Chelsea go top with Stoke rout

Published January 08, 2015

London, England (SportsNetwork.com) - Chelsea moved back to the top of the Premier League table on Saturday after cruising to a 3-0 victory over Stoke City at Stamford Bridge.

Coming off a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League in midweek, the Blues bounced back quickly with a solid performance on Saturday and seized control of the match in the 32nd minute.

Nemanja Matic was the key to the first goal for Chelsea as he galloped to the end line and cut the ball back to Mohamed Salah, who ripped it into the roof of the net for his second goal in a Chelsea shirt.

The Blues doubled their advantage just past the hour mark when Salah was brought down in the box by Stoke defender Andy Wilkinson, resulting in the penalty kick.

Frank Lampard's strike was stopped by Asmir Begovic, but Lampard pounced on the rebound and fired it into the empty net.

Chelsea then put an exclamation point on the performance in the 73rd minute when Willan collected the ball in midfield and wasn't closed down by his defender as he approached the penalty area.

Seizing his opportunity, Willian curled his strike around his mark and just inside the right post, leaving Begovic with little chance for a save.

The result sees the Blues move one point ahead of Liverpool at the summit of the table, while Stoke City remain in 10th place with 40 points from 33 games.

Manchester City 4, Southampton 1

Manchester, England - Manchester City moved closer to the top of the Premier League table on Saturday after easing to a 4-1 victory over Southampton at the Etihad Stadium.

After settling for a 1-1 draw with Arsenal last weekend, the Citizens got off to a flying start when a lazy challenge by Jose Fonte resulted in a penalty kick which Yaya Toure expertly converted.

Southampton returned the favor in the 37th minute after Rickie Lambert netted a spot kick to level things at 1-1, but City pulled away in first-half stoppage time with a pair of goals from Samir Nasri and Edin Dzeko.

Stevan Jovetic added a fourth goal nine minutes from time to wrap up the points for City, who move to within two points of Chelsea for the top spot in the table.

Manchester United 4, Newcastle 0

Newcastle, England - Juan Mata scored on either side of the intermission on Saturday as Manchester United rolled to a 4-0 thrashing of Newcastle United at St. James' Park.

Following a well-played 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday, David Moyes' men were hoping to carry over the confidence and the Red Devils snagged the lead in the 39th minute through a brilliant free kick from Mata.

United poured it on in the second half, collecting a second goal from Mata in the 50th minute before Javier Hernandez netted a third and Adnan Janujaz capped the rout with a fourth tally in stoppage time to leave the northeast of England with an important three points.

The result sees the Red Devils improve to sixth place in the Premiership with 57 points, while Newcastle remains in ninth place on 46 points.

Fulham 2, Aston Villa 1

Birmingham, England - Fulham boosted its chances for survival in a big way on Saturday after earning a crucial 2-1 win over Aston Villa at Villa Park.

the Cottagers entered the match at the foot of the table on 24 points, but they came out inspired against the Villans and opened the scoring just past the hour mark via a Kieran Richardson tally.

Villa pulled level nine minutes later through Grant Holt, but Hugo Rodallega's goal four minutes from time held up as the winner for Fulham, which moved into 18th place on 27 points, but remain five points from safety with five games to play.

Crystal Palace 3, Cardiff City 0

Cardiff, Wales - Jason Puncheon scored on either side of the interval on Saturday to move Crystal Palace further away from the drop zone with a comfortable 3-0 win over Cardiff City at the Cardiff City Stadium.

The Eagles seized control of the match early as Puncheon opened the scoring in the 31st minute before Joe Ledley doubled the advantage in the 71st minute.

Cardiff City forced Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni to make four saves, but could never get one past him and Puncheon wrapped up the points by completing his double two minutes from time.

The result moves Palace up to 14th place in the table with 34 points, while Cardiff remains in 19th with 26 points.

Hull City 1, Swansea City 0

Hull, England - George Boyd scored the only goal of the match on Saturday to lift Hull City to a 1-0 victory over Swansea City at the KC Stadium.

The Swans had the better of the play early on and kept more of the possession but failed to do much with it as Hull broke the deadlock in the 39th minute when Liam Rosenior whipped a cross into the area that was fired home by Boyd from close range.

Swansea managed just two attempts on frame and never threatened Steve Harper's goal as the Tigers came away with an important three points to improve to 12th place with 36 points.

West Bromwich 1, Norwich City 0

Norwich, England - West Bromwich Albion moved five points clear of the relegation zone on Saturday after earning a 1-0 victory over Norwich City at Carrow Road.

Coming off a wild 3-3 draw with Cardiff City last week, West Brom got off to a quick start just 16 minutes in when Youssuf Mulumbu sent a quick pass to Morgan Amalfitano, who drilled it into the bottom left corner from outside the box, past a diving John Ruddy.

Norwich dominated the run of play, keeping almost 70 percent of the ball and ripping four strikes on frame, but the Canaries were unable to get one past West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster.

The result sees the Baggies move to 32 points, while Norwich remain in 17th place with 32 points, behind West Brom on goal difference.

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