Chelsea surged back to the top of the English Premier League by a point on Sunday, crushing Stoke 7–0 after Manchester United had temporarily leapfrogged them on Saturday with a 3–1 win over Tottenham.
Chelsea 7, Stoke 0
Salomon Kalou netted a hat trick as Chelsea punished Stoke at Stamford Bridge.
Didier Drogba menaced the Stoke defense early on and set up Kalou’s first goal in the 24th minute. Kalou’s snatched a second when Thomas Sorensen spilled Frank Lampard’s 25-yard shot.
It was a controversial goal, as Kalou slid in with his studs showing on Sorensen. The wild challenge saw Sorensen taken to hospital after the resulting clash.
Lampard made it three from the penalty spot after Kalou was fouled by Robert Huth and then Kalou notched up his first Premier League hat trick scoring the fourth in the 68th minute.
Lampard, Daniel Sturridge, and Florent Malouda then capped the rout.
Ashley Cole made his first appearance since sustaining an ankle injury on the Feb. 10.
Stoke manager Tony Pulis was due to be a pundit on the BBC’s match of the day, but he was absent from the show perhaps due to the fact that he did not want to analyze in front of the nation the seven goals his team conceded in this match.
Manchester United 3, Tottenham 1
Manchester kept up the pressure on Chelsea as they beat in form Tottenham on Saturday ahead of Stoke’s trip to Chelsea.
Nani’s delightful chip for the second goal surmised his top performance of the afternoon.
Wayne Rooney missed the game after suffering a groin injury, which will see him out of action for a few weeks, meaning he has played his last Premier League game of the season.
And with Rooney out, it was a chance for Nani to step up and shine and that is what he did. His weaving runs caused him to be taken down in the box and Ryan Giggs stepped up and converted his first penalty kick of the day just before the hour mark.
Ledley King looked to have put the Londoners back in the match when he towered in the box to head past Rafael on the near post, but United restored their lead with a piece of sublime skill from the Portuguese international Nani, as he broke through on goal on the right side to chip, floating the ball over Heurelho Gomes.
With less than five minutes to play, Dimitar Berbatov flicked a ball into the path of Patrice Evra only to be flattened by Benoit Assou-Ekotto in the box.
Giggs then scored his second spot kick.
Tottenham are now tied for the precious fourth and final Champions League qualifying spot along with Aston Villa. Spurs, however, have a far superior goal differential advantage.
Arsenal 0, Manchester City 0
Manchester City moved to one point behind Tottenham after drawing with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
For City it came at a severe cost as goalkeeper Shay Given was carried off with a suspected dislocated shoulder in the second half.
On paper both these teams have great attacking ability but this was hardly seen, particularly in the first half.
Arsenals best chance came when Abou Diaby tested Given, which resulted in the shoulder injury after the Irish keeper dove to his left.
“I am not used to games like this,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
“We created very little chances. Man City did not create anything, were highly focused on defending, and gave us no space.”
Elsewhere in the Premier League, West Ham saved their Premiership status with a win over Wigan. Hammer’s talisman Scott Parker scoring the winner in a match which ended 3–2.
Burnley will be relegated to the Championship next season after losing 4–0 to Liverpool and Hull will be joining them after losing at home Sunderland 1–0.
