Top Teams Earn Big Wins

The Premier League’s elite clubs all earned big wins in match week eighteen, while a couple of teams at the bottom of the table earned vital points.

Chelsea maintained their lead at the top of the table with a comfortable 3-0 win against Bournemouth. Pedro opened the scoring with a curled effort from outside the box before Eden Hazard netted a penalty after half time. Bournemouth defender Steve Cook then deflected Pedro’s late effort past his own goalkeeper to add salt to the Cherries’ wounds.

Antonio Conte’s side remain a healthy six points above second placed Liverpool, despite the Reds coming from behind to earn a 4-1 win against Stoke City. Jonathan Walters gave the visitors the lead at Anfield, before quick fire goals from Adam Lallana and Roberto Firmino turned the game around before half time. Stoke midfielder Giannelli Imbula turned a Divock Origi cross into his own net to make it three, before Daniel Sturridge added a fourth just 57 seconds after coming on as a substitute.

Manchester City remain a point behind Liverpool after their 3-0 win against Hull City. The Citizens initially struggled though, and all three goals came in the final 22 minutes. Yaya Toure eventually opened the scoring with a penalty, before Kelechi Iheanacho tapped into an empty net six minutes later. Curtis Davies then put through his own net in added-time.

Tottenham Hotspur emphatically beat Southampton 4-1 but, like Liverpool, also needed to come from behind to do so. Virgil van Dijk headed home the opening goal, only for Dele Alli to do likewise to equalise soon after. Harry Kane put Spurs in front for the first time before Heung-min Son and Alli’s second goal of the game added gloss to the score line.

Spurs’ North London rivals, Arsenal, were the only team in the top four who struggled to overcome their opponents. The Gunners required a goal from Olivier Giroud four minutes from time to see off a defiant West Bromwich Albion at the Emirates Stadium.

Manchester United ensured the gap between themselves and the top four remained just four points with a 3-1 home win against Sunderland. Daley Blind and Zlatan Ibrahimovic put the Red Devils into a comfortable lead, before Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored a goal of the season contender with a scorpion kick. Sunderland’s Fabio Borini scored his own attempt at goal of the season soon after, controlling the ball on his chest before volleying into the corner of David de Gea’s goal from 25 yards.

West Ham United extended their winning run to three games and moved up to eleventh with a 4-1 win against Swansea City. Former Swans striker Andre Ayew scored his first goal for the Hammers in the first half before Winston Reid and Michail Antonio worsened Swansea’s woes. Fernando Llorente’s attempt to make the score line look slightly more respectable with a minute remaining was cancelled out within 60 seconds as Andy Carroll added a fourth. Swansea boss Bob Bradley was subsequently sacked after the game having failed to turn the side’s fortunes around in his eleven matches in charge.

Leicester City’s poor domestic form continued with a 2-0 defeat at home to Everton. Belgian forwards Kevin Mirallas and Romelu Lukaku both scored second half goals to leave the current champions just two places above the relegation zone, while the Toffees move up to seventh.

Burnley’s good home run continued with an important win against Middlesbrough which lifted them six points above the relegation zone. Andre Gray squirmed a powerful shot under Victor Valdes to score the only goal of the game at Turf Moor.

Finally, Sam Allardyce marked his first game in charge of Crystal Palace with a credible 1-1 draw away to Watford. Yohan Cabaye’s goal gave the Eagles the lead but Christian Benteke missed a penalty that would have given his side a comfortable advantage before the break. The miss came back to bite Palace as Troy Deeney scored a penalty of his own as the points were shared at Vicarage Road.

 

 

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