Premier League, Week 24: Chelsea slay the dragon

Chelsea didn’t have the ball much, but they kept the home side from getting chances and when they counterattacked, they were dynamic. They almost scored in the 27th minute when a bad giveaway by City sparked Chelsea the other way, but the Blues’ 4-on-1 resulted in Ramires’ underwhelming shot being saved by Joe Hart. Luckily for them, it would not be much longer before they did actually score.

Chelsea could have scored again before the break as Hazard once again undid the City defense and found Samuel Eto’o, but the striker’s shot hit the bar and went over. The second half started like the first one ended, with Chelsea surging forward on the counter, but Hazard was too unselfish on the Blues’ best chance and passed when he had a good chance at goal to waste the opportunity.

Chelsea may be three points further back but have the advantage of José Mourinho, who’s always capable of squeezing the very best from his players -- especially on the big occasions. Indeed, City suffered one of their four Premier League defeats this season in the reverse fixture, so definitely aren’t expected to cruise to victory here.

Manchester City injuries and suspensions

There was only one real chance of any kind of note in the first half, with Julian Speroni making a save off an Arsenal set piece late in the second half. While Arsenal were in complete control of the half, they never looked much like scoring in a first half that was typical of a Pulis-Wenger battle.

Oxlade-Chamberlain sealed the result for his team in the 73rd minute, finishing off a nice exchange with Olivier Giroud. He found his striker with a pass on the ground, then continued his run to get on the end of Giroud’s return ball before surging into the box and beating Speroni, doubling the lead that his team would never relinquish.

The top four race remains interesting after Liverpool dropped points at the Hawthorns. West Bromwich Albion have been struggling all season and began the match clear of the relegation zone on goal difference alone, but they showed huge fight here to come back against a side that’s battered so many opponents once they’d got their noses in front, drawing 1-1 thanks to a second-half strike from Victor Anichebe.

The early stages of the match were fairly dire. Liverpool were sleepy, but the hosts were sloppy, failing to take advantage of the spaces that were opening up in midfield. Eventually they were going to pay for their repeated turnovers in the centre of the pitch against a team with the likes of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, and the visitors duly struck in the 25th minute.

Arsenal injuries and suspensions

Crystal Palace injuries and suspensions

West Bromwich Albion injuries and suspensions

Out: Nicolás Anelka (leg), Stéphane Sessègnon (groin). In doubt: None.

The Cottagers have a problem: They’re terrible.

Southampton took until the second half before they turned up the heat, but they completely destroyed Fulham at Craven Cottage. Adam Lallana scored in the 64th minute, Rickie Lambert added another in the 70th and Jay Rodriguez capped things off in the 75th minute to wrap up a complete demolition that keeps Fulham bottom of the table.

Eventually, they were going to score, and score they did. Rose blasted the ball seemingly aimlessly into the Hull box, and miraculously the ball fell to Paulinho. The Brazilian’s first touch was perfect, allowing him to turn and get a shot away. It was a fine shot, too, screaming into the roof of the net even though Harper got a fingertip to it. Despite the slew of defensive miscues, Spurs were level.

Both sides had chances to claim the points as time wound down, but the ball simply refused to go in again. Hull will surely be happy with the point, Spurs less so -- the chase for fourth is looking fiendishly difficult at this point.

The first came in the 27th minute from open play, with Nolan volleying in a Carroll knockdown from 10 yards. Just before the stroke of halftime, they connected again, this time on a corner. Carroll won the ball at the back post, heading across the face of goal. There was no one marking Nolan, who had a free header to complete a brace.

Unfortunately for Carroll, his day turned around in the 59th minute when he was spotted taking a swing at Chico Flores, for which he saw a straight red card. Swansea were predictably in control from then until the end of the match, but they struggled to generate chances and West Ham had little problem holding on to secure all three points.

Gus Poyet’s Sunderland rebirth continues. The Black Cats, in relegation trouble for so much of the season, are slowly working their way out of the drop zone, and they secured another three points with an impressive 3-0 victory today. At St. James’ Park. Against Newcastle United. It’s probably safe to say that Sunderland fans will be celebrating tonight.

The visitors were the better side from the off and should have gone ahead inside five minutes. The unmarked Marcos Alonso met Adam Johnson’s free kick only to power his header over the bar. Minutes later, Fabio Borini missed another grand chance after a sweeping pass from Johnson arced perfectly over the defence to put him one on one against Krul -- needing only a touch, the striker failed to get one and the hosts went unpunished.

Andy Carroll has two assists for West Ham United. He got a red card for elbowing Chico Flores in the head. He has bird feces in his hair.

What a day.

Newcastle United injuries and suspensions

Sunderland injuries and suspensions