LONDON: Chelsea went five points clear of reigning champions Manchester City at the top of the Premier League after a 2-0 win at home to Arsenal in a fiery all-London clash yesterday.
Eden Hazard gave Chelsea a 27th-minute lead with a coolly-taken penalty after he had been brought down in the box by Gunners defender Laurent Koscielny.
Diego Costa’s ninth goal in seven Premier League games after an excellent lofted through-ball from former Arsenal favourite Cesc Fabregas sealed Chelsea’s victory 12 minutes from time.
Kick-off at Stamford Bridge was delayed by 15 minutes as officials slowed the entry of Arsenal fans into the away end after a flare was set off.
There was a flare-up of a different kind when Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger clashed with Jose Mourinho after the Gunners’ Alexis Sanchez was fouled by Gary Cahill.
“There are two technical areas not one,” said Mourinho. “He (Wenger) was coming to my space. If it was to give an instruction to a player I say OK, but to press the referee to give a red card to an opponent is not fair.”
“I don’t think that is the image of Arsene Wenger as an advocate of fair play,” the Chelsea coach said.
“It was an important match for both teams and these conditions make for a game of emotions,” he said.
Wenger said he was responding to a bad tackle, adding: “I went out of my technical area because I wasn’t happy with the challenge and I wanted to see what happened.
“Someone stood in front of me and that was it. I say absolutely nothing else on that.”
Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois then went off due to suspected concussion following an earlier collision with Sanchez.
Wenger, whose side were thrashed 6-0 on their last visit to Stamford Bridge in March, suggested Arsenal had been unlucky.
“We had more shots and missed opportunities to take more,” he said.
The defeat, Arsenal’s first in the Premier League this season, left the Gunners nine points off top spot and meant Wenger had failed to beat a Chelsea side managed by Mourinho in 12 attempts.
Earlier, Radamel Falcao’s first goal for Manchester United secured a 2-1 victory over Everton.
Colombia striker Falcao —signed on loan for a reported $13.1m on transfer deadline day — marked his fourth United appearance by scoring from inside the box after deflecting Angel di Maria’s long-range shot in the 62nd minute.
Argentina midfielder di Maria had given United a 27th-minute lead when he curled in a shot from just inside the penalty
area.
Everton could have equalised on the stroke of half-time following a penalty but United goalkeeper David de Gea saved Leighton Baines’s spot-kick — the first of several fine stops.
However, Baines recovered his composure to whip in a superb cross from which Gary Naismith headed Everton level 10 minutes after the break.
Stoppage-time saw de Gea preserve United’s lead with two impressive saves to deny Everton substitutes Leon Osman and Bryan Oviedo.
The result meant United, who moved up into fourth place, had their first back-to-back successes under Dutch manager Louis van Gaal following last week’s 2-1 victory at home to West Ham.
Everton’s defeat, which left them hovering above the relegation zone, was compounded by John Stones being carried off on a stretcher late on — with the defender now set to miss England’s Euro 2016 qualifiers against San Marino and Estonia next week.AGENCIES
