London, England (SportsNetwork.com) - A second-half hat trick from Andre Schurrle helped Chelsea to a 3-1 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday, moving the Blues four points clear at the top of the Premiership.
After a rather disappointing scoreless first half, Schurrle livened up the affair with his first goal in the 52nd minute.
The German then added goals in the 65th and 68th to complete his hat trick, while Fulham pulled a goal back in the 74th through John Heitinga to spoil Chelsea's clean sheet.
Eden Hazard was the architect of Chelsea's first two goals and he released Schurrle down the right wing with a chip in the 52nd, allowing Schurrle to nod the ball past a defender and slot his shot beyond the reach of goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg.
That duo combined again to double the advantage in the 65th when a clever ball from Hazard on the edge of the penalty area picked out Schurrle, who fired home his second goal from 12 yards.
It took just three minutes for the German to complete his hat trick when he latched on to a flick from Fernando Torres before beating Stekelenburg with a low shot.
Heitinga scored in the 74th from Lewis Holtby's corner kick, but it couldn't prevent Fulham from remaining on the bottom of the league and three points from safety.
Chelsea, meanwhile, extended its lead at the top of the league to four points as Arsenal suffered a 1-0 defeat at Stoke City on Saturday.
Stoke City 1, Arsenal 0
Stoke-on-Trent, England - Arsenal slipped four points back of leaders Chelsea on Saturday as the Gunners sustained a 1-0 defeat at Stoke City courtesy of a Jon Walters second-half penalty kick.
The result drops Arsenal to third place behind Liverpool on goal difference, while Manchester City is two points back of Arsene Wenger's side and has two games in hand.
Stoke has been a tough place to play for some of the top teams in the league as both Manchester United and Chelsea already lost at the Britannia Stadium this season.
And Potters added Arsenal to that list as the big moment in the game came in the 76th minute when defender Laurent Koscielny was called for a handball inside his own penalty area.
Walters was the player who won the spot kick moments earlier, and he dispatched his shot past goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to lift Stoke six points clear of the drop zone.
Liverpool 3, Southampton 0
Southampton, England - Liverpool climbed into second place on Saturday after securing a 3-0 win at Southampton behind a strong performance from Luis Suarez.
The Uruguay international scored the opening goal in the 16th minute before setting up the second for substitute Raheem Sterling.
He then drew a penalty kick in stoppage time that was converted by Steven Gerrard, capping a wonderful outing.
Suarez was a bit fortunate on the goal in the 16th minute when a deflected pass from Daniel Sturridge fell kindly to his feet inside the penalty area, allowing him to slot his shot past goalkeeper Artur Boruc.
Adam Lallana nearly equalized for the Saints before the break when his shot struck the post from 12 yards, but the visitors gained control of the contest in the second half.
Suarez set up a nice chance for Sterling, who scored just two minutes after entering the match, while he was brought down by Jose Fonte in the closing stages of the game with Gerrard scoring just before the final whistle.
Everton 1, West Ham 0
Liverpool, England - Romelu Lukaku came off the bench to rescue Everton with a goal nine minutes from time, giving the Toffees a 1-0 win over West Ham at Goodison Park on Saturday.
The Belgium international had missed the last month through injury, but he made a big impact in his return as he netted the lone goal to lift his side into sixth place, two points adrift of fifth-place Tottenham.
Steven Pienaar had one of the best chances to open the scoring early in the second half for Everton, but his low shot was tipped onto the post by West Ham goalkeeper Adrian, who did well to keep out Gerard Deulofeu's rebound as well.
Lukaku was brought into the match on the hour mark, and he made the difference in the 81st minute when he slammed home a left-footed shot from a Leighton Baines pass to snatch all three points for his side.
Newcastle 4, Hull City 1
Hull, England - Moussa Sissoko scored a goal in each half as Newcastle claimed a 4-1 win over Hull City at the KC Stadium on Saturday.
Sissoko scored 10 minutes into the game with a first-time finish from a low cross by Mathieu Debuchy, while Loic Remy made it 2-0 to the Magpies in the 42nd minute after a terrible giveaway from Hull's Maynor Figueroa.
Curtis Davies gave Hull some hope with a headed goal early in the second half, but Sissoko notched his second goal of the contest nine minutes later to restore Newcastle's two-goal advantage.
Vurnon Anita capped the win by scoring in stoppage time, but maybe the biggest moment of the match came 20 minutes earlier as Newcastle manager Alan Pardew was involved in an altercation with Hull's David Meyler on the sideline, which could lead to a heavy penalty for the Newcastle boss.
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