Chelsea beat Newcastle United 2-0 for a 10th successive Premier Lea-gue home win at their Stamford Bridge stronghold yesterday to reassert themselves as Premier League leaders while champions Manchester City drew at Everton.
Chelsea’s Diego Costa tries an overhead kick watched by Daryl Janmaat, of Newcastle.Jose Mourinho’s team had relinquished control in the title race in recent weeks with City roaring back to close an eight-point deficit but goals from Oscar and Diego Costa edged them two points clear.
City, who had collected 25 points from the last 27 on offer, took the lead late on at Goodison Park through Fernandinho but Steven Naismith grabbed a point for the hosts to leave City manager Manuel Pellegrini frustrated.
“It’s so important in first 25 minutes because if you score then it is a different game. We didn’t and Everton grew in the second half and it was a very close game in the last 35 minutes,” he told Sky Sports.
“We had a lot of chances but maybe we were missing the last pass.”
Chelsea, who were second best during the first half before Oscar’s well-worked opener, have 49 points from 21 games with City on 47. A clash between the two title favourites looms later this month.
Eighth-placed Liverpool edged nearer the top four with a 1-0 victory at Sunderland, Lazar Markovic’s first Premier League goal deciding the contest at a blustery Stadium of Light.
They are now four points behind fourth-placed Southampton (36) who play third-placed Manchester United (37) today.
“It was an outstanding team performance today. We had great control of the game but I suppose the only disappointment is we did not have more goals,” manager Brendan Rodgers, who was without the rested Raheem Sterling, told BT Sport.
Queens Park Rangers fell into the relegation zone after a 2-1 loss at Burnley, in the process becoming the first Premier League side to lose their first 10 away games of the season.
Everton’s Romelu Lukaku (centre) watches as his shot is saved by Man. City goalkeeper Joe Hart.Danny Ings scored Burnley’s winner.
Both sides ended with 10 men at Leicester City where the hosts stayed bottom despite beating Aston Villa 1-0 while West Bromwich Albion’s new manager Tony Pulis enjoyed a winning league start with the 1-0 defeat of Hull City.
Former England defender Paul Konchesky scored for Leicester in first-half stoppage time to earn the Foxes their first home league win since beating Manchester United in September.
Villa’s Ciaran Clark and Leicester’s Matty James both received red cards for a late spat.
Chelsea were far from convincing against a Newcastle side who beat them in December to end their unbeaten start and could have fallen behind when Moussa Sissoko hit the post.
Remy Cabella was also denied by keeper Petr Cech, restored to the starting line-up because of an injury to Thibaut Courtois.
However, once a quickly-taken free-kick allowed Oscar to pounce, Chelsea took command with Costa’s clinching goal the end product of a flowing move and a dazzling flick by Oscar.
Mourinho, who has found himself in trouble with the FA after some of his recent comments about a so-called “anti-Chelsea” conspiracy, declined to talk to reporters after the match, sending assistant Steve Holland out instead.
“It is important that when you don’t play as well as you’d like to still get the result,” he said.
Palace beat Spurs
Alan Pardew enjoyed a winning start to his reign as Crystal Palace boss as his side came from behind to beat Tottenham 2-1 at Selhurst Park in the late kick-off.
Following a goalless first half, Harry Kane’s 17th goal of the season four minutes after the break gave the visitors the advantage.
But Palace then poured forward in search of an equaliser, with Dwight Gayle making the breakthrough in the 69th minute before Jason Puncheon scored his first goal for more than four months to seal a memorable day for Pardew.
Results and standings
Premier League
Burnley 2
Arfield 12; Ings 37;
QPR 1
Austin 33 pen;
HT: 2-1. Att: 17,523.
Chelsea 2
Oscar 43; Costa 59;
Newcastle 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 41,612.
C. Palace 2
Gayle 69 pen; Puncheon 80;
Tottenham 1
Kane 49;
HT: 0-0. Att: 24,193.
Everton 1
Naismith 78;
Man. City 1
Fernandinho 74;
HT: 0-0. Att: 39,499.
Leicester City 1
Konchesky 45;
Aston Villa 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 31,728;
Red cards: James (L); Clark (AV) 90.
Sunderland 0
Liverpool 1
Markovic 8;
HT: 0-1. Att: 45,369.
Red card: Bridcutt (S) 49.
Swansea City 1
Noble 74og;
West Ham 1
Carroll 43;
HT: 0-1. Att: 20,745.
West Brom 1
Berahino 77;
Hull City 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 24,818.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Chelsea | 21 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 46 | 19 | 49 |
| Man. City | 21 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 45 | 20 | 47 |
| Man. United | 20 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 34 | 20 | 37 |
| S’thampton | 20 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 34 | 15 | 36 |
| Tottenham | 21 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 30 | 29 | 34 |
| Arsenal | 20 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 34 | 25 | 33 |
| West Ham | 21 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 32 | 25 | 33 |
| Liverpool | 21 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 29 | 27 | 32 |
| Swansea | 21 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 26 | 25 | 30 |
| Newcastle | 21 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 25 | 33 | 27 |
| Stoke City | 20 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 22 | 24 | 26 |
| Everton | 21 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 30 | 34 | 22 |
| Aston Villa | 21 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 23 | 22 |
| West Brom | 21 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 29 | 21 |
| C. Palace | 21 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 22 | 31 | 20 |
| Sunderland | 21 | 3 | 11 | 7 | 18 | 31 | 20 |
| Burnley | 21 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 19 | 33 | 20 |
| Hull City | 21 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 20 | 27 | 19 |
| QPR | 21 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 23 | 37 | 19 |
| Leicester | 21 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 20 | 33 | 17 |
Playing today
Arsenal vs Stoke City - 14:30
Man. Utd vs Southampton - 17:00
Next fixtures
Saturday: 16.00 Aston Villa vs Liverpool; Burnley vs C. Palace; Leicester vs Stoke; QPR vs Man. Utd; Swansea vs Chelsea; Tottenham vs Sunderland. 18.30 Newcastle vs Southampton.
Sunday: 14.30 West Ham vs Hull; 17.00 Man. City vs Arsenal.
Monday: 21.00 Everton vs WBA.
Top scorers
15 goals: Costa (Chelsea)
14 goals: Aguero (Man. City)
13 goals: Austin (QPR)
10 goals: Sanchez (Arsenal)
9 goals: Cisse (Newcastle), Bony (Swansea), Berahino (West Brom).
The Championship
Birmingham 3 - Wigan 1
Blackpool 1 - Millwall 0
Bolton 1 - Leeds United 1
Bournemouth 1 - Norwich City 2
Brentford 1 - Rotherham 0
Cardiff City 1 - Fulham0
Charlton 0 - Brighton1
Huddersfield 3 - Watford 1
Ipswich Town 0 - Derby County 1
Nottm Forest 0 - Sheffield Wed. 2
Reading 0 - M’Boro 0
Playing today:
Blackburn vs Wolves - 15:00
Standings: Bournemouth, Derby County 48; Ipswich Town 47; M’boro 44; Brentford 43; Watford 41; Norwich 40; Sheff. Wednesday, Wolves 37; Blackburn Rovers 35; Cardiff, Birmingham 34; N. Forest, Charlton, Huddersfield 31; Bolton, Reading 30; Fulham 28; Brighton, Rotherham 26; Leeds United 25; Millwall 23; Wigan 20; Blackpool 17.
League One
Barnsley 2 - Yeovil Town 0
Bradford City 1 - Rochdale 2
Bristol City 4 - Notts County 0
Chesterfield 3 - Port Vale 0
Crawley 2 - MK Dons 2
Crewe 3 - Gillingham 1
Leyton Orient 0 - Fleetwood 1
Oldham 2 - Doncaster 2
Peterborough 0 - Colchester 2
Sheffield Utd 2 - Preston NE 1
Walsall 1 - Scunthorpe 4
Tomorrow:
Coventry vs Swindon - 20:45
Standings: Bristol City 51; Swindon 48; MK Dons, Preston 45; Bradford, Sheffield Utd 36; Chesterfield 35; Rochdale, Fleetwood 34; Port Vale 32; Peterborough, N. County, Oldham, Doncaster 31; Walsall 30; Barnsley, Scunthorpe, Coventry City 29; Crewe 26; Leyton Orient, Gillingham 25; Colchester, Crawley 24; Yeovil Town 20.
League Two
Burton 2 - Mansfield 1
Carlisle 0 - Cambridge 1
Dagenham 0 - Oxford 0
Exeter City 0 - Northampton 2
Hartlepool 2 - Cheltenham 0
Morecambe 0 - Tranmere 0
Newport 1 - Portsmouth 0
Southend 0 - Plymouth 0
Stevenage 2 - Wimbledon 1
Wycombe 1 - York City 0
Standings: Wycombe 50; Burton 49; Newport County 46; Shrewsbury 45; Luton Town 43; Southend 41; Plymouth Argyle 39; Stevenage 38; Bury, Exeter 37; Morecambe 35; Wimbledon, Accrington Stanley 33; Cambridge United 32; Oxford 29; Northampton, Portsmouth, Cheltenham 28; York City, Mansfield 27; Dagenham 26; Carlisle 24; Tranmere 23; Hartlepool 17.