Chelsea put up a performance that could easily be their best in the last 18 months to trounce Everton 5-0 at Stamford Bridge, placing them on top of the English Premier League as Manchester City slipped up against Middlesbrough at the Etihad in the dying minutes of the game.

Sunderland got the most important win of the evening, beating Bournemouth 2-1 away from home despite going down to 10 men. Jermaine Defoe smashed the winner from the penalty spot.

West Ham United took the lead but Stoke City hit back 10 minutes later through Bojan Krkic. Ashley Barnes capped off a memorable comeback for Burnley after recovering from a career-threatening knee injury to score a penalty in stoppage time to defeat Crystal Palace 3-2.

The Blues run riot

Chelsea's attacking trio – Diego Costa, Eden Hazard and Pedro were in exquisite touch as Everton were blown out of the contest with a wave of attacks that swept them. Eden Hazard scored the opening goal for Chelsea before wing-back Marcos Alonso netted his first for the West London side with a side-foot finish off a corner.

Chelsea made it 3-0 at half-time through the league's top scorer, Diego Costa, who smashed home from close range. The home side did not take their foot off the pedal in the second half and continued to raid the Everton territory.

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Pedro scored the fourth and set up Hazard's second with a superb backheel pass. The Belgian did the rest by cutting in on his left and beating keeper Maarten Stekelenburg at his near post. Chelsea, with this win, climbed to the top the table but that could change tomorrow.

City slip up and relinquish top spot

Manchester City were brought crashing down to earth after the heady highs of their UEFA Champions League win against the mighty Barcelona. Predictably, Pep Guardiola's side saw plenty of the ball and tested Victor Valdes' goal on a number of occasions. Middlesbrough held on as City bombarded the newly-promoted side with a continuous flow of attacks.

Sergio Aguero brought up his 150th goal for the Sky Blues as the Argentine knocked home a Kevin de Bruyne cross. City were somewhat subdued on the other side of the break and Boro could have leveled things through Alvaro Negredo's audacious long-range effort.

Two minutes from time, De Bruyne could have finished off the contest when he had an empty net to shoot but his effort from outside the box went over. City would go on to pay for their profligacy as Marten de Roon grabbed a point for Aitor Karanka's side.

Brief scores

  • Manchester City 1 (Sergio Aguero) draw with Middlesbrough 1 (Marten de Roon)
  • Chelsea 5 (Eden Hazard x 2, Marcos Alonso, Diego Costa, Pedro) beat Everton 0
  • Burnley 3 (Sam Vokes, Berg Gudmundsson, Ashley Williams) beat Crystal Palace 2 (Connor Wickham, Christian Benteke)
  • West Ham United 1 (Glenn Whelan o.g) draw with Stoke City 1 (Bojan Krkic)
  • Bournemouth 1 (Dan Gosling) lose to Sunderland 2 (Victor Anichebe, Jermaine Defoe penalty)