as his side reclaimed third place in the Premier League by coming from behind to win 2-1 at Everton Sunday. The 34-year-old England midfielder, whose contract expires at the end of the season, canceled out Steven Pienaar's opener shortly before half-time and then claimed the winner with 18 minutes remaining at Goodison Park. Victory moved Rafael Benitez's side above Tottenham Hotspur into third place, four points behind second-place Manchester City and with a game in hand, while Everton remain sixth, three points below the top four. Defeat prevented Everton from asserting its Champions League credentials, but it had started the game in menacing fashion and took the lead after just 63 seconds. Victor Anichebe met stand-in right-back Phil Jagielka's floated cross with a header that came back off the left-hand post and Pienaar charged in to spear the ball past Petr Cech, who was making his 400th Chelsea appearance. Nikica Jelavic then hit the same portion of woodwork with a free-kick, before Lampard equalized in the 42nd minute when he met Ramires' cross with a precisely directed downward header. Chelsea lost Cech to an apparent ankle injury at half-time and his replacement, Ross Turnbull, was beaten by a Jelavic header in the 69th minute, only for the crossbar to come to his rescue. The winning goal arrived three minutes later, Lampard nudging the ball into the roof of the net after Tim Howard saved from Juan Mata, to give the Blues a fourth consecutive league win. In the day's other match Liverpool gave sick manager Brendan Rodgers something to smile about by thrashing last-place Queens Park Rangers 3-0, with Luis Suarez taking his season's tally to 13 goals with a brace at Loftus Road. Rodgers was sent home from London on the morning of the match because of an illness but it didn't stop his team producing one of its most fluent performances of the season, albeit against a beleaguered opponent seemingly destined for relegation. The effervescent Suarez scored in the 10th and 16th minutes and a lopsided first half was rounded off by Daniel Agger's header from Steven Gerrard's cross in the 27th. QPR, with just one win this campaign, improved after the break but will head into 2013 eight points from safety. In the late match Saturday Theo Walcott sent a message to Arsene Wenger as the Arsenal forward hit a hat trick in his side's stunning 7-3 demolition of Newcastle. Walcott, out of contract at the end of the season, faces an uncertain future in north London after Arsenal failed to meet his wage demands, while boss Wenger has been reluctant to play the England winger in his preferred central striking role. But Wenger has finally allowed Walcott to start up front in recent weeks and the response from the 23-year-old suggests the Gunners should bow to the player's demands to avoid losing yet another star name. As well as hitting a hat trick, he provided two assists against Newcastle as Arsenal, with Olivier Giroud, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lukas Podolski also on the scoresheet, kept the pressure on Tottenham and Chelsea in the race for a top four finish. Wenger was clearly impressed by Walcott's display and the Frenchman is confident that an agreement will be reached. Wenger said: “The intensity of my desire (for him to stay) is exactly the same as it was before the game. My desire is to extend his contract and I think he belongs here. Hopefully we can do it. I think he loves the club and the club loves him and the reciprocity in love is the most difficult to find.” — Agencies
