Chelsea 6 – 0 Arsenal

Arsene Wenger marks his 1000^th match in charge of the Gunners with yet another loss to Jose Mourinho.  It was his 11^th loss in 11 attempts versus “The Special One” who last month called the Gunners’ boss “a specialist in failure”.  Arsenal had a chance in the first minute to make the Chelsea boss eat his words when Olivier Giroud’s shot was blocked by the Blues’ defense.   Giroud had another chance saved by Blues’ keeper Petr Cech in the fourth minute.  Then the Blues dropped the hammer on the counter attack when Samuel Eto’o slammed home the first goal into the bottom left corner of the net.  Andre Schurrle scored goal number two in the sixth minute when he powered home Nemanja Matic’s pass by Gunners’ keeper Wojciech Szczesny.  Eto’o was replaced in the nineth minute by Fernando Torres due to a leg injury, but that didn’t slow down the Blues.  Torres started a counter in the 14^th minute and set up Eden Hazard who hit a right curling shot toward the right corner of the goal.  Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain flicked out a hand and deflected the ball away from the goal.  The referee correctly awarded Chelsea the penalty kick, but mistook Kieran Gibbs for Oxlade-Chamberlain and showed Gibbs the red card.  After Hazard scored the spot kick, Wenger and the Gunners’ players were very angry with the referee’s mistake and spent a bit of time in his face making their displeasure known.  Goal number four came in the 41^st minute when Torres set up Oscar to tap home the easy score.  The match was pretty much over from that point.  Oscar scored goal number five in the 65^th minute with a fine strike from outside the area.  Mohamed Salah replaced Oscar in the 67^th minute and scored goal number six in the 70^th minute when he slotted home Matic’s through pass.  The win solidifies the Blues’ grip on the BPL leadership and moves them one step closer to the title.  The Gunners, are in danger of missing the Champions’ league as they moved down to fourth place.

Cardiff 3 – 6 Liverpool

Luiz Suarez gets a hat-trick as the Reds make their run at the title.  There is some belief building amongst the Reds supporters about their side winning the league this season. After trouncing the Champions last Sunday, they really do look like contenders.  They didn’t start out so well and went a goal behind in the eighth minute when Frazier Campbell was able to set up Jordon Mutch whose left-footed shot went into the goal past Reds’ keeper Simon Mignolet.  But, as he has done all season, Suarez carried his side forward and leveled the score in the 16^th minute when he powered home Glen Johnson’s square pass.  The one “Achilles’ Heel” for the Reds has been their defense and they got exposed again in the 25^th minute when Mutch’s pass found Campbell unmarked in the center of the Reds’ area and the striker found the back of the net for Cardiff’s second goal.  The Reds’ were able to get the score back level in the 40^th minute when Martin Skrtel knocked home Philippe Coutinho’s corner kick.  Skrtel got the Reds the lead in the 53^rd minute when Coutinho found him again from the corner kick.  Suarez got his second goal in the 60^th minute when he and Daniel Sturridge worked together to get through the Cardiff defense and the Uruguayan made scoring look easy.  The two Reds’ strikers worked together again in the 74^th minute.  This time Suarez set up Sturridge to slot home from close range as they cut the Welsh side apart again.  The home side got a goal back in the 87^th minute when Mutch headed home from a headed pass from substitute Kenwyne Jones.  The Reds’ fans went wild in stoppage time when Suarez scored his hat-trick by slotting home Skrtel’s assist.  They sit four points behind leaders Chelsea with a game in hand.  The race for the title has certainly gotten interesting.

Everton 3 – 2 Swansea

The Toffees keep their European league qualification dreams alive.  Roberto Martinez has done quite a bit for Everton since taking over this past summer.  If things stay the way they are currently, the most important accomplishment will be to finish above the club currently run by former manager David Moyes.    Things started out well for them when they earned a penalty kick in the 19^th minute from Swans’ defender Chico’s foul on Toffees’ striker Ross Barkley in the visitors’ penalty area.  Leighton Baines converted the spot kick to put the home side into the lead.  But Swans are no pushovers and they equalized in the 32^nd minute when Angel Rangel found and unmarked Wilfried Bony in front of the goal and the Swans’ striker easily tapped home the goal.  The Toffees retook the lead in the 52^nd minute when loanee Romely Lukaku slotted a Kevin Mirallas cross into the net past keeper Michel Vorm.  They went further into the lead in the 57^th minute when Barkley headed home another fine cross from Mirallas, this time from a corner-kick.  From that point, all they needed to do was defend their lead for the remainder of the match.  Ashley Williams was able to get a goal back in stoppage time when he headed home a Pablo Hernandez corner kick, but that’s as close as the Swans would get.

Hull 2 – 0 West Bromwich Albion

Shane Long scores against his former side as the Baggies slip back into the relegation fight.  The KC Stadium was soaked in rain on Saturday.  One would have thought that such a match would have ended in a boring draw.  But Long had other plans.  He was instrumental in Hull’s pressing of the Baggies throughout the first half.  In fact, it was Long who set up the first goal in the 30^th minute when he earned his side a penalty kick after Baggies defender Craig Dawson fouled the Hull striker in the penalty area.  Nikica Jelavic took the spot kick, and although it was saved by Baggies’ keeper Ben Foster, Liam Rosenior was on hand to head home the rebound.  Long would score himself in the 37^th minute when he knocked home Curtis Davies’ flicked header from a corner kick.  Long would have another shot on goal saved in the 54^th minute when Foster was able to get down and push the shot wide of the net.  In the 66^th minute Long would hit the post with his shot from a Robert Koren assist.  He would go off in the 77^th minute, replaced by Stephen Quinn, to a standing ovation from the home supporters.  Saido Beranho nearly got a goal back for the visitors in the 85^th minute when his shot was saved by Hull keeper Allan McGregor.  The win puts Hull in reasonable safety at 12^th place in the table.  The Baggies, on the other hand, sit two places and three points from the bottom three.

Manchester City 5 – 0 Fulham

Yaya Toure scores a hat-trick as Citeh put the Cottagers in deep relegation trouble.  It was a soggy day in Manchester as the home side tuned up for their derby match with cross-town rivals Manchester United on Tuesday.  The rain plus domination from the home side made for a very miserable day for the Cottagers.  They went behind in the 25^th minute when they gave away a penalty-kick from defender Fernando Amorebieta’s foul on Alvaro Negredo in the Fulham penalty area.  Toure converted the spot kick for the first goal.  Things went from bad to worse in the 53^rd minute when Amorebieta conceded another penalty kick.  This time he brought down David Silva in the area and he was shown the red card for his infraction.  Toure converted the spot kick again for his second goal.  It was all down-hill for the ten-man Cottagers from that point forward.  Toure completed his hat-trick in the 65^th minut when he curled in a fine free-kick into the top right corner of the goal.  Fernandinho made it four in the 84^th minute when he slotted a James Milner corner-kick into the top right corner of the goal.  Martin Demichelis completed the Cottagers’ humiliation in the 87^th minute when he latched onto a loose ball from a save made by keeper David Stockdale off of a James Milner shot.  Demichelis rolled the ball into the net for number five.  So now it’s off to Old Trafford for the next stop in Citeh’s journey toward the title.

Newcastle 1 – 0 Crystal Palace

Papiss Cisse’s stoppage time goal gets the win for the Magpies.  There was a huge sigh of relief amongst the fans at St. James’ park on Saturday.  The Magpies were on a run of four successive losses in all competitions at home and the win took them up to eighth place.  The loss was heartbreaking for Palace as their keeper Julian Speroni had done such a good job keeping the goal empty.  The best save he made was in the 61^st minute when he denied Cheick Tiote’s left footed attempt.  All that good work went for naught in the third minute of stoppage time when Hatem Ben Arfa’s through-ball eluded Speroni and Cisse was there to head in the winner.  The result sends Palace one place and three points above the bottom three.

Norwich 2 – 0 Sunderland

First half goals from Robert Snodgrass and Alexander Tettey send the Black Cats closer to relegation.  There had been some talk about Canaries boss Chris Hughton’s job might be in trouble.  They have been on a slide in recent weeks and the players really wanted to make a statement for their manager on Saturday.  They dominated the start of the first half and in the 19^th minute made that domination pay off when Snodgrass slotted home a Johan Elmander cross for the first goal.  They nearly doubled their lead in the 24^th minute when Jonny Howson’s shot was saved by Black Cats’ keeper Vito Mannone.  The second goal did come in the 32^nd minute when Tettey hit a wonder strike that found the top right corner of the goal.  The Black Cats did manage to get a shot on goal in the 50^th minute when Wes Brown’s header of an Adam Johnson cross was saved by Canaries keeper John Ruddy.  That was as close as the Black Cats would come to scoring and in stoppage time midfielder Marcos Alonso was sent off for a second bookable offense when he handled a corner kick just outside the penalty area.  So as things stand, it looks like Black Cats’ boss Gus Poyet will not be able to keep his side in the BPL.

Tottenham 3 – 2 Southampton

Gylfi Sigurdsson scores a late winner to complete a Spurs comeback from two goals down.  The Saints will be kicking themselves for letting this one get away from them.  They started out so well, scoring the first goal in the 18^th minute when Jay Rodriguez slotted home Artur Boruc’s pass into the bottom right corner of the goal.  They even doubled their lead in the 27^th minute when Rickie Lambert put Adam Lallana through on the Spurs goal and the striker poked the ball home under keeper Hugo Lloris.  But as anyone who has followed soccer will tell you, the most dangerous lead in the game is an early first half 2-0 lead.  That proved to be the case on Sunday as Spurs were able to get a goal back in the 30^th minute when Christian Eriksen found the bottom left corner of the goal with his shot.  They leveled the score right from the second half start when Eriksen was found by a neat Roberto Soldado pass and the midfielder popped the ball into the Saints’ goal.  Eriksen nearly got his hat-trick in the 57^th minute, but his shot missed off to the right of the goal.  The winner came in the second minute of stoppage time.  This time Eriksen was the provider as he set up Sigurdsson to power home a right-footed shot into the bottom left corner of the goal.

Aston Villa 1 – 4 Stoke

The Potters deliver a face-punch to the Villains at Villa Park.  Man, you want to talk about an absolute horrible let-down.  Sunday was just that for the Villains.  You wouldn’t know that this was the side who had beaten league leader Chelsea in their last match.  They did start well as Christian Benteke got them on the score sheet in the fourth minute with his fine finish of a Fabian Delph assist.  But all that goal did was wake up the Potters and they leveled the score in the 21^st minute through Peter Odemwingie’s goal from a Peter Crouch header.  Crouch got goal number two in the 25^th minute when he slammed home an Erik Pieters pass into the bottom right corner of the goal.  Goal number three came in the 41^st minute when Steven N’Zonzi hit a fine long-range shot into the bottom left corner of the net.  The second half was quite easy for the visitors as the Villains had no spark at all.  USA International defender Geoff Cameron scored a rare goal in the 89^th minute when he powered home Marko Arnautovic’s assist.  The win moves the Potters above the Villains into tenth place and has Villa boss Paul Lambert scratching his head about how to get his boys to play more consistently.