EPL Round-up : Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs record big wins on Saturday

01/15/2017

Chelsea made light of striker Diego Costa's absence to extend their lead at the top to seven points on Saturday with a 3-0 win at champions Leicester City. Meanwhile, Tottenham and Arsenal also consolidated their table rankings with 4-0 wins against West Brom and Swansea City respectively.

Before Liverpool travel to Old Trafford to face their arch-rivals Manchester United on Sunday, their league rivals Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal made sure they keep up in the title race by recording big wins on Saturday.

Chelsea remain top

Diego Costa's absence had little impact on Chelsea's title tilt as Marcos Alonso's double saw them erase their previous match's 2-0 defeat to Tottenham and restore their seven-point advantage at the top with a 3-0 win over Leicester City. The league leaders took the lead in the sixth minute of the match when Eden Hazard evaded Robert Huth inside the box and poked the ball in Alonso's way.

The Spain midfielder extended Chelsea's lead with a second goal six minutes into the second half after Leicester failed to clear off a Willian free-kick. The defending Champs' defence was questionable throughout the game and Pedro sealed the match in Chelsea's favour when he scored off a Willian cut-back in the 71st minute. With this win, Antonio Conte's men went seven points at the top of the standings and will keep the difference if United win against Liverpool on Sunday.

Kane-inspired Spurs thrash West Brom

Tottenham striker Harry Kane scored a brilliant hat-trick in the 4-0 demolition of West Bromwich Albion that saw Mauricio Pochettino's men move to second in the standings behind leaders Chelsea with a seventh straight win in all competitions. Kane scored his 11th Premier League goal of the season in the 12th minute, while West Brom's Gareth McAuley deflected a Christian Eriksen shot into the goal in the 26th minute to extend Spurs' lead to 2-0.

After spurning several scoring chances against a scrambled West Brom defence, Kane finally stabbed home with a sublime volley off Kyle Walker's right-wing cross in the 77th minute. The striker completed his hat-trick five minutes later, after a sublime move from Tottenham resulted in Dele Alli sending in a delightful lob into Kane's path. Spurs will end the week at least in the third position if Liverpool wins against United on Sunday.

Arsenal too good for ailing Swansea

Olivier Giroud continued his goal-scoring form by scoring in the third-straight game for Arsenal, as the Frenchman's performance made sure Swansea City stayed at the bottom of the league table. Though the Welsh side started well by matching the Gunners' intensity in the first half hour, a lapse of concentration allowed Giroud to score from close range in the 37th minute.

Swansea's new manager Paul Clement was not at all happy when his relegation strugglers gifted away two own goals in the second half. Alex Iwobi was the reason behind these goals as his efforts on the wings forced Jack Cork and Kyle Naughton to deflect the ball into the net in the 54th and 67th minutes respectively. Alexis Sanchez made it 4-0 for the night when the Chilean took advantage of some shoddy defending from Wayne Routledge inside the box to put the ball into the top right corner. With this win, the Gunners went third in the standings on basis of goal difference after being tied with Liverpool on 44 points.

In other matches, West Ham United moved to 12th in the standings with a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace, while Sean Dyche's Burnley moved into the top 10 with a 1-0 triumph over Southampton at Turf Moor. Hull City moved up to the top of the relegation zone with a 3-1 win over Bournemouth while David Moyes' Sunderland took a beating in a 3-1 defeat to Stoke City. The match at Vicarage Road between Watford and Middlesbrough remained the only goalless game of the week keeping both the teams rooted to the bottom half of the table.

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