PREMIER LEAGUE: Chelsea surge 11 points clear

LONDON - Chelsea's processional march towards the Premier League title continued at Swansea City's expense on Saturday as reigning champions Leicester City dropped into the bottom three.

Antonio Conte's side were not firing on all cylinders against a resolute Swansea side managed by their former assistant coach Paul Clement but second-half goals by Pedro and Diego Costa made sure of a 3-1 victory.

They are 11 points ahead of Manchester City who have 13 games left and while Italian Conte is too cagey to start preparing the Prosecco yet, only a monumental loss of form looks like denying him the title in his first season in charge.

Tottenham Hotspur, the only other top-four side in league action this weekend, could trim Chelsea's lead to 10 points if they win at home to Stoke City on Sunday.

"It's important to continue this way. We need 29 points to be sure of winning the league," Conte told reporters.

  
Chelsea's victory made it mathematically impossible for Leicester to catch them as they are 42 points behind the leaders going into their home clash with Liverpool on Monday - their first fixture since the sacking of manager Claudio Ranieri.

Leicester will start that game third-bottom after Crystal Palace's 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough at Selhurst Park on Saturday took them out of the relegation zone.

Patrick van Aanholt's 34th-minute goal was enough to lift Palace to 17th place with 22 points, one ahead of Leicester and Hull City, who drew 1-1 at home with Burnley.

"The three points are important as it puts us in amongst the pack, out of the bottom three and a bit closer to Bournemouth," Palace manager Sam Allardyce said.

Boro also have 22 points but are sliding towards the drop zone after nine league games without a win.

Bournemouth, too, are being sucked into the relegation battle after a 2-1 defeat at West Bromwich Albion despite taking a fourth-minute lead through Josh King's penalty. Craig Dawson and Gareth McAuley replied for West Brom, who are eighth.

In-form Everton continue to harbour hopes of catching the top four and beat bottom club Sunderland 2-0 to move within six points of fourth-placed Arsenal.

Romelu Lukaku made the points safe for Everton with 10 minutes remaining, taking his tally for the season to 17, level at the top of the scoring charts with Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez.

Sunderland's fourth defeat in six left them on 19 points.

"There is a gap between us and the teams above us but there are still 12 games to go," Everton manager Ronald Koeman said.

"You need to continue and get the momentum."

Watford host West Ham United in the day's late kickoff.

Chelsea were made to work hard to dispatch a much-improved Swansea side despite taking a 19th-minute lead when Cesc Fabregas scored on his 300th Premier League appearance.

Fernando Llorente scored from Swansea's first real chance on the cusp of halftime, heading in after Gylfi Sigurdsson found him with a quickly-taken free kick.

Swansea were denied a penalty midway through the second half when Cesar Azpilicueta got away with a clear handball.

"That was a big moment. Who knows what would have happened?" Swansea boss Paul Clement, returning to the club where he was assistant coach, said as he reflected on the defeat.

Shortly afterwards Pedro's shot squirmed past keeper Lukasz Fabianski before Diego Costa, the fourth Spaniard of the day to hit the target, made the points safe with a volley for his 16th league goal of the season.

(Editing by Ed Osmond, Neville Dalton)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Giroud caps Arsenal revival, Clement sees Swansea win

LONDON, United Kingdom -- Arsenal staged a sensational fightback from three goals down as Olivier Giroud's last-gasp equalizer rescued a draw at Bournemouth, while Swansea welcomed new boss Paul Clement with a crucial 2-1 win at Crystal Palace on Tuesday.

Arsene Wenger's side were facing their first defeat -- and a major setback to their Premier League title hopes -- to Bournemouth after goals from Charlie Daniels, Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser stunned the Gunners at Dean Court.

But Arsenal scored three times in the last 20 minutes as Alexis Sanchez and Lucas Perez netted before Bournemouth captain Simon Francis was sent off, setting the stage for Giroud's headed equaliser in the second minute of stoppage time.

The Gunners' gritty 3-3 draw left them in fourth place, eight points behind leaders Chelsea, who play their game in hand at Tottenham on Wednesday.

 

"We refused to lose the game. It was a mental test," Wenger said.

"There's a great resilience in the team and we saw that today. It was not a result we wanted before the game but at 3-0 down we'd have signed for 3-3."

At Selhurst Park, Clement saw Swansea climb off the bottom of the table just hours after his appointment and in the day's other match Stoke won 2-0 against a Watford side on the slide.

"Paul came down for some moral support, he made his presence felt at half-time," said Swansea caretaker boss Alan Curtis.

"We would have surprised a lot of people with our performance today."

Wenger had bemoaned the fixture schedule that had Arsenal back in action just 48 hours after their victory against Palace and the Frenchman wore a furious expression as his sluggish side were torn apart in the first half.

Bournemouth took the lead in the 16th minute when Daniels collected a Junior Stanislas pass, cut past Hector Bellerin and slotted home.

Fraser earned a 21st-minute penalty with a surging run that teased a needless foul from Granit Xhaka.

Wilson sent Petr Cech the wrong way with a cool spot-kick and Fraser made it three for Bournemouth when he got away with a nudge on Bellerin and fired home in the 58th minute.

Sanchez's 70th-minute header from Giroud's cross gave Arsenal hope and Perez set up a tense finale when the striker bagged his first Premier League goal with a superb volley five minutes later.

- Memorable -

Francis's red card for a rash lunge on Aaron Ramsey stacked the odds against Bournemouth and France striker Giroud capped the fightback when he scored with a glancing header from Xhaka's cross.

Giroud celebrated by replicating the scorpion kick that brought him a memorable goal against Palace on Sunday.

Clement, who had been working as Bayern Munich's assistant coach, is Swansea's third boss this season following the sackings of Bob Bradley and Francesco Guidolin.

Having been appointed earlier in the day, Clement was at Selhurst Park to watch his new team, although Curtis picked the starting line-up, and the presence of their new boss energised Swansea.

Their pressure was rewarded in the 42nd minute when Gylfi Sigurdsson's free-kick was headed in by Alfie Mawson for his first Premier League goal.

Sam Allardyce, taking charge of his first home match as Palace boss, trudged off with boos ringing in his ears at half-time.

Palace drew level in the 83rd minute when Wilfried Zaha met a Martin Kelly cross in midair with a superb scissor kick from 15 yards.

But Clement, who had been in the dug-out since half-time, was celebrating five minutes later when Angel Rangel smashed the winner to lift Swansea to 19th place, one point behind fourth-bottom Palace.

Stoke moved away from the relegation zone with a 2-0 win against Watford at the Britannia Stadium.

Ryan Shawcross put Stoke ahead on the stroke of half-time with a confident finish from Charlie Adam's corner.

Adam was the provider again when Stoke increased their lead, this time sending over a cross that Peter Crouch converted in the 49th minute.

source: news.abs-cbn.com