Chelsea beat West Bromwich Albion to stay top of the Premier League yesterday while champions Manchester City kept the leaders in their sights and Manchester United demonstrated they are not out of the title race yet.

Chelsea played some dazzling football to easily beat West Brom 2-0 at Stamford Bridge with goals from Diego Costa and Eden Hazard to stretch their unbeaten start to the season to 18 matches in all competitions.

Manchester City came from behind to defeat Swansea City 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium with Yaya Toure scoring the winner, while United, who have struggled since Louis van Gaal took over, won 2-1 at Arsenal to climb to fourth with their first away win under the Dutch coach.

Arsenal, who have not finished outside the top four since 1996, slipped to eighth on 17 points – their lowest tally after 12 matches for 32 years.

West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Ben Foster dives for the ball during a Chelsea attack led by Diego Costa (left) and Branislav Ivanovic at Stamford Bridge, yesterday.West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Ben Foster dives for the ball during a Chelsea attack led by Diego Costa (left) and Branislav Ivanovic at Stamford Bridge, yesterday.

Chelsea lead the table with 32 points from 12 games, followed by Southampton, who have 25 from 11 and play at Aston Villa tomorrow.

City have 24 points while United are on 19, ahead of Newcastle United on goal difference.

Newcastle, who are fifth, continued their rise up the table with a 1-0 win over bottom-placed Queens Park Rangers.

Although there are still 26 matches left, Chelsea reinforced their position as overwhelming title favourites by demolishing West Brom, who were already 2-0 down when they had defender Claudio Yacob red-carded for a two-footed lunge on Costa.

Across London in the evening kick-off, United did not sparkle like Chelsea but they eked out the result they craved at Arsenal, who lost at home in the league for the first time since the opening day of last season.

Arsenal had plenty of chances to win but wasted all of them and went behind in the 56th minute when Kieran Gibbs sent a deflected cross flying past his own goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny who later went off injured.

Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (right) battles for the ball with Wayne Rooney, of Manchester United, at the Emirates.Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (right) battles for the ball with Wayne Rooney, of Manchester United, at the Emirates.

Remarkable Rooney

Replacement keeper Emiliano Martinez could not stop Rooney completing a great week by making it 2-0 after a United counter-attack in the 85th minute.

Rooney won his 100th cap for England versus Slovenia last Saturday and on Tuesday against Scotland scored his 46th goal to move to third on England’s all-time scoring list.

Arsenal came back when Olivier Giroud, on as a substitute after a three-month injury absence with a broken leg, scored with a stunning 22-metre strike but United held on for the win.

Van Gaal told the BBC: “I think it is a fantastic victory at the right moment. We have a lot of injuries but despite that we won a difficult away match.

“At the end of the match, I can laugh but you can imagine if they score one of four or five chances in the first half then it is a different game.”

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger added: “It was one-way traffic and we lost the game, we have to take it on the chin. I know we’ll be criticised for it but you have to respect the energy levels we put in.”

West Ham United, who started the day in fourth place in the standings, ended it in sixth after losing 2-1 at Everton who made it seven matches without defeat in all competitions.

Leon Osman scored the winner on his 400th club appearance.

Results and standings

Premier League

Arsenal 1
Giroud 90;
Man. United 2
Gibbs 56og; Rooney 85;

HT: 0-0. Att: 60,074.

Chelsea 2
Costa 11; Hazard 25;
West Brom 0

HT: 2-0. Att: 41,600.
Red card: Yacob (WB) 29.

Everton 2
Lukaku 26; Osman 74;
West Ham 1
Zarate 56;

HT: 1-0. Att: 39,182.

Leicester 0
Sunderland 0

Att: 31,825.

Man. City 2
Jovetic 19; Toure 62;
Swansea 1
Bony 9;

HT: 1-1. Att: 45,448.

Newcastle 1
Sissoko 78;
QPR 0

HT: 0-0. Att: 51,915.

Stoke City 1
Walters 32;
Burnley 2
Ings 12, 13;

HT: 1-2. Att: 27,018.

  P W D L F A Pts
Chelsea 12 10 2 0 30 11 32
S’thampton 11 8 1 2 23 5 25
Man. City 12 7 3 2 24 13 24
Man. United 12 5 4 3 19 15 19
Newcastle 12 5 4 3 14 15 19
West Ham 12 5 3 4 20 16 18
Swansea 12 5 3 4 16 13 18
Arsenal 12 4 5 3 20 15 17
Everton 12 4 5 3 22 19 17
Stoke City 12 4 3 5 13 15 15
Liverpool 11 4 2 5 14 15 14
Tottenham 11 4 2 5 14 16 14
West Brom 12 3 4 5 13 17 13
Sunderland 12 2 7 3 12 19 13
Hull City 11 2 5 4 13 15 11
Aston Villa 11 3 2 6 5 16 11
Leicester  12 2 4 6 11 18 10
Burnley 12 2 4 6 8 20 10
C. Palace 11 2 3 6 14 20 9
QPR 12 2 2 8 11 23 8

Playing today
C. Palace vs Liverpool - 14.30
Hull City vs Tottenham - 17.00

Tomorrow
Aston Villa vs Southampton - 21.00

Next fixtures

Saturday: 13.45 West Brom vs Arsenal. 16.00 Burnley vs Aston Villa; Liverpool vs Stoke; Man. United vs Hull City; QPR vs Leicester; Swansea vs C. Palace; West Ham vs Newcastle. 18.30 Sunderland vs Chelsea.
Sunday: 14.30 Southampton vs Man. City. 17.00 Tottenham vs Everton.

Top scorers
12 goals: Aguero (Man. City).
11 goals: Costa (Chelsea).
8 goals: Sanchez (Arsenal).
7 goals: Berahino (West Brom).
6 goals: Pelle (Southampton), Sakho (West Ham), Austin (QPR), Chadli (Tottenham).
5 goals: Lukaku (Everton), Ulloa (Leicester), Bony (Swansea).

The Championship
Blackburn 2 - Leeds United 1
Blackpool 1 - Bolton1
Bournemouth 2 - Ipswich Town 2
Charlton 0 - Millwall 0
Huddersfield 0 - Sheff. Wed. 0
Norwich 3 - Brighton 3
Rotherham 0 - Birmingham 1
Watford 1 - Derby 2
Wigan 1 - M’boro 1
Wolves 0 - Nottm Forest 3

Standings: Derby 35; Bournemouth, M’boro 32; Ipswich, Brentford 31; Blackburn 30; Watford 29; Nottm Forest, Charlton 28; Norwich, Wolves 27; Cardiff 26; Sheffield Wed. 22; Huddersfield, Reading 21; Leeds United 20; Fulham, Millwall, Birmingham 19; Brighton, Bolton Wanderers, Rotherham 18; Wigan 17; Blackpool 8.

League One
Bradford 1 - Gillingham 1
Bristol City 0 - Preston NE 1
Chesterfield 2 - Barnsley 1
Colchester 0 - Coventry City 1
Crawley 2 - Scunthorpe 2
Fleetwood 0 - Walsall 1
Leyton Orient 4 - Crewe 1
MK Dons 1 - Port Vale 0
Notts County 1 - Yeovil 2
Peterborough 1 - Swindon 2
Rochdale 1 - Doncaster 3
Sheffield Utd 1 - Oldham 1

Standings: Bristol City 36; Swindon 35; Preston 34; MK Dons, Sheffield Utd 30; N. County 29; Peterboro, Oldham 27; Rochdale 26; Fleetwood 25; Chesterfield 24; Bradford 23; Barnsley, Walsall, Port Vale 22; Doncaster, Crawley 21; Coventry 20; L. Orient 19; Gillingham 18; Colchester, Yeovil 17; Scunthorpe 16; Crewe 15.

League Two
Accrington 2 - Cambridge 1
Burton 1 - Luton Town 0
Bury 1 - Newport 3
Cheltenham 1 - Wycombe4
Dagenham 4 - Carlisle 2
Exeter 3 - Shrewsbury 2
Hartlepool 1 - York 3
Mansfield 1 - Plymouth 0
Northampton 1 - Stevenage 0
Oxford 0 - Wimbledon 0
Portsmouth 3 - Morecambe 0
Tranmere 1 - Southend 2

Standings: Wycombe, Burton 35; Luton 34; Shrewsbury 33; Southend 31; Plymouth, Bury 30; Newport 28; Exeter 27; Portsmouth, Morecambe, Accrington 26; Cambridge, Northampton, Stevenage, Wimbledon 24; Mansfield, Cheltenham 22; Oxford 20; York, Dagenham, Carlisle 18; Tranmere, Hartlepool 12.

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