Roundup of Tuesday night’s EPL action: Manchester United and Liverpool seal comfortable wins, Arsenal draw

SAS were in full flow yet again as they combined for three of the four goals in a 4-0 rout of Everton at Anfield in the Merseyside derby. Arguably, the most one-sided game of the day, the result was never really in doubt after Steven Gerrard opened the scoring in the 21^st minute. After that, two more first half goals from Daniel Sturridge meant that Liverpool went into the break 3-0 up and in cruise control.

In the second half, although Suarez got his 23^rd League goal of the season, Sturridge had plenty of opportunities to seal his hat-trick. But, the Englishman failed to take any of them and also blasted a penalty over the bar, before he was substituted in the 72^nd minute. The win moves Liverpool ever so close to Chelsea in third, who have a game in hand.

After sealing the signature of Juan Mata last week, Moyes had some more reason to cheer as his side comfortably beat Cardiff 2-0 thanks to goals from Robin Van Persie and Ashley Young. Starting in the League for the first time since December, Van Persie made an immediate impact as he scored within the opening 10 minutes to calm the Old Trafford nerves.

And by the time Ashley Young scored the second, it was a welcome relief as the Red devils were coming under a lot of pressure from Cardiff. In the end though, although Cardiff had more possession, they didn’t make much use of it as United stayed within touching distance of fourth place with a positive result.

At St. Mary’s, a spirited Southampton side came from behind to draw 2-2 against an Arsenal side that finished the game with just 10 men after Flamini was rightly sent off for a two footed lunge. It was the Saints who started the brighter of the two and took the lead through J Fonte header in the first half.

But a three-goal splurge in eight second half minutes saw Arsenal go 2-1 up before conceding an equalizer. The draw leaves Arsenal just two points in front of Man City, who can claim top spot if they beat Spurs in their next game.

In other results, there was a couple of red cards in Newcastle’s 0-0 draw with Norwich which was the only noteworthy incident in the entire game. Swansea beat Fulham 2-0 to heap more pressure on Meulensteen and Crystal Palace continued their ascent up the table with a 1-0 win over 10-man Hull, who had their goalkeeper sent off in the 90^th minute for retaliation.

Results: Crystal Palace 1-0 Hull, Liverpool 4-0 Everton, Man United 2-0 Cardiff, Norwich 0-0 Newcastle, Southampton 2-2 Arsenal, Swansea 2-0 Fulham