New Delhi: Antonio Conte's Chelsea produced a stunning display of pressing game in an ill-tampered Premier League game against Manchester City to take all three points even as fellow title contenders Arsenal found their missing mojo against West Ham on Saturday.
The gameweek 14 of 2016-17 season started with an early kick-off at Etihad Stadium with City hosting a confident Chelsea. After enjoying majority of the possession, a Gary Cahill own-goal helped Pep Guardiola's side take lead just before the break.
But the visitors responded in style, scoring two quick goals at the hour-mark by an ever impressive Diego Costa, and ten minutes later by Willian. Belgian play-maker Eden Hazard killed the game with a stoppage time goal with packed home crowd booed the match referee.
It was Chelsea's eight straight win.
The game, however, ended with a pitch brawl involving City striker Sergio Aguero. The Argentine committed a wild lunge to Chelsea defender David Luiz resulting in a send-off. In the ensuing melee, Aguero's team-mate Fernandinho also got send-off for grabbing Cesc Fabregas.
Both the players no face multiple games suspension. But the home side will feel somewhat undone by poor decision making from referee Anthony Taylor, who missed a nasty foul on Aguero by Luiz earlier in the game. It was only one of the many glaring misjudgments from the referee.
The win helped the Blues, with 34 points, extend their lead at the top of the league table by three points from Arsenal, while City have slipped to fourth with a deficit of four points.
In London, Arsene Wenger's Gunners revived their title chances by thrashing Hammers 5-1 with Alexis Sanchez proving his worth with a timely hat-trick.
In a high-paced game at Olympic Stadium, Mesut Ozil opened the scoring in the 24th minute from a Sanchez assist to give visitors the lead after a nervy start.
With a goal lead, Arsenal started playing free flowing football then came Sanchez double strike in a space of eight minutes. The Chilean first scored in the 72nd minutes off a Shkodran Mustafi assist, which was followed with a brilliant solo effort.
Andy Carroll scored after three minutes to make it 1-3 for the home side, but from the restart, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored within a minute to put the game away from the Hammers.
Sanchez completed his hat-trick in the 86th minute.
Slaven Bilic's side have now suffered eight defeats in 14 outings, and are staring at elimination bracket with 12 points at 17th.
In day's other fixtures, Tottenham Hotspurs blanked Swansea City 5-0 at the White Hart Lane to end their losing run. Spurs now occupy fifth spot with 27 points, while the Swans remained at the bottom with nine points.
Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen hit a brace each with Son Heung-Min scoring the other goal in the romp.
But it was a dreadful outing for defending champions Leicester as they suffered a 1-2 defeat at Sunderland with Robert Huth's own-goal proving the difference between the two struggling sides.
For the home side, veteran Jermain Defoe scored the all-important second goal, even as Shinji Okazaki scored a late goal for Claudio Ranieri's side to give the scoreboard a dignified look. For a change, Black Cats manager David Moyes celebrated the win, their third of the season, despite the team still in the relegation bracket with 11 points, at 18th.
The Foxes have 13 points, and are now placed 15th.
At Bet365 Stadium, Stoke City ride of two first-half goals from Jonathan Walters and Marc Muniesa to beat Burnley 2-0 and register back-to-back wins. With 19 points, they are now ninth in the table, while Burnley dropped to 14th.
West Brom continued their own revival with a hard-fought 3-1 win over ten-man Watford 3-1 at The Hawthorns. The win helped them keep pace with mid-table teams and are now sixth with 20 points.
For Watford, it was their second successive defeat. With 18 points, they sit at 10th place.
Meanwhile, Crystal Palace registered their first win in eight games with a 3-0 victory over visiting Southampton at Selhurst Park.
Christian Benteke scored a double, while James Tomkins hit his third of the season to help Andrew Pardew finally avoid criticism, at least for now.
Three points at home helped Palace to 13th place with 14 points, while the Saints dropped to 11 with 17 points.
Today, Jurgen klopp's Liverpool will travel to 12th place Bournemouth knowing well enough that all three points will help them leapfrog Arsenal to second place.
The early kick will be followed by a fixture at Merseyside where Everton welcome Jose Mourinho's Manchester United.
They are separated by a single point with Everton determined to stop their three-match unbeaten run. Koeman Ronald's side are eighth in the table, with 19 points.
In the last game of the week, Middlesbrough host Hull City at Riverside Stadium early Tuesday morning.
Today's fixtures:
Bournemouth vs Liverpool, kick off 7PM IST
Everton vs Manchester United, kick off 9:30 PM IST
