Chelsea were hardly deterred by their key man missing out on their game.
The table-toppers 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.
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.
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.
Leicester, who left Riyad Mahrez on the bench for the first time in 36 league games, failed to register a shot on target as they struggled to cope against Chelsea's aggressive pressing and quick passing.
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.
Other EPL matches report:
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.
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.
SUMMARY:
- 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)
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