Swansea, Wales (SportsNetwork.com) - Chelsea moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League on Saturday with an emphatic 5-0 win over Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium as Oscar and Diego Costa scored two goals apiece.
The match was essentially over in the first 40 minutes as the Blues netted four of their five goals, with Andre Schurrle adding a fifth 10 minutes from time to hand Swansea their worst home defeat in 24 years.
Swansea sold leading scorer Wilfried Bony to Manchester City in midweek, and the hosts looked out of sorts from the start, handing the Blues the opening goal inside the first minute of the game.
Gylfi Sigurdsson gave the ball away in his own half of the field and Oscar made the most of the chance by picking up the ball and stroking it home from 20 yards past the diving Lukasz Fabianski in the Swansea net.
Sigurdsson almost leveled the fixture a few minutes later, but he saw his effort hit the outside of the post, while Chelsea doubled the advantage in the 20th minute when Cesc Fabregas slipped a ball into the area for Costa, who scored on the turn.
Federico Fernandez then handed Costa his 17th goal of the season with a poor pass that Costa cut out and slid past Fabianski to make it 3-0.
Costa turned provider a few minutes later when he cut the ball back for Oscar to fire home, allowing Chelsea to take a commanding 4-0 lead into halftime.
Willian struck the woodwork for a second time early in the second half after a nice setup from Costa, but Schurrle came off the bench to add a fifth goal in the 80th minute when he was on hand to tap in a cross from Branislav Ivanovic.
Southampton held on to its place in third by winning 2-1 at Newcastle as Eljero Elia scored a goal in each half for the Saints, who remain two points clear of fourth-place Manchester United after the Red Devils claimed a 2-0 win at QPR with second-half goals from substitutes Marouane Fellaini and James Wilson.
Tottenham climbed into fifth place after edging Sunderland, 2-1, behind a goal in the 88th minute from Christian Eriksen after the two sides traded goals in the opening 30 minutes of the contest.
Liverpool claimed a 2-0 victory at Aston Villa thanks to a first-half goal from Fabio Borini and another from Rickie Lambert 11 minutes from time, moving the Reds into seventh place.
Crystal Palace came from two goals down to notch a 3-2 win at Burnley that moves Alan Pardew's men four points above the drop zone, while Stoke City slipped past last-place Leicester City, 1-0, with a second-half goal from Bojan Krkic.
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