( CNN ) -- England captain John Terry shrugged off lurid allegations about his private life to score the winning goal as Chelsea claimed a vital 2-1 victory at Burnley to go four points clear in the Premier League . Terry unsuccessfully failed with a High Court injunction to prevent newspapers publishing the revelations about an alleged affair with the former girlfriend of ex-teammate Wayne Bridge . There were doubts that Terry would even play at Turf Moor , but with the clock counting down and the scores tied 1-1 , he came up for a corner and headed an 82nd minute winner . The win takes Chelsea four points clear of Manchester United , who play third-placed Arsenal in a vital match in the title race at the Emirates on Sunday . `` It was a very difficult game , '' Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti told ESPN before praising his captain . `` He 's a fantastic player . Every game , he plays very well . `` He 's an important player for us . All of Chelsea support him . '' Nicolas Anelka had given Chelsea a 27th-minute lead with his sixth goal in six games , but the relegation battlers equalized in the 50th minute as Steven Fletcher foxed defender Alex before shooting past Petr Cech . Earlier , the race for the fourth Champions League place tightened up as Tottenham were held 1-1 at Birmingham . Jermaie Defoe looked to have given Spurs three points until Liam Ridgewell 's injury-time equalizer . But their rivals for fourth , Liverpool and Aston Villa , both won to keep up the pressure . Liverpool beat Bolton 2-0 to stay a point adrift of Spurs in fifth while Villa , who have a game in hand , are two points behind after defeating Fulham by the same scoreline in a match where Gabriel Agbonlahor scored both goals . In the tight relegation battle , second from bottom Hull failed to climb out of the relegation zone after a 2-2 home draw with fellow strugglers Wolves . In-form Everton made it four league wins from five with a 1-0 victory away to Wigan while Blackburn Rovers and West Ham shared the points in a goalless draw at Upton Park .
John Terry scores winning goal for Chelsea in a 2-1 win at Burnley . Terry played despite headline-grabbing allegations about his private life in English newspapers . Chelsea go four points clear in the English Premier League with the victory . Tottenham stay fourth despite 1-1 draw at Birmingham as Liverpool and Aston Villa both win .