The door is open for Leicester City to put a death grip on the Premier League title, while the other end of the table has three clear favorites for relegation after a big 6-pointer at Carrow Road.
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Aston Villa is all-but-down, and we knew that, but Norwich City’s 3-2 win over Newcastle United combined with Sunderland’s wasteful 0-0 draw versus West Brom means the Canaries have a multi-match lead on both the Magpies and Black Cats in the race to stay in the Premier League.
All that and more in the roundup.
Liverpool 1-1 Tottenham -- RECAP
Philippe Coutinho and Harry Kane traded second-half goals at Anfield in a match that entertained but ultimately put Spurs’ slim hopes for the Premier League title in jeopardy. Tottenham has to make up four points to catch Leicester, who plays Sunday and can stretch that lead to seven.
Arsenal 4-0 Watford -- RECAP
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Alexis Sanchez had a goal and an assist as Arsenal did what it could to stay in the Premier League title race despite the mathematics. Alex Iwobi, Hector Bellerin and Theo Walcott also scored for the Gunners, who more or less battered Watford from start to finish. The Gunners are eight points back of Leicester, and will have played a game fewer than the Foxes after Sunday.
Norwich City 3-2 Newcastle United -- RECAP
What a match for the neutral viewer, and what polar opposite feelings from the home and road fans following a thriller at Carrow Road. Norwich City led 1-0 and 2-1, with both leads canceled out by surprising sub Aleksandar Mitrovic.
It looked destined for a draw, but Norwich earned itself a four-point lead on Sunderland -- six on Newcastle -- when Martin Olsson belted a winner past Newcastle third-string goalkeeper Karl Darlow deep into stoppage time. Newcastle has one more match to play than Norwich, but needs to make up six points over those seven matches to stay in the Premier League.
West Ham United 2-2 Crystal Palace -- RECAP
A shocking straight red card to Cheikhou Kouyate moved this match from West Ham easing to three points right into jeopardy. Kouyate slid to corral a bad trap, and connected with the ball and a big piece of Dwight Gayle. Mark Clattenberg sent Kouyate off, though it looked much more like a yellow card foul.
Damien Delaney and Gayle scored for Palace, who is still winless in Premier League games this year. Dimitri Payet scored a scintillating free kick for West Ham, which also got a goal from Manuel Lanzini.
Stoke City 2-2 Swansea City -- RECAP
The Potters looked ready to cruise into the Top Five discussion after Ibrahim Afellay and Bojan Krkic boosted Mark Hughes’ side into a 2-0 lead. Gylfi Sigurdsson and Alberto Paloschi made sure to snare Swans a point -- and a 10-point lead on the drop zone -- with goals in the final 22 minutes.
Bournemouth 0-4 Manchester City -- RECAP
The Cherries looked fairly content, if not all-around sloppy, as Manchester City battered Bournemouth with three goals in the match’s first 20 minutes. Sergio Aguero, Aleksandar Kolarov, Kevin De Bruyne and Fernando all scored for the Sky Blues, who moved three points clear of fifth place West Ham and four in front of Manchester United. The Red Devils play Sunday.
Aston Villa 0-4 Chelsea -- RECAP
The first game of the post-Remi Garde era looked just as poor as the preceding ones, and no better than the early season struggles under Tim Sherwood. Pedro scored twice for Chelsea, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Alexandre Pato netted their first Blues’ goals. USMNT back Matt Miazga debuted in central defense for Chelsea, going 90 minutes in the win.
Sunderland 0-0 West Bromwich Albion -- RECAP
The Black Cats were all over Tony Pulis’ hemmed-in Baggies, but couldn’t keep pace with 17th place Norwich City’s three-point haul. Sunderland out-attempted West Brom 22-3, but couldn’t find a goal.