Chelsea dominate Bolton; Man City race ahead in the tables

After what must have been many sleepless nights, André Villas-Boas can finally get some shut-eye after Chelsea slotted in three goals in a game in which they dominated Bolton. The Blues had a frustrating first half, as 19^th-placed Bolton held their own, but David Luiz broke the deadlock three minutes into the second half before Didier Drogba headed in from close range and Frank Lampard sealed the win with a scorching shot into the middle of the goal.

Elsewhere, Newcastle’s chances to push themselves into the top four were squandered as they managed a 2-2 draw with Wolves, who edged themselves away from the relegation zone. Mid-table Fulham were quick off the starting blocks in their 1-0 win against fellow Londoners QPR with Pavel Pogrebnyak finding the back of the net after only seven minutes. West Brom managed to turn around a disastrous home record by seeing off Sunderland in style with in a 4-0 wonder-performance: Peter Odemwingie slotted home twice, and James Morrison scored a close-range header before Keith Andrews signed it off on the 90^th minute with a close-range effort.

Today’s final game saw Manchester City take on bottom-of-the-table Blackburn, as City sought to stretch their lead at the top of the Premier League table. Having bossed the game from the start it was of little surprise when Mario Balotelli opened the scoring in the 30^th minute with a close-range effort from an Aleksandar Kolarov cross; in true City fashion one goal was never going to be enough as they pushed on searching for a second. Their efforts were rewarded in the 52^nd minute as Sergio Agüero sent a ball flying into the back of the net. They didn’t stop there, as Edin Džeko added a third and boosted City’s already impressive goal tally this season, adding to the pressure on local rivals United for the title chase.

Sam McKavanagh