EPL Round-up: Chelsea thrash United; Arsenal, Man City and Spurs all win

Samuel Eto’o (2nd L) of Chelsea celebrates with teammates Luiz (L), Willian (2nd R) and Oscar (R) after completing his his hat trick during the Barclays Premier League match between Chelsea and Manchester United last night.

Sunderland 2-2 Southampton:

It was a disappointing week for Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino who had to see his side give up a 2-goal lead over Sunderland. The Saints were brilliant in the first-half of the match, and went into the half time with two goals from forward Jay Rodriguez and centre-back Dejan Lovren. Sunderland pulled one back after Fabio Borini scored from Sunderland’s first shot on target following a cross from Adam Johnson. Adam Johnson then scored an equaliser out of nowhere, continuing his brilliant form with four goals in the last two games.

Manchester City 4-2 Cardiff City:

Manchester City found their first break in the first 15 minutes through Edin Dzeko as he scored their 100th goal of the season, the first time an English side has achieved such a feat before the end of January. Craig Noone of Cardiff came back with an equaliser from a brilliant solo-effort at around the half-an-hour mark, but it was soon shadowed by Jesus Navas who scored the second, followed by goals from both Yaya Toure and Sergio Agüero. Fraizer Campbell scored the final goal of the match.

Crystal Palace 1-0 Stoke City:

Jason Puncheon was the only goal scorer as Crystal Palace took on Stoke City as Stoke’s response to the goal was hardly concrete with Peter Crouch’s curling effort later in the game was the only threatening chance. Crystal Palace are now 16th on the league table while Stoke are ahead with a two-points lead on the 13th place.

Norwich City 1-0 Hull City:

Ryan Bennett’s late header was the only goal of the match that gave Norwich City a vital victory over Hull as they secure their first home Premier League success since November last year. Interestingly Hull City, along with Stoke, still have the joint worst away record in the Premier League, picking up only five points on their travels this season

Arsenal 2-0 Fulham:

Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla racked up a brace in the second half, one with either foot, as Arsenal beat Fulham 2-0 to stay ahead of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League. Arsenal are a long way from May but they have been top every week but one since September 14.

West Ham 1-3 Newcastle:

West Ham are back into the relegation zone as Newcastle took all the three points back with a win at Upton Park thus ending a run of three league losses. Yohan Cabaye struck a brace, while Loic Remy scored the third goal while Newcastle’s Mike Williamson scored an embarrassing own goal.

Liverpool 2-2 Aston Villa:

Liverpool came back from a two-goal deficit as they drew square with Aston Villa at Anfield after goals from Andreas Weimann and Christian Benteke stunned the home crowd. Gabriel Agbonlahor was the architect behind both of the attacks. Daniel Sturridge was however succeful in pulling one back for his side just before the half-time break. Steven Gerrard later equalised from the penalty spot scoring his fifth league goal of the season, and his 12th against Villa.

Swansea 1-3 Tottenham Hotspur:

Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor grabbed a brace as Tottenham claimed a fifth successive Premier League away win with a 3-1 victory over Swansea at the Liberty Stadium. Chico Flores scored the third for Spurs as he could only watch as he accidentally diverted Kyle Walker’s cross into his own net. However, Swansea striker Wilfried Bony scored late in the game only to reduce Tottenham’s advantage.

Chelsea 3-1 Manchester United:

The match of the weekend wasn’t as close contested as fans would have expecting as Samuel Eto’o’s first hat-trick in Premier League football gave Chelsea a marginal 3-1 win over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge. Manchester United were able to find a break through Mexican Javier Hernandez as he pulled a goal back 12 minutes from full-time when he converted Jones’ shot after Welbeck’s pull-back but it was too late for the reigning champions.