Premier League round-up

Chelsea extended their lead at the top of the Premier
League by crushing Swansea in Wales on Saturday, while
Jermain Defoe was well shackled on his Sunderland debut.
With Manchester City playing Arsenal on Super Sunday,
Jose Mourinho's Premier League leaders faced a tricky test
in south Wales but they opened up a five-point gap at the
top by blowing Swansea City away with a 5-0 win.
It took Oscar just 49 seconds to score Chelsea's opener
and after 35 minutes the Brazilian had secured a double
along with Diego Costa as the hosts' defence capitulated.
All eyes were on Defoe at White Hart Lane as the English
striker made his return after his spell in Canada. But his
first game ended in a 2-1 defeat for Sunderland against his
former club Tottenham, a match settled by a late
goal from Christian Eriksen.
Elsewhere, Manchester United needed Marouane Fellaini
and James Wilson to rescue them with a 2-0 win at QPR to
keep the pressure on manager Harry Redknapp, Burnley
saw a two-goal lead disappear in a 3-2 defeat against
Crystal Palace, while Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert
scored the goals as Liverpool won 2-0 at Aston Villa .
It was a pretty quiet contest at the King Power Stadium,
but it was more gloom for bottom club Leicester as they
held on for an hour until Bojan scored to seal the spoils
for Stoke City.
But who is going to catch Chelsea when they show this
sort of form? Mourinho may have been moaning last week
about his team facing different rules than his opponents
but this was a display that oozed class, speed and
brutality in front of goal.
Bafetimbi Gomis led the line for Swansea, who sold
Wilfried Bony to Manchester City earlier this week, but
their defence will need to be shored up if the opening
minute is anything to go by. As soon as Oscar struck his
sizzling opener, the Swans were all at sea as Costa and
Cesc Fabregas carved open the hosts.
It was slippers on for the Blues in the second half, but
Andre Schurrle still managed to grab a fifth after coming on
from the bench.
Tottenham and Sunderland produced plenty of fireworks in
north London but it didn't end happily for striker Defoe
who was unable to find the net for the first time on his
debut after starting for his sixth club.
He may have scored over 120 goals during spells with
West Ham United, Portsmouth and Spurs but, apart from a
half-hearted penalty shout when going down in the first
half, he rarely threatened for Gus Poyet's men.
It took 158 seconds for Jan Vertonghen to score the
opener, only for Sebastian Larsson to level with a stunning
free-kick. It was Eriksen who found the winner, although
Spurs needed a smart save right at the end by keeper Hugo
Lloris to hang on.
Manchester United had Fellaini to thank for three crucial
points in their push for a Champions League spot as they
leap-frogged Southampton in third after the Belgian was
on target just before the hour with fine work from Antonio
Valencia. Substitute Wilson scored a fine solo effort in
injury time to leave manager Louis van Gaal grinning at
Loftus Road.
QPR were often camped in their own half but they had
their chances with on-fire Charlie Austin denied by the
acrobatics of keeper David de Gea. Redknapp's strugglers
remain second from bottom.
A broad smile was on Alan Pardew's face at the final
whistle at Turf Moor as Palace produced a devastating
comeback to beat relegation rivals Burnley .
Sean Dyche's men began the game in confident mood with
the same starting line-up for the eighth consecutive
league match and they were in cruise control with two
early goals by Ben Mee and high-flying Danny Ings.
Dwight Gayle reduced the deficit and immediately after the
interval, Jason Puncheon equalised, leaving Gayle to steal
the headlines and help his team rise away from danger,
leaving the Clarets hovering one spot above the relegation
spots.
Liverpool continued their recovery in the Premier League
with a hard-fought win at Villa Park. The protest at owner
Randy Lerner by home fans was not as big as initially
feared and their mood was not helped after Borini and
Lambert fired in for the visitors.
Villa were tame in the first half as their defence was ripped
open by Raheem Sterling and his team-mates, but they
improved massively in the second half with the Reds
defence wobbling but as they pushed desperately for an
equaliser, Lambert blasted in a rare goal to wrap up the
points for Brendan Rodgers' men.
Stoke leapt up to 10th and left Leicester rooted to the
bottom with a 1-0 away win, and manager Mark Hughes
will be grateful for the magic of former Barcelona striker
Bojan who spun and fired in from 20 yards in the second
half to steer his side to their fourth win on their travels.
Courtesy: Goal news
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