Sunday 14 December 2014 07:13, UK
Chelsea returned to winning ways in the Barclays Premier League with a 2-0 victory over Hull City at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues, who lost their unbeaten record at Newcastle last weekend, made a flying start when Eden Hazard put them in front in the seventh minute with a downward header from Oscar’s cross.
Hull were reduced to 10 men on the hour when Tom Huddlestone was red carded for a high tackle on Filipe Luis and Chelsea took advantage of their extra man eight minutes later when Diego Costa struck.
The Spain international ended his four-match goalscoring drought after being teed up by Hazard following a well-worked move with Branislav Ivanovic.
The win keeps Chelsea three points clear of Manchester City after the champions battled to a 1-0 victory over struggling Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.
Frank Lampard, making only his third league start for the club, netted the only game of the game in the 40th minute when he swept the ball home from seven yards after good work by Samir Nasri.
The goal means Lampard is now the joint-fourth highest scorer in Premier League history alongside Thierry Henry with 175.
Arsenal returned to winning ways in the Premier League after defeat at Stoke last weekend with a 4-1 win over Newcastle at the Emirates Stadium in the Saturday Night Football.
Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla both scored twice, while Ayoze Perez scored Newcastle's consolation as Arsene Wenger's men consolidated sixth place in the Premier League table.
Southampton’s challenge continues to falter, the Saints suffering their fourth successive defeat as they went down 1-0 at Burnley.
Dusan Tadic wasted a golden chance to put them ahead on the hour when his penalty was saved by Clarets goalkeeper Tom Heaton.
And Heaton’s heroics were rewarded in the 73rd minute when Ashley Barnes netted from Danny Ings' pass to move Burnley up to 17th in the table.
West Ham remain in fourth place after claiming a point from a 1-1 draw with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
The Black Cats took the lead through a controversial Jordi Gomez penalty in the 22nd minute following a foul by James Tomkins on Adam Johnson.
The Hammers levelled seven minutes later when Stewart Downing cut in from the right and netted with a low left-foot shot.
Crystal Palace and Stoke City also drew 1-1 at Selhurst Park after two quickfire goals in the first half.
Palace went ahead in the 11th minute through James McArthur’s looping header from Yannick Bolasie’s cross but Peter Crouch equalised just two minutes later with a close-range effort.
West Brom ended their five-match winless run as they beat Aston Villa 1-0 to secure only their second victory at The Hawthorns this season.
Villa faced an uphill task after Kieran Richardson was sent off in the 22nd minute for a two-footed lunge on Stephane Sessegnon.
Their resistance was finally broken in the 72nd minute when former Villa midfielder Craig Gardner scored his first goal for the club, drilling the ball home after Sessegnon’s shot was blocked.
