London, England (SportsNetwork.com) - Chelsea and Manchester City split the points in Saturday's massive clash at Stamford Bridge as the two sides played to a 1-1 draw.
The Blues drew first blood as the deadlock was broken from a well-worked move in the 42nd minute. Eden Hazard got on the end of a diagonal pass and squared the ball for Loic Remy to tuck home from close range.
It looked as though Chelsea would carry the narrow lead into the halftime interval, but City managed to equalize just two minutes later thanks to a great finish from David Silva.
A brilliant cross from the right flank drew Thibault Courtois off his line and saw the Chelsea goalkeeper whiff on his attempted punch clear, and while Sergio Aguero's thumping strike was heading wide of the post, Silva was arriving to guide the effort into the back of the net.
The second half was devoid of many scoring opportunities, leaving the two sides to stay separated by five points.
Chelsea remains at the top of the table with 53 points, followed closely by City on 48 points.
Manchester United climbed to third place in table by cruising to a 3-1 defeat of Leicester City at Old Trafford on Saturday.
The hosts were in front after 27 minutes when Robin van Persie latched on to Daley Blind's ball over the top and guided a first-time finish into the back of the net.
Radamel Falcao doubled the advantage seven minutes later when he turned in a rebound from Angel Di Maria's shot, and an own goal from Wes Morgan in the 44th minute saw the Red Devils head into the halftime interval three goals to the good.
Marcin Wasilewski nodded home a cross from Marc Albrighton in the 80th minute to spoil David De Gea's bid for a clean sheet, but United secured the win to improve to 43 points through 23 games and move one point clear of Southampton.
A pair of second-half goals helped Liverpool jump ahead of West Ham United in the table with a 2-0 defeat of the Hammers at Anfield on Saturday.
Raheem Sterling handed the Reds the lead in the 51st minute, and Daniel Sturridge made a triumphant return from injury, coming on as a substitute to seal the win with a goal 10 minutes from time.
Liverpool climbs to seventh place with 38 points to move two points ahead of West Ham.
Jonathan Walters recorded a hat trick at the Britannia on Saturday to lead Stoke City to a 3-1 victory over lowly QPR.
The Potters were in front after 21 minutes, but QPR remained within touching distance the rest of the way as Walters and Nico Kranjcar exchanged goals two minutes apart before the close of the first half. In the end, Stoke proved to be too much for the visitors to handle as Walters secured the win with a late header from distance.
Christian Eriksen opened the scoring at the Hawthorns on Saturday, but Harry Kane netted a brace to help Tottenham collect maximum points from a 3-0 win over West Bromwich Albion.
Everton picked up its first Premier League win since Dec. 15 as Romelu Lukaku's goal in the second minute held up as the winner in a 1-0 win at Crystal Palace.
And finally, Connor Wickham and new signing Jermain Defoe scored in the 20th and 34th minutes, respectively, to lift Sunderland to a crucial 2-0 victory over Burnley at the Stadium of Light.
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