Chelsea extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table to 11 points after they defeated Swansea City 3-1 at Stamford Bridge. Cesc Fabregas opened the scoring for Antonio Conte's side in the 19th minute and it capped the perfect day for the Spaniard who was also celebrating his 300th Premier League appearance.
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Swansea City, under Paul Clement, has really improved and they did get back into the game just before half time as Fernando Llorente got the away side back into the game after an excellent header.
After a strong showing from Lukasz Fabianski in the first half, the Polish keeper could not keep his head in the game as he made a silly error as Pedro made it 2-1 in the 72nd minute and then Diego Costa put the match to bed in the 84th minute as he registered his 16th goal of the season. Chelsea picked up all three points and remain the favourites to win the Premier League title.
Everton closed the gap with the top four to within six points with their win 2-0 win over Sunderland as David Moyes has to settle for a loss on returning to his old stomping ground.
Idrissa Gueye's fine strike, five minutes before the break, gave Everton the lead in what was one-sided first half. Sunderland did improve in the second half and looked much more of an attacking threat but their lack of creativity did not threaten Everton's defence at all while Joel Robles was hardly tested.
Romelu Lukaku sealed all the three points for Everton in the 80th minute after he found the back of the net shortly after a counter attack as he took his goal tally to 17 for the season and also became Everton's joint top-scorer along with Duncan Ferguson.
Crystal Palace and Sam Allardyce managed to drag themselves out of the relegation zone for the time being as they defeated Middlesbrough 1-0 who have also been caught in a relegation battle.
Patrick van Aanholt grabbed his first goal for the club and he scored the only goal of the match in the 34th minute as Crystal Palace recorded a crucial win as they look to stay in the Premier League beyond this season. That win takes them up to 17th in the table but if Leicester City defeats Liverpool, they could drop back in the bottom three.
Hull City and Burnley had to settle for a 1-1 draw as Burnley grabbed just their second away point of the season as Michael Keane went from zero to hero within a span of four minutes.
Michael Keane first gave away a penalty which Tom Huddlestone converted to give Hull the lead in the 72nd minute and then he levelled the score line four minutes later after he latched onto a Robbie Brady's corner from close range. Despite that point, Hull City is still in the 19th position in the table and need a good set of results to escape a fall.
West Bromwich Albion continued their fine form this season as they secured a comeback win over Bournemouth. Josh King opened the scoring for Bournemouth in the fifth minute of the match but West Brom were quick to respond as Craig Dawson levelled the game within five minutes before Gareth McAuley's strike in the 21st minute proved to be the winner.
The final game on Saturday (February 25)saw Watford in action against West Ham United and after an early goal from Watford captain Troy Denney from the penalty spot, it looked likely that the home team would come away with three points but Andre Ayew, who came on as a substitute, levelled the game in the 73rd minute as West Ham earned a well-deserved point.
