Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/782193
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 5 FEBRUARY 2017 57 EDEN Hazard struck a stunning solo goal as Chelsea boosted their Premier League title hopes with a 3-1 victory and left Arsenal's dreams in tatters. Arsenal may have complaints about Marcos Alonso's opener, which came when he clattered Hector Bellerin. But the visitors could do nothing about the sec- ond in Chelsea's success at Stam- ford Bridge. Hazard picked the ball up in the centre circle, evaded Laurent Ko- scielny and brushed off Francis Coquelin before fooling Kosciel- ny, again, and drilling in by Petr Cech. Cech gifted the ball to Cesc Fa- bregas, who casually lobbed the goalkeeper, for a third, as Chelsea ruthlessly punished Arsenal, who gained scant consolation with a late Olivier Giroud header. Away from Stamford Bridge, most eyes were on the fight at the bottom and specifically Selhurst Park, where Sam Allardyce's Crystal Palace suffered a 4-0 hammering at the hands of his old club Sunderland - with all the goals in the first half. Lamine Kone - signed by Al- lardyce for the Black Cats - swept home the rebound when Wayne Hennessey spilt Sebastian Lars- son's 10th minute free-kick. But it was during a crazy few minutes before half-time that Palace's afternoon completely fell apart. Didier Ndong made it 2-0 with his first goal for Sunderland when he took the ball off Joe Ledley and rif led home in the 43rd minute. Jermain Defoe then scored twice in first-half stoppage time to leave Sunderland fans in dreamland. However, the win was not enough to lift the Black Cats off the foot of the table thanks to Hull's 2-0 victory over Liverpool. The deadlock was broken in the 39th minute when Alfred N'Diaye stabbed home a goal Si- mon Mignolet will not want to see again. Liverpool pressed but were un- done on the counter-attack as Oumar Niasse made sure of the win six minutes from time. Early drama was the order of the day with six goals and a red card inside the opening 15 min- utes of the six 3pm kick-offs. The red card came at Vicarage Road where Jeff Hendrick was sent off for a two-footed chal- lenge on Jose Holebas as Burnley fell to a 2-1 defeat against Wat- ford. The Hornets took advantage as Troy Deeney scored in the 10th minute with a powerful header. Watford doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time through M'Baye Niang's header. There was a glimmer of hope for Burnley when Sebastian Prodl handled on the line, and Ashley Barnes's penalty went in off the post, but Watford hung on to win. The fastest goal came at Goodi- son Park, where Romelu Lukaku needed all of 31 seconds to fire Everton ahead in the 6-3 victory against Bournemouth. That set the tone as James Mc- Carthy doubled the lead in the 23rd minute from Lukaku's assist and the Belgian's second made it 3-0 after 29 minutes. But Joshua King gave Bourne- mouth hope in the 59th minute when he poked home from close- range and the nerves were appar- ent around Goodison after King made it 3-2 with 20 minutes to go. However, Lukaku scored his third and fourth goals of the af- ternoon seconds apart inside the last 10 minutes to secure the vic- tory. There was time for Harry Arter to pull one back, but Ross Barkley had the final word in a memora- ble Everton win. Harry Kane kept Tottenham in touch at the top of the table by scoring a second-half penalty to seal a 1-0 victory over Middles- brough. Spurs were dominant through- out at White Hart Lane but they struggled to break down a resil- ient Boro side until Kane convert- ed his spot-kick after the excel- lent Son Heung-min was fouled by Espinosa Bernardo. Victor Valdes was also fortunate not to be sent off early on after he pushed Dele Alli in the face. Tottenham's win means they re- duce the gap behind Chelsea back to nine points. At Southampton, Manolo Gab- biadini needed only 12 minutes of his debut to score for the Saints, hammering a shot in off the un- derside of the bar, but that was about all that went right in a 3-1 loss to West Ham. The celebrations were barely over before West Ham replied through Andy Carroll's 14th minute strike. Pedro Obiang's low shot de- f lected in to make it 2-1 before the break, and seven minutes into the second half Mark Noble's free-kick def lected off Steven Da- vis to find the net. James Morrison scored his sec- ond goal of the week as he opened the scoring for West Brom against Stoke just six minutes in. Saido Berahino was introduced as a substitute against the team he left in January, but barely made an impact as West Brom won 1-0. FOOTBALL Sport Chelsea, Sunderland and Hull win