League Leaders Arsenal went seven points clear at the top of the table with a 3-0 win at Cardiff City in Wales on Saturday. The Gunners came up with a brilliant performance and Mathieu Flamini scored his first goal since re-signing for the club in the summer. But the star of the night was homecoming hero Aaron Ramsey, who netted twice.
The Cardiff product broke the deadlock on the half-and-hour mark, by arriving in the box and heading in a wonderful cross by Mesut Ozil. The 22-year-old refused to celebrate the goal against his former club, as the entire stadium rose to applaud the Wales international.
Cardiff displayed some intent after the break and went close to scoring, but Wojciech Szczesny produced a top save to deny Frazier Campbell. However, a late goal from Flamini sealed the points for Arsenal, as the Bluebirds piled forward looking for an equaliser. Ramsey then delivered a hammer blow to his former club with his second goal on the counter in stoppage time. Though the scoreline was slightly unfair, the Gunners fully deserved all three points.
Result: Cardiff City 0 - 3 Arsenal (Ramsey 2, Flamini)
Sandro came up with a contender for goal of the season as Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United played out a 2-2 draw at White Hart Lane on Sunday. Both teams were looking for a win to keep up with the Gunners, and Kyle Walker gave Spurs an early lead with a clever free-kick that went under the wall and past David de Gea.
However, Walker turned hero to villain minutes later, as he failed to clear a cross from Phil Jones and played it straight into the path of the in-form Wayne Rooney, who made no mistakes with the finish. Tottenham regained the lead in the second half as Sandro's skipped past two United players and let fly from 25 yards out to find the top corner, leaving de Gea rooted to the spot.
The north London outfit lost their advantage in a matter of minutes again, with Hugo Lloris pulling down Danny Welbeck inside the box and Rooney converting the penalty. The draw means United and Spurs are now nine and 10 points behind Arsenal, as the race for the top four positions heats up.
Result: Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Walker, Sandro) - 2 Manchester United (Rooney 2)
Chelsea recovered from being a goal down in 14 seconds to beat high-flying Southampton 3-1 at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. The Blues got off to the worst possible start as Michael Essien, who was making his first league start in over two years, gave a disastrous backpass that was pounced on by Jay Rodriguez, to give Saints the lead within 15 seconds.
Southampton managed to maintain the lead going into the break but a scrappy goal from Gary Cahill, following a set-piece, levelled the scores early on in the second half. Chelsea took the lead just minutes later as captain John Terry, on his 400th Premier League appearance, headed in a Juan Mata cross in grand fashion.
Substitute Demba Ba made contact with a low ball from Ramires at the near post in the dying minutes to wrap up the points for Jose Mourinho's side, placing them just four points behind Arsenal.
Result: Chelsea 3 (Cahill, Terry, Ba) - 1 Southampton (Rodriguez)
Hull City enjoyed a historic moment on at the KC Sunday, with their 3-1 win over Liverpool becoming their first ever win over the Merseyside outfit in the top division. The Tigers took the lead early on, as on-loan midfielder Jake Livermore's shot took a wicked deflection off Martin Skrtel and looped over Simon Mignolet. However, a Steven Gerrard free-kick, which found a hole in the Hull City wall, levelled the scores.
Liverpool were expected to go on and win the game in the second half, but David Meyler deservedly put Hull ahead again in the 72nd minute with a a well-taken strike, following some confusion in the Reds box. Steve Bruce's men wrapped up the game up as Skrtel again turned villain, inadvertently diverting a Tom Huddlestone effort, which was going wide, into his own net. Hull moved to the top half of the table, while Liverpool slipped from second to fourth.
Result: Hull City 3 (Livermore, Meyler, Skrtel [OG]) - 1 Liverpool (Gerrard)
Manchester City maintained their 100 percent home record in the Premier League this season, by posting a comfortable 3-0 victory over Swansea City. Alvaro Negredo handed the Citizens an early lead with a free-kick, but Swans midfielder Jonathan de Guzman spurned a fantastic opportunity to equalise just before half-time, firing over with the goal at his mercy.
Swansea were made to pay for their mistake, as City hit form in the second half. The in-form Samir Nasri scored twice to finish off the Welsh club, putting Manuel Pellegrini's men third in the table, six points below the Gunners and two behind Chelsea.
Result: Manchester City 3 (Negredo, Nasri 2) - 0 Swansea City
Other results from this weekend:
Everton 4 (Deulofeu, Coleman, Oviedo, Lukaku) - 0 Stoke City
Newcastle United 2 (Gouffran, Sissoko) - 1 West Bromwich Albion (Brunt)
West Ham United 3 (Diame, Carlton Cole, Joe Cole) - 0 Fulham
Aston Villa 0 - 0 Sunderland
Norwich City 1 (Hooper) - 0 Crystal Palace
