A close-range poke from the Ivory Coast striker earned a 2-1 London derby triumph and took Chelsea within three points of leaders Manchester United ahead of an Old Trafford showdown this Sunday.
Nigerian Peter Odemwingie, Congolese Youssouf Mulumbu and Senegalese Demba Ba were other Premiership scorers while a brace from Papiss Cisse of Senegal raised his Bundesliga goal haul to 22 this season.
ENGLAND
SALOMON KALOU (Chelsea)
The Ivory Coast forward fired Chelsea back into the title race as his late goal secured a vital 2-1 win over Tottenham. Kalou pounced on Didier Drogba's miscued shot and poked home from close-range in the 89th minute.
PETER ODEMWINGIE (West Brom)
The Nigerian striker sparked 10-man Albion's come-from-behind 2-1 win against Aston Villa at the Hawthorns. Odemwingie hooked in the equaliser in the 60th minute and even though Albion had Paul Scharner sent off they went on to beat their local rivals for the first time in 26 years. Odemwingie now has 14 goals this season and five in his last six matches.
YOUSSOUF MULUMBU (West Brom)
The Democratic Republic of Congo midfielder gave Albion their first win over Aston Villa for 26 years as his late winner secured a 2-1 victory. Mulumbu ran on to Simon Cox's pass and hit a low shot that beat Brad Friedel in the 84th minute for his sixth goal of season.
ABDOULAYE MEITE (West Brom)
The Ivory Coast defender scored an own goal against Aston Villa but Albion recovered to beat their local rivals. Meite deflected the ball into his net in the fourth minute as he tried to deal with a Stewart Downing cross.
DEMBA BA (West Ham)
The Senegal striker scored his fifth goal for West Ham but it wasn't enough to stop his side crashing to a 2-1 defeat at Manchester City. Ba fired home Thomas Hitzlsperger's cross in the 33rd minute, but Avram Grant's side remain bottom of the table and three points from safety with three games to play.
BENJANI MWARUWARI (Blackburn)
The Zimbabwe striker has now gone eight games without a goal but he won't be too concerned about that after helping Rovers to a crucial 1-0 win over Bolton at Ewood Park. Benjani, who last scored against Liverpool in January, gave an energetic display but was subbed after 65 minutes.
FRANCE
GERVINHO (Lille)
The Ivory Coast international claimed a first-half brace in a 5-0 victory at home to relegated Arles-Avignon that saw Lille return to the top of the table at the expense of Marseille. The former Le Mans forward tapped home a low cross from Mathieu Debuchy in the sixth minute before skipping around Arles goalkeeper Cyrille Merville and tapping home his second just before half-time. They were the 23-year-old's 13th and 14th league goals of the campaign.
ANDRE AYEW (Marseille)
Having claimed a hat-trick against Nice in mid-week, Ghana star Ayew set up Marseille's opening goal at home to Auxerre with a deflected left-wing cross that Mathieu Valbuena coolly converted at the back post. A 77th-minute equaliser from Jung Jo-Gook denied Marseille victory, however. Ayew thrashed a half-volley agonisingly wide of the right-hand post in injury time, as the defending champions pressed in vain for a goal that would have kept them at the league summit.
YOUSSEF EL ARABI (Caen)
El Arabi rounded off a vital win for his side with the final goal in Caen's 4-0 victory at Nice. The Moroccan international thumped a left-foot drive into the roof of the net in the first minute of injury time to register his 17th strike of the season and help his side haul themselves out of the relegation places.
GERMANY
PAPISS CISSE (Freiburg)
The Senegal striker scored twice to claim his 21st and 22nd goals of the season in a 2-0 win over Hamburg. The 25-year-old remains second only to top-scorer Mario Gomez of Bayern Munich, who has netted 24 times this season, in the German league and has a contract until 2014. "I want to finish in first place in the scoring charts," said Cisse with two games left this season.
MOHAMED ZIDAN (Borussia Dortmund)
The striker is Egypt's first German league champion after being part of the Dortmund team which won the Bundesliga title on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Nuremberg. A knee injury has limited him to seven league apppearances, all off the bench, this season and he has announced he will play for Egyptian side Al-Ahly once his contract expires in 2012.
ITALY
SAMUEL ETO'O (Inter Milan)
The Cameroon captain was far from his best for an hour in what was a hugely disappointing performance by the reigning champions away to Cesena. But coach Leonardo then switched his top scorer to the left and Eto'o started to have more of an impact. It was his pin-point cross in injury time that Giampaolo Pazzini poked home to equalise and begin the dramatic comeback. Pazzini scored again five minutes into injury time to ensure AC Milan will have to wait another week to celebrate the title.
MCDONALD MARIGA (Inter Milan)
The Kenya midfielder brought freshness and energy to the Inter midfield when he came on midway through the second period, which was what the listless champions needed. He even got forward to worry opposition goalkeeper Francesco Antonioli with a daisy cutter.
HASAN YEBDA (Napoli)
The Algeria midfielder lost his place in the Napoli starting line-up for the 1-0 defeat of Genoa but it is a measure of his importance to the team that coach Walter Mazzarri turned to him in the second half when he needed to find a winner. Yebda got forward well and even had a chance with his head but otherwise it was his usual industry and commitment that he brought to the team.
KEVIN-PRINCE BOATENG (AC Milan)
The Ghana midfielder gave a typical performance of power and drive from his regular offensive midfield position as Milan beat Bologna 1-0. His forward thrusts were all the more important given Milan's lack of an out-and-out striker as Antonio Cassano partnered Robinho up front. Boateng had one great chance in the first half as he burst into the box but he got underneath Clarence Seedorf's cross from the right and headed well over from six yards.
KWADWO ASAMOAH (Udinese)
The Ghana defensive midfielder enjoyed a rare moment in the limelight as he claimed his side's second goal with a low shot from distance. But it was in his regular role of spoiling and breaking up opponents' attacks that he did not excel so much as Udinese suffered a 5-2 thrashing at Fiorentina.
SPAIN
IKECHUWKU UCHE (Real Zaragoza)
The Nigerian striker led the line as strugglers Zaragoza recorded a memorable 3-2 win at Real Madrid. The 27-year-old Uche set up the opening goal for Angel Lafita on 41 minutes and played the entire match as Zaragoza held on for an historic win in Madrid.
KOFFI ROMARIC (Sevilla)
Ivory Coast midfielder Romaric made his first league start since mid-January as Sevilla won 1-0 at bottom side Almeria. He had been used largely as a substitute of late, but started in Almeria and played the whole 90 minutes as his side climbed to fifth place.
SEYDOU KEITA (Barcelona)
Mali midfielder Keita kept his place in the Barcelona starting line-up after impressing in the midweek Champions League semi-final first leg win over Real Madrid, but could not prevent the champions from crashing to a 2-1 defeat at Real Sociedad. Keita, 31, played the entire game as Barcelona saw their 32-match unbeaten league run come to an end with a surprise loss to promoted Sociedad.
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