Chelsea went 13 points ahead at the top of the table with a battling 2-1 win against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday. With the match all set to finish at a 1-1 draw, Gary Cahill grabbed the winner three minutes to full time.
The hosts finished with 10 men after defender Phil Bardsley receiving a second yellow in the dying stages of the game. At Goodsion Park, Everton striker Romelu Lukaku struck his 20th and 21st league goals of the season as Ronald Koeman’s side registered a thumping 4-0 win against Hull City.
Crystal Palace stretched their winning run to three straight games with a slender 1-0 win against Watford at Selhurst Park. The most gripping game of the weekend was arguably West Ham United and Leicester City, which finished 3-2 in the defending champions’ favour courtesy of yet another magnificent performance in front of goal by Kasper Schmeichel.
Chelsea march on..
Antonio Conte’s side endured a stern Test against the Potters as tough-tackling Stoke were resolute in defence, and certainly looked like grabbing a point.
Willian’s cunning free kick squirmed under the keeper to hand Chelsea the lead, but the hosts equalised five minutes before half-time through Jonathan Walters’ penalty. Chelsea were unable to break Stoke down in the second half too but Cahill had the final say in the contest, which temporarily put the Blues 13 points clear at the top of the table. Stoke City lie at ninth with 36 points.
Leicester’s post-Ranieri windfall continues
Leicester City made it four consecutive wins in all competitions as they edged past West Ham United 3-2 at the Olympic Stadium.
The Foxes were walking away with the contest in a hurry early in the game as Riyad Mahrez and Robert Huth struck barely half an hour into the game. Manuel Lanzini pulled one back with a well-taken free-kick. Leicester got back their two-goal cushion through talisman Jamie Vardy.
West Ham threw a series of attacks in the second half after Andre Ayew got their second goal. Late in the game, Schmeichel pull off two marvellous saves from Andy Carroll’s headers to ensure that his side took all three points from the game. Leicester are currently at 15th place with 30 points while West Ham United lie at 11th with 33 points.
Brief scores:
Stoke City 1 (Jonathan Walters) lost to Chelsea 2 (Willian, Gary Cahill)
West Ham United 2 (Manuel Lanzini, Andre Ayew) lost to Leicester City 3 (Riyad Mahrez, Robert Huth, Jamie Vardy)
Everton 4 (Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Enner Valencia, Romelu Lukaku x 2) beat Hull City 0
Crystal Palace 1 (Troy Deeney own goal) beat Watford 0
Sunderland 0 draw with Burnley 0
Bournemouth 2 (Alfie Mawson own goal, Benik Afobe) beat Swansea City 0
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