Chelsea 1-2 Sunderland: Black Cats dents The Blues title hopes and give The Reds a title boost

Bottom club Sunderland earned a stunning win at Chelsea that severely dented the Blues' title hopes and gave leaders Liverpool a major boost.
Connor Wickham followed up Marcos Alonso's shot to equalise after Samuel Eto'o had given Chelsea the lead.
After several Chelsea chances, Sunderland were given a penalty when Cesar Azpilicueta fouled Jozy Altidore.
And Fabio Borini scored to inflict Jose Mourinho's first home Premier League defeat in 78 games as Chelsea manager.
The award of a marginal penalty so late in the game sparked anger on the Chelsea bench and Mourinho had to restrain assistant coach Rui Faria, who was seeking to confront referee Mike Dean.
Faria was sent to the stands to watch the final stages as the match - and quite possibly Chelsea's chances of winning the league - fizzled out.
The shock result leaves the second-placed Blues two points behind Liverpool, who will play their game in hand against Norwich on Sunday before hosting Chelsea a week later.
Meanwhile, Sunderland, who had secured a point at title-chasing Manchester City in midweek,closed to within three points of Norwich, who are occupying the final spot above the relegation zone.
While the result was a huge coup for the Black Cats, it represents a devastating blow for Mourinho, who must rouse his men for their trip to Atletico Madrid for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Tuesday.
Once again, the Portuguese was left lamenting the inadequacies of his strikers as the Blues only converted one of their 31 chances in the absence through injury of their top scorer Eden Hazard.
The Blues had begun the match confidently, as Eto'o capitalised on some slack Sunderland marking from a corner to open the scoring.
Willian's delivery found the Cameroon frontman, who pounced in front of Lee Cattermole to notch his 12th goal of the season from close range.
Sunderland's equaliser also came from a corner as the ball was sent directly to Alonso in acres of space on the edge of the area. The Spaniard's low drive was only parried by Schwarzer and Wickham reacted quicker than John Terry to score his third goal in a week.
Chelsea were denied a goal on the half hour when Nemanja Matic was adjudged to have fouled Jack Colback as he nodded the ball down for Terry to sweep home a volley.
Shortly afterwards, Sunderland were saved by the woodwork as Vito Mannone somehow managed to deflect Branislav Ivanovic's header from point-blank range onto the underside of the bar.
Sunderland were indebted to their goalkeeper three more times as he saved from Matic, Mohamed Salah and Willian.
And in a frantic end to the half, two penalty appeals were turned down by referee Dean as Alonso appeared to handle inside the box and Sebastian Larsson shoulder-barged Ramires off the ball in front of goal.
Clearly irked by what he saw as an unfair challenge, Ramires was lucky to escape punishment moments later as he elbowed Larsson in full view of Dean.
Chelsea picked up where they left off in the second half as a brisk counter-attack ended with Eto'o sweeping narrowly past the post.
Mourinho brought on Demba Ba for the final half hour, but even the in-form Senegalese striker could not find his range as he sliced horribly wide from Willian's cut-back.
As the half wore on, the Blues' efforts became increasingly desperate and disjointed as they were repeatedly unable to produce a finish to beat Mannone.
Chelsea's commitment to attack left them exposed on the break and they paid the ultimate price as Azpilicueta's slip let in Altidore down the right.
Azpilicueta slid in to try to challenge the American and was ruled to have brought him down.
Former Chelsea forward Borini, who is on loan from Liverpool, kept a cool head to slot the ball past Schwarzer to send the visiting Sunderland fans into raptures.
Substitute Andre Schurrle responded with a dipping shot from 30 yards which again saw Mannone produce heroics to tip over, before the Italian confidently gathered a Terry header to snuff out Chelsea's last hope.

SPORTS BREAKING NEWS!!!: Liverpool trio lead PFA nominations

Liverpool’s Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and Steven Gerrard lead the nominations for the Professional Footballers' Association's Player of the Year award.
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Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, Manchester City’s Yaya Toure and Southampton’s Adam Lallana complete the six-man shortlist, which was announced on Friday.
The winner of the award, as well as the PFA Young Player of the Year award -- for which Sturridge is also nominated, along with Anfield teammate Raheem Sterling -- will be announced at a ceremony in London on Sunday, April 27.
GettyImagesDaniel Sturridge, Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez have enjoyed outstanding seasons for Liverpool.
The Reds’ trio have led Liverpool’s unexpected charge for the title this season, with Suarez scoring 29 goals in as many Premier League games, Sturridge grabbing 20 in 26 and captain Gerrard scoring 10 and assisting a further 13 in 30 league games.
Gerrard’s form recently prompted Zinedine Zidane to say his services to Liverpool and football are deserving of a league title.
"He has had a great career winning many things -- but it would be a big shame for him if he was never to win the league with Liverpool," Zidane was quoted as saying. "For everything that he has given -- he deserves a league title.
"I don't think that is any secret that Real Madrid and Chelsea had big interest in him and that is just the teams the media knew about.
"He could have played for any team in Europe -- but he turned them down. That sort of loyalty should be rewarded with a title.”
#PFAawardsPFA Men's Young Player of the Year nominee: @hazardeden10 #CFC @chelseafc pic.twitter.com/9eqOMBFmXv— PFA (@PFA) April 18, 2014
Hazard has enjoyed his best season to date as a Chelsea player, helping them to challenge for the Premier League and make it into the semifinals of the Champions League, scoring 17 goals in the process.
His form led Jose Mourinho to label him the best young player in the world.
"I keep saying he has to improve," Mourinho said, following the 1-0FA Cup win against Manchester City in February. "He needs to have his feet on the ground. Ronaldo and Messi are Ronaldo and Messi. Eden Hazard is probably the best young player in the world with legs to go there, but give him time."
Toure has been the figurehead of City’s success as they have won the Capital One Cup and challenged for the title. The Ivory Coast international has scored 22 in 45 games in all competitions.
#PFAawardsPFA Men's Young Player of the Year nominee: @D_Sturridge #LFC @LFC pic.twitter.com/2FEjF0Si9S— PFA (@PFA) April 18, 2014
Meanwhile, Sturridge is also named on the shortlist for the Young Player of the Year alongside teammate Sterling. Hazard is another to receive a second nod.
Everton’s Ross Barkley, Southampton’s Luke Shaw and Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey are also nominated after outstanding seasons for their respective clubs.
Barkley, 20, and Shaw, 18, have forced their way into contention for a possible England call-up ahead of the World Cup, while Ramsey scored 15 goals prior to December for Arsenal before having his season cut short by injury.
Everton boss Roberto Martinez has been forced to react to speculationlinking Barkley with a move away from Goodison Park, such has been his form.
Southampton will decide on Shaw's future at the end of the seasonafter he reportedly attracted the attention of a number of clubs including Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City.
The winners will be announced at the PFA Awards ceremony in London on Sunday, April 27.