London, England (SportsNetwork.com) - Arsenal's title chances took a major hit on Saturday as the club suffered a humiliating 6-0 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
It was Arsene Wenger's 1,000th match in charge of the Gunners, but they were unable to mark the occasion with a victory as the visitors surrendered three goals in the opening 17 minutes and four goals in the opening half.
Samuel Eto'o opened the scoring in the fifth minute following a giveaway from the Arsenal midfield. Andre Schurrle started the fast break and slid a pass wide for the Cameroon international to curl home with an excellent shot into the far upper corner.
Schurrle went from provider to scorer two minutes later as Chelsea doubled its advantage in similar fashion. Capitalizing on another giveaway, the Germany international found space on the right flank and made the Gunners pay by hammering a low shot just inside the far post.
Chelsea made it three in the 17th minute when Eden Hazard's shot was pushed wide of goal by the hand of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. After deliberating with his assistant, referee Andre Mariner awarded Chelsea a penalty but inexplicably issued a red card to Kieran Gibbs. Hazard buried the ensuing penalty to extend Chelsea's lead.
The Blues added a fourth just before the close of the first half as Fernando Torres capped a counterattack by centering a pass for Oscar to tuck home with a neat finish in the 42nd minute, ending his 10-game goalless spell.
Chelsea continued to dominate the match on the other side of halftime as Oscar took advantage of yet another Arsenal giveaway to curl a shot past Wojciech Szczesny from outside the penalty area in the 66th minute.
It proved to be Oscar's last touch of the ball as he was promptly substituted for Mohamed Salah, who broke through for his first Chelsea goal within four minutes of his introduction. The former FC Basel attacker latched on to a through ball from Nemanja Matic to slip a shot under the on-rushing Szczesny to cap Chelsea's convincing victory.
Liverpool 6, Cardiff City 3
Cardiff, Wales - Luis Suarez helped Liverpool keep pace with Chelsea at the top of the table as he netted a hat trick in the club's 6-3 win at Cardiff City on Saturday.
Suarez and Jordan Mutch exchanged goals inside the opening 16 minutes, but the home side took the lead on 25 minutes through Frazier Campbell.
Liverpool got its first lead of the match thanks to Martin Skrtel's brace and the visitors never looked back. Suarez added a fourth at the hour mark while Daniel Sturridge tacked on another 15 minutes later.
Mutch pulled one back for Cardiff in the 88th minute, but Suarez restored Liverpool's three-goal lead in the final minute of stoppage time.
Manchester City 5, Fulham 0
Manchester, England - Everton claimed a 3-2 win over Swansea City at Goodison on Saturday for its third successive Premier League victory.
The Toffees were in front by the 20-minute mark thanks to a penalty from Leighton Baines, but Wilfried Bony pulled one back for Swansea in the 33th minute to send the two sides into the halftime break level on one goal apiece.
The second half belonged to the home side as Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley scored five minutes apart to deny Swansea despite a late goal from Ashley Williams.
Manchester United 2, West Ham 0
London, England - Wayne Rooney bagged a brace at Upton Park on Saturday to lead Manchester United to a 2-0 defeat of West Ham United.
The England international opened the scoring in spectacular fashion eight minutes in, volleying from mid-field to catch Adrian off his line.
The visitors doubled their lead in the 33rd minute when Mark Noble's failed clearance was turned in by Rooney from close range, though the United captain knew little of the set up.
Newcastle 1, Crystal Palace 0
Newcastle, England - Papiss Demba Cisse netted a late goal for Newcastle in the club's 1-0 defeat of Crystal Palace at St. James' Park on Saturday.
The match was scoreless until the dying minutes when Cisse sent a header into the back of the net in the fourth minute of added time to lift the Magpies to 46 points with a third win in four outings.
Palace stays on 28 points, just three points clear of the relegation zone.
Norwich City 2, Sunderland 0
Norwich, England - Norwich City ended a three-game winless run on Saturday as the Canaries claimed a 2-0 win over Sunderland at Carrow Road.
Both goals came in the opening period as Robert Snodgrass' 20th-minute opener was supplemented by Alexander Tettey 12 minutes later.
Sunderland had Marcos Alonso sent off late in the match to leave the Black Cats with no chance of a comeback.
Hull City 2, West Bromwich 0
Hull, England - Hull City took another step toward safety on Saturday as it earned a 2-0 home win over West Bromwich Albion.
Nikica Jelavic missed a penalty kick at the half-hour mark, but it made no difference as Liam Rosenior turned in a goal shortly after.
Shane Long chipped in with an insurance goal in the 37th minute to help bring the club to 33 points on the season, five points better than the Baggies.
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