Chelsea extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to seven points thanks to a 4-0 win against Tottenham at Stamford Bridge in a match that will have cured the insomnia of soccer fans worldwide.
After a absolutely boring first half, Spurs self destructed in the second half to hand Chelsea the win. First defender Jan Vertonghen, while slipping tried to pass the ball across his back line, and instead found Samuel Eto’o who finished coolly through Hugo Lloris’ legs.
Minutes later, Chelsea got the kind of call that other teams can only dream of. Eto’o dove after a challenge from Younes Kaboul in the box and not only were Chelsea given a penalty, which Hazard converted, but Kaboul was given a straight red card for the tackle. Lets just say that if Luis Suárez or Ashley Young had went down like Eto’o did, Sky Sports would be running a special all week on why we need to get rid of diving in the game.
The game was over as a contest and Demba Ba capitalized on two more defensive errors to make the win look even more convincing.
Spurs have to start looking over their shoulder as Manchester United are only five point back with a game in hand after beating West Brom 3-0 at the Hawthorns. Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck added to Phil Jones’ first-half goal as United put in their best performance in weeks to pick up all three points.
At the other end of the table two goals from Steven Caulker gave Cardiff City a huge 3-1 win over Fulham in a relegation six pointer.
Caulker got his first of the afternoon in first-half stoppage time, as Craig Noone’s low cross was deflected into his path and gave him the simple task of finishing from two yards out.
Fulham equalised on 59 minutes as Lewis Holtby scored his first goal for the club but Cardiff sealed just their fifth home win of the season with two goals in the space of six minutes. First Caulker doubled his tally for the afternoon with an unmarked header at a corner, before Sascha Reither put through his own net after a Noone cross caused a goalmouth scramble.
Norwich and Crystal Palace were frustrated in their efforts to put distance between themselves and the bottom three, as Norwich surrendered a lead against Stoke City to draw 1-1 while Crystal Palace lost 1-0 at home to Southampton.
The results mean just six points separate Cardiff in the third of the relegation spots from West Ham, who sit 10th in the Premier League table.
