Chelsea surged seven points clear at the top of the Premier League after a 4-0 demolition of London rivals Tottenham yesterday.

A trademark poacher’s goal from Samuel Eto’o, a penalty from Chelsea top scorer Eden Hazard and two strikes in the last three minutes by Demba Ba did the damage as Tottenham, reduced to 10 men for most of the second half, imploded.

Chelsea’s main title rivals, Arsenal and Manchester City, were in Cup action this weekend and have games in hand over Jose Mourinho’s side.

But champions Manchester United rediscovered a touch of their old swagger, easing past struggling West Bromwich Albion 3-0 to record back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time since December.

Phil Jones headed home a Robin van Persie free-kick in the first half, Wayne Rooney finished a sweeping passing move with a header after the break and Danny Welbeck added a third to inflict further misery on a woeful West Brom side.

Fifth-placed Spurs played the last half-hour with 10 men after French defender Younes Kaboul was sent off for bringing Eto’o down in the penalty area and they made costly defensive mistakes.

The Cameroon striker, a late addition to the starting line-up after Fernando Torres limped off in the warm-up, put Chelsea ahead in the 56th minute.

Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen slipped and attempted to clear the ball from the ground but only pushed it into Eto’o’s path.

Three minutes later Hazard converted a penalty after Kaboul tripped Eto’o in the area. Referee Michael Oliver sent the French defender off.

Chelsea’s Senegalese substitute Ba put away an Oscar pass for his first goal and latched on to a reckless headed backpass from Kyle Walker for the second.

West Brom stayed one place above the relegation zone but level on points with Cardiff City who beat bottom club Fulham 3-1 with two goals from Steven Caulker.

Hovering above them are Crystal Palace, who missed the opportunity to pull five points clear of trouble after a 1-0 defeat by Southampton.

United moved up to sixth in the table on 48 points, bringing rare cheer to manager David Moyes.

“It was more like it,” the United boss told the BBC.

“We were more creative and played well. It’s never the easiest of places to come and we had lost to them earlier in the season so it was good to get a good result.”

For most of the first half, Jones and Chris Smalling looked unconvincing at the back as United struggled to find any rhythm or tempo, but at the other end of the pitch Jones made a decisive contribution when heading home a Van Persie set-piece on 34 minutes.

The more the hosts pushed forward, however, the more they looked vulnerable and Rooney sealed the points in the 65th minute, heading in a cross from Rafael.

United’s forwards began to strut their stuff and Welbeck finished off an intricate passing move with an angled shot to complete the scoring.

Results and standings

Premier League

Cardiff 3
Caulker 45, 67; Riether 71 og;
Fulham 1
Holtby 59;

HT: 1-0. Att: 26,796.

Chelsea 4
Eto’o 56; Hazard 60p; Ba 88, 89;
Tottenham 0

HT: 0-0. Att: 41,598.
Red card: Kaboul (T) 59.

C. Palace 0
Southampton 1
Rodriguez 37;

HT: 0-1. Att: 25,073.

Norwich 1
Johnson 56;
Stoke 1
Walters 73 pen;

HT: 0-0. Att: 26,646.
Red card: Walters (S) 76.

West Brom 0
Man. United 3
Jones 34; Rooney 65; Welbeck 82;

HT: 0-1. Att: 26,184.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Chelsea	29	20	6	3	56	22	66
Liverpool	28	18	5	5	73	35	59
Arsenal	28	18	5	5	52	28	59
Man. City	26	18	3	5	69	27	57
Tottenham	29	16	5	8	37	37	53
Man. United	28	14	6	8	46	31	48
Everton	27	13	9	5	38	27	48
Newcastle	28	13	4	11	37	39	43
Southampton	29	11	9	9	39	35	42
West Ham	28	8	7	13	31	35	31
Aston Villa	28	8	7	13	31	38	31
Stoke City	29	7	10	12	29	43	31
Hull City	28	8	6	14	30	35	30
Swansea	28	7	8	13	37	41	29
Norwich City	29	7	8	14	22	44	29
C. Palace	28	8	3	17	19	38	27
West Brom	28	4	13	11	31	42	25
Cardiff City	29	6	7	16	22	50	25
Sunderland	26	6	6	14	26	42	24
Fulham	29	6	3	20	29	65	21

FA Cup quarter-final

Arsenal 4
Ozil 7; Arteta 68p; Giroud 83, 85;
Everton 1
Lukaku 32;

HT: 1-1. Att: 59,719.

Playing today
Hull vs Sunderland - 15.00
Manchester City vs Wigan - 17.05
Sheffield Utd vs Charlton - 13.00

Top scorers
24 goals: Suarez (Liverpool).
18 goals: Sturridge (Liverpool).
15 goals: Aguero (Man. City).
13 goals: Toure (Man. City), Remy (Newcastle), Hazard (Chelsea).
12 goals: Giroud (Arsenal)

Next fixtures
Saturday: 13.45 Hull vs Man. City. 16.00 Everton vs Cardiff; Fulham vs Newcastle; Southampton vs Norwich; Stoke vs West Ham; Sunderland vs Crystal Palace; Swansea vs West Brom. 18.30 Aston Villa vs Chelsea.
Sunday: 14.30 Man. United vs Liverpool; 17.00 Tottenham vs Arsenal.

• On-loan midfielder Ravel Morrison scored his first goals since arriving in February as QPR ended a five-match winless run with a 2-0 victory at Birmingham in the Championship yesterday.

Morrison, who joined from West Ham in mid-February, struck in the 14th and 73rd minutes to allow Rangers to take advantage of slip-ups by their promotion-chasing rivals.

With the top two not playing, none of the other teams in the top 12 in action managed a win with Derby and Nottingham Forest slipping to surprise defeats at home to Millwall and away to Barnsley respectively.

The Championship
Barnsley 1 - Nottm Forest 0
Birmingham 0 - QPR 2
Blackpool 0 - Bournemouth 1
Brighton 1 - Reading 1
Derby 0 - Millwall 1
Doncaster 2 - Huddersfield 0
Leeds 1 - Bolton 5
M’boro 2 - Ipswich 0
Yeovil 2 - Sheffield Wed. 0

Playing today
Blackburn Rovers vs Burnley - 13.30

Standings: Leicester 74; Burnley 66; Derby 61; QPR 60; N. Forest 55; Reading, Wigan 52; Brighton 50; Ipswich 48; Blackburn 46; Watford 45; Leeds 44; Middlesbrough, Huddersfield 43; Bournemouth 42; Sheffield Wed., Bolton 39; Birmingham 36; Blackpool 35; Doncaster 33; Millwall 31; Yeovil, Barnsley 29; Charlton 27.

League One
Brentford 2 - Bradford 0
Colchester 2 - Coventry 1
Gillingham 1 - Crawley 0
Notts County 0 - Leyton Orient 0
Oldham 1 - Preston 3
Peterborough 4 - Crewe 2
Port Vale 2 - Carlisle 1
Shrewsbury 2 - Bristol City 3
Stevenage 3 - Tranmere 1
Swindon 1 - MK Dons 2
Walsall 0 - Wolves 3

Standings: Wolves 73; Leyton Orient 71; Brentford 70; Preston 67; Rotherham United 62; Peterborough 55; MK Dons 49; Swindon, Walsall 47; Port Vale 46; Sheffield Utd 44; Coventry, Bradford City, Gillingham 41; Colchester, Crawley 39; Bristol City, Oldham Athletic 38; Carlisle 37; Tranmere Rovers 36; Stevenage, Crewe Alexandra 35; Shrewsbury Town 32; Notts County 31.

League Two
Accrington 3 - Chesterfield 1
Wimbledon 0 - York1
Bristol Rovers 2 - Plymouth 1
Exeter 2 - Dagenham 2
Mansfield 2 - Newport 1
Morecambe 2 - Southend 1
Oxford 1 - Burton 2
Portsmouth 0 - Cheltenham 0
Scunthorpe 1 - Northampton 1
Torquay 0 - Fleetwood 1
Wycombe 2 - Hartlepool 1

Tomorrow
Chesterfield vs Portsmouth - 20.45

Standings: Chesterfield 62; Scunthorpe, Rochdale 61; Burton 59; Fleetwood Town 57; Oxford 55; Southend 50; Plymouth 48; York 46; Hartlepool 45; Newport 44; Cheltenham, Morecambe 43; Bristol Rovers, Dagenham, Wimbledon, Mansfield 42; Wycombe, Portsmouth 41; Bury, Exeter City, Accrington Stanley 40; Northampton 34; Torquay United 30.