Chelsea recorded a 2-0 win over Hull at Stamford Bridge, while Man City were 1-0 winners at Leicester in Saturday's Premier League actio...
Chelsea recorded a 2-0 win over Hull at Stamford Bridge, while Man City were 1-0 winners at Leicester in Saturday's Premier League action.
The Blues, who lost their unbeaten record at Newcastle last weekend, made a flying start when Eden Hazard put them in front in the seventh minute with a downward header from Oscar's cross.
Hull were reduced to 10 men on the hour when Tom Huddlestone was red carded for a high tackle on Filipe Luis and Chelsea took advantage of their extra man eight minutes later when Diego Costa struck.
The Spain international ended his four-match goalscoring drought after being teed up by Hazard following a well-worked move with Branislav Ivanovic.
The win keeps Chelsea three points clear of Manchester City after the champions battled to a 1-0 victory over struggling Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.
Manchester City remain three points behind leaders Chelsea after Frank Lampard’s 175th Premier League goal earned them a hard-fought 1-0 win at bottom side Leicester.
While City will be delighted with three more vital points, the injuries are mounting up for Manuel Pellegrini’s men; both Edin Dzeko and Vincent Kompany picked up knocks.
There was a blow for City before the match had even started as Dzeko picked up an injury during the warm-up and had to be replaced in the line-up by Jose Pozo.
Two goals each from Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla sent Arsenal to a convincing 4-1 victory over Newcastle.
Giroud opened the scoring with a classic centre-forwards goal on 15 minutes, burying an Alexis Sanchez cross.
Danny Welbeck had a goal disallowed before Cazorla doubled Arsenal’s lead with a cheeky finish on 54 minutes.
Two was soon three as Giroud cleverly flicked another right-wing cross - this time from Héctor BellerÃn - into the net.
Ayoze Pérez pulled one back for Newcastle on 63 minutes but Cazorla grabbed his second from the penalty spot after Welbeck was fouled by Paul Dummett.
Southampton's challenge continues to falter, the Saints suffering their fourth successive defeat as they went down 1-0 at Burnley.
Dusan Tadic wasted a golden chance to put them ahead in the second half when his penalty was saved by Clarets goalkeeper Tom Heaton.
And Heaton's heroics were rewarded in the 73rd minute when Ashley Barnes netted with a deflected shot after Nathaniel Clyne's clearance was charged down.
West Ham remain in fourth place after claiming a point from a 1-1 draw with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
The Black Cats took the lead through a controversial Jordi Gomez penalty in the 22nd minute following a foul by James Tomkins on Adam Johnson.
The Hammers levelled seven minutes later when Stewart Downing cut in from the right and netted with a low left-foot shot.
Crystal Palace and Stoke City also drew 1-1 at Selhurst Park after two quickfire goals in the first half.
Palace went ahead in the 11th minute through James McArthur's looping header from Yannick Bolasie's cross but Peter Crouch equalised just two minutes later with a close-range effort.
West Brom ended their five-match winless run as they beat Aston Villa 1-0 to secure only their second victory at The Hawthorns this season.
Villa faced an uphill task after Kieran Richardson was sent off in the 22nd minute for a two-footed lunge on Stephane Sessegnon.
Their resistance was finally broken in the 72nd minute when Craig Gardner scored his first goal for the club, drilling the ball home after Sessegnon's shot was blocked.
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