English Premier League leaders Chelsea brushed aside pre-match discussions about star striker Diego Costa’s future with a commanding 3-0 against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.

It was Tottenham Hostspur’s Harry Kane who got the ball rolling in the matchday with an exquisite hat-trick against West Bromwich Albion. Mauricio Pochettino’s won 4-0 at White Hart Lane.

Anything you can do, we can, said Tottenham’s bitter rivals Arsenal, who also romped to a 4-0 win, beating strugglers Swansea at the Liberty Stadium. Andy Carroll arguably scored the goal of the weekend so far with a stylish effort with his left as he led West Ham United sans Dimitri Payet to a 3-0 win against Crystal Palace.

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David Moyes and Sunderland’s woes continued, succumbing to Stoke City to a 1-3 loss at home. The biggest statement of the weekend came from Marcos Silva and Hull City, who beat Bournemouth 3-1. Can Silva work his magic once again?

Middlesbrough and Watford played out a 0-0 draw at Vicarage Road. It was a fine afternoon for Burnely too, as they registered a 1-0 win against Southampton. Joey Barton was the Lancashire club’s hero after coming on as a second-half substitute.

The Blues open up seven-point lead

There is never a dull moment at Stamford Bridge. Costa moving to China for 80 million his alleged bust-up with coach Antonio Conte, dominated pre-match talk and threaten to derail Chelsea’s pursuit of the title.

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The Blues jumped into an early lead with Marcos Alonso getting on the end of Eden Hazard’s clever through ball. On the other side of the break, Alonso doubled his goal tally with a deflected shot from outside the box. Pedro netted the third of the game with a close-range shot as Chelsea continued to sit pretty at the top of the table.

It was not as if Leicester were pushovers either. For much of the first half, Jamie Vardy and Co. saw a lot of the ball but simply could not create cutting edge chances. Chelsea simply know how to close down games better and came back with a strong second half performance.

Kane breathes fire

Unlike the Chelsea encounter, there was no doubt at White Hart Lane about who the better team was as Spurs beat their opponents, West Bromwich Albion 4-0. Kane was in majestic touch.

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It took only 12 minutes for the English striker to register his name on the scoresheet. The second goal went down as an own goal from Gareth McAuley. The home side would have brought up an even bigger lead had Ben Foster not stood like a rock between the sticks to thwart atleast a half-a-dozen chances. West Brom battled hard in the second half and tried their best to get back in the contest.

The Spurs saw off a slightly uncomfortable phase and Kane had other ideas, scoring two goals within five minutes late, in the game. This is the 23-year-old striker’s third EPL hat-trick for his boyhood club, a joint highest for the North London club. The match ended on a slightly bad note with defender Jan Vertonghen limping off. Yet again, attacking midfielders Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli had excellent games.

Brief scores

  • Tottenham Hotspur 4 (Harry Kane x 3, Gareth McAuley o.g) beat West Bromwich Albion 0
  • West Ham United 3 (Sofiane Feghouli, Andy Carroll, Manuel Lanzini) beat Crystal Palace 0
  • Hull City 3 (Abel Hernandez x 2, Tyrone Mings o.g) beat Bournemouth 1 (Junior Stanislas)
  • Burnley 1 (Joey Barton) beat Southampton 0
  • Watford 0 draw with Middlesbrough 0
  • Sunderland 1 (Jermaine Defoe) lose to Stoke City (Marko Arnautovic x 2, Peter Crouch)
  • Swansea City 0 lose to Arsenal 4 (Olivier Giroud, Alexis Sanchez, Jack Cork o.g, Kyle Naughton o.g)
  • Leicester City 0 lose to Chelsea 3 (Marcos Alonso x 2, Pedro Rodriguez)