Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Manchester United yesterday opened up a 10-point lead and sent the engravers off to sharpen their tools as the Londoners’ name looks set to be carved on the Premier League trophy.

Chelsea’s performances have been far from dazzling in recent weeks but Eden Hazard’s first-half strike at Stamford Bridge was enough to ease fan fears of any end-of-season jitters and ensure they will be champions if they win their next two matches.

Jose Mourinho’s side have 76 points from 32 matches, 10 more than second-placed Arsenal, who beat Reading 2-1 in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.

United, whose run of six straight league wins came to an end despite dominating the play against a defensive Chelsea, remain third on 65 points but rivals Manchester City could move a point behind them if they beat West Ham today.

“We are focused on us, we have six matches to play,” Mourinho told Sky Sports. “The game was exactly the game we want.

“The only thing we couldn’t do was to kill the game with a second goal. We were able to make their important players disappear. Nobody saw them. They were in our pockets.”

Elsewhere, Leicester City claimed a third successive Premier League victory and moved off the bottom thanks to a 2-0 home win against Swansea City.

Burnley are the new basement side after a 1-0 defeat at Everton, while Stoke City beat Southampton 2-1 and West Bromwich Albion triumphed 2-0 over Crystal Palace.

United made a confident start despite missing a number of defensive players because of injury and being forced to play Wayne Rooney in midfield.

However, their hard work was undone when Hazard collected Oscar’s neat backheel and cut in from the left to score after 38 minutes.

Chelsea, who last won the league in 2010, were looking to exploit United on the counter attack and Hazard flicked a shot onto the crossbar at the start of the second half after Didier Drogba’s initial shot deflected off defender Chris Smalling.

Radamel Falcao hit a left-footed drive against the outside of the post as United pressed for an equaliser but Chelsea held on to ensure victories in their next two matches against Arsenal and Leicester, a game in hand, will give them the title.

Leicester’s survival hopes have looked bleak for most of the season and they have been bottom since November but they faced Swansea full of confidence after back-to-back league victories.

Leonardo Ulloa’s first-half goal set Leicester on their way before Andy King added a second late on to move Nigel Pearson’s side up to 18th, level on 28 points from 32 matches with Hull City, who are outside the drop zone only on goal difference.

Basement Burnley

Struggling 10-man Burnley had no such luck in their bid for survival as they sunk to the bottom of the pile on 26 points from 33 games after a 1-0 defeat at 12th-placed Everton.

Everton’s Ross Barkley missed an early penalty but Kevin Mirallas made amends before Burnley’s Ashley Barnes was sent off for a second bookable offence at the end of the first half.

Queens Park Rangers, who like Hull do not play this weekend because of the FA Cup semi-finals, are second-bottom and level on points and number of games with Burnley.

Stoke City claimed their first victory in five matches and moved up to ninth after coming from behind to beat sixth-placed Southampton 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium, hurting the visitors’ hopes of Champions League football.

Tony Pulis’s return to Crystal Palace as West Bromwich Albion manager was a happy one as his side won 2-0 and ended a run of three straight defeats.

Goals from James Morrison and Craig Gardner at Selhurst Park look to have guaranteed West Brom’s Premier League status as they are 13th with 36 points. Palace remain 11th with 42 points from 33 matches.

Results and standings

FA Cup semi-finals

Arsenal 2
Sanchez 39, 105;
Reading 1
McCleary 54;

HT: 1-0. Att: 84,081.

(after extra-time)

Playing today (Wembley)
Aston Villa-Liverpool - 16.00

Premier League

Chelsea 1
Hazard 38;
Man. United 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 41,422.

C. Palace 0
West Brom 2
Morrison 2; Gardner 53;

HT: 0-1. Att: 24,765.

Everton 1
Mirallas 29;
Burnley 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 39,496.
Red card: Barnes (B) 45.
Missed penalty: Barkley (E) 11.

Leicester 2
Ulloa 15; King 89;
Swansea 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 31,121.

Stoke City 2
Diouf 47; Adam 84;
Southampton 1
Schneiderlin 22;

HT: 0-1. Att: 26,467.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Chelsea	32	23	7	2	65	26	76
Arsenal	32	20	6	6	63	32	66
Man. United	33	19	8	6	59	31	65
Man. City	32	18	7	7	65	34	61
Liverpool	32	17	6	9	47	36	57
S’thampton	33	17	5	11	45	24	56
Tottenham	32	16	6	10	50	46	54
Swansea	33	13	8	12	38	42	47
Stoke City	33	13	7	13	38	41	46
West Ham	32	11	10	11	42	40	43
C. Palace	33	11	9	13	42	45	42
Everton	33	10	11	12	41	43	41
West Brom	33	9	9	15	32	46	36
Newcastle	32	9	8	15	33	51	35
Aston Villa	33	8	8	17	24	45	32
Sunderland	32	5	14	13	25	48	29
Hull City	32	6	10	16	29	45	28
Leicester	32	7	7	18	34	51	28
QPR	33	7	5	21	38	59	26
Burnley	33	5	11	17	26	51	26

Playing today
Man. City vs West Ham - 14:30
Newcastle vs Tottenham - 17:00

Top scorers
19 goals: Kane (Tottenham), Costa (Chelsea), Aguero (Man. City).
17 goals: Austin (QPR).
14 goals: Giroud (Arsenal), Sanchez (Arsenal).

Next fixtures

Saturday: 13.45 Southampton vs Tottenham Hotspur. 16.00 Burnley vs Leicester; Crystal Palace vs Hull City; Newcastle vs Swansea; QPR vs West Ham United; Stoke City vs Sunderland; West Brom vs Liverpool. 18.30 Manchester City vs Aston Villa.

Sunday: 14.30 Everton vs Man. United. 17.00 Arsenal vs Chelsea.

• Watford climbed to the top of the Championship after injury-time heartbreak for Bournemouth. The 10-man Cherries were on course to return to the summit after goals from Yann Kermorgant and Matt Ritchie put them 2-1 up against Sheffield Wed., despite Simon Francis’ dismissal. But the visitors were awarded a spot-kick five minutes into stoppage time and Chris Maguire converted to snatch a 2-2 draw. That meant Watford leapfrogged M’Boro and the Cherries to climb into top spot thanks to a Craig Cathcart goal earned them a 1-0 win over Birmingham.

The Championship
Blackburn 3 - Nottm Forest 3
Blackpool 0 - Fulham 1
Bournemouth 2 - Sheffield Wed. 2
Brentford 2 - Bolton 2
Cardiff 0 - Millwall 0
Charlton 2 - Leeds 1
Huddersfield 4 - Derby 4
Watford 1 - Birmingham 0
Wigan 2 - Brighton 1
Wolves 1 - Ipswich 1

Standings: Watford 85; Bourne-mouth, M’Boro 84; Norwich 82; Derby 76; Ipswich 75; Brentford, Wolves 72; Blackburn, Charlton 50; Nottm Forest, Sheffield Wed. 59; Cardiff 56; Birmingham 54; Hudde­rsfield 53; Leeds 52; Bolton 51; Fulham 49; Reading 47; Brighton 46; Rotherham 44; Millwall 40; Wigan 39; Blackpool 25.

League One
Barnsley 1 - Peterborough 1
Bristol City 0 - Coventry City 0
Colchester 2 - Scunthorpe 2
Crawley 2 - Notts County 0
Crewe 1 - Walsall 1
Doncaster 0 - Fleetwood 0
Gillingham 1 - Rochdale 0
MK Dons 6 - Leyton Orient 1
Oldham 0 - Chesterfield 0
Sheffield Utd 1 - Bradford 1
Swindon 0 - Yeovil 1

Standings: Bristol City 93; Preston NE 83; MK Dons 82; Swindon Town 76; Sheffield United 69; Chesterfield 68; Rochdale, Fleetwood Town 60; Gillingham, Barnsley, Peterborough 59; Bradford City, Doncaster Rovers 58; Oldham Athletic 56; Walsall 55; Coventry City, Scunthorpe 52; Port Vale 51; Crawley Town 50; Crewe Alexandra 49; Leyton Orient, Notts County 47; Colchester United 45; Yeovil Town 40.

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

Standings: Burton 88; Shrewsbury 86; Wycombe Wanderers 81; Bury 79; Southend 78; Stevenage 69; Plymouth, Luton 65; Newport 62; Northampton, Exeter 61; Morecambe, Wimbledon 57; Dagenham 56; Oxford 55; Portsmouth, Accrington 53; Cambridge, York 51; Carlisle 49; Mansfield 48; Hartlepool 41; Cheltenham 40; Tranmere 39.