Man City And Chelsea Get Three Points

Chelsea and Manchester City tightened their stranglehold on the Premier League title race on Saturday, recording victories over struggling clubs to stretch further clear of their increasingly forlorn pursuers.
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Normal service was resumed at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea maintained their three-point lead over City at the top with goals from Eden Hazard and Diego Costa sinking 10-man Hull City 2-0.
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Champions City maintained their ever more convincing chase, sealing their fifth successive league win at bottom club Leicester City 1-0 courtesy of a 40th-minute goal from the evergreen Frank Lampard.
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City’s delight, though, was tempered by the likelihood of another spell on the sidelines for captain Vincent Kompany who, on his return after a three-game absence with a hamstring problem, limped off again with the same trouble.
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As Arsenal completed a turbulent week with doubles from Olivier Giroud and birthday boy Santi Cazorla inspiring a 4-1 rout of Newcastle, fourth-placed West Ham’s progress was checked by a 1-1 draw at Sunderland and Southampton lost 1-0 to an Ashley Barnes goal at Burnley.
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It all left the chasing pack, headed by Manchester United and West Ham, 11 points behind Chelsea and eight adrift of the champions and put pressure on Louis van Gaal’s third-placed United before their match against Liverpool on Sunday.
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Chelsea, smarting about their first defeat of the season at Newcastle last weekend, responded with a performance which made their ‘Special One’ manager Jose Mourinho sniff: “It was not a special performance. Just a good enough performance.”
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Much more had been expected when Hazard headed home Oscar’s seventh minute cross but Chelsea were initially sloppy and Steve Bruce ended up unhappy that Gary Cahill, already on a yellow card, was not sent off after what the Hull manager felt was a blatant dive.