Chelsea scored three first half goals and beat struggling Norwich 4-0 on Saturday to move six points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Damien Duff, Frank Lampard and Arjen Robben put Jose Mourinho's Blues in control at Stamford Bridge and substitute Didier Drogba headed a fourth near the end to complete an easy victory.
PHOTO: AP
With second place Everton held 0-0 at struggling Blackburn, the result meant that Chelsea, which has 43 points from 18 games, increased its big lead.
It also meant that defending champion Arsenal, which visits Portsmouth on Sunday, is now eight points behind the Blues in the title race and two behind Everton while Manchester United remained in contention after a 5-2 beating of Crystal Palace.
"At this moment, I don't think anybody is better than us," Mourinho said after his team's 13th league victory. "A better team than us can stop us but if we keep our mental, tactical and physical condition, nobody can stop us.
"Maybe Arsenal or Manchester United can jump to a different level or maybe we can slide into a lower level. But, at this moment, we feel strong and we are ready for the fight."
There were other one-sided games in the Premier League.
Paul Scholes scored twice to make it six goals in six games as Manchester United outplayed Palace at Old Trafford even though Ian Dowie's men twice equalized.
Wayne Rooney missed a penalty but Alan Smith, John O'Shea and an own goal by Palace defender Emerson Boyce made sure Alex Ferguson men stay in the hunt, although they remain nine points behind Chelsea.
Striker Jermain Defoe of England scored a hat-trick as Tottenham crushed Harry Redknapp's Southampton 5-1 to win for the fourth time in a row.
"We just keep making mistakes and giving goals away," Redknapp said.
Birmingham beat last place West Bromwich Albion 4-0 and Middlesbrough made it six consecutive home victories by scoring a 3-0 victory over seventh place Aston Villa.
Chris Sutton headed Celtic to a 1-0 victory over next to last Dundee United on Saturday as Martin O'Neill's men moved four points ahead of Rangers in the Scottish title race.
Rangers can cut that to one by winning at Kilmarnock on Sunday when Dundee United will slip to last if Livingston upsets Hearts. Dundee climbed away from last with a 1-0 upset victory over Aberdeen.
Hibernian edged Dunfermline 2-1 thanks to a winner in the third minute of injury time by Derek Riordan.
Promoted Inverness captured a 2-1 victory at Motherwell.
Ronaldinho converted a 79th-minute penalty and FC Barcelona drew 1-1 with Valencia, the first time the league leader has not won at home this season.
Defending champion Valencia frustrated Barcelona, which had won all seven of its previous games at the Camp Nou, in an ill-tempered encounter and took the lead on Italy's Stefano Fiore's 63rd-minute strike.
Barcelona, which had goalkeeper Victor Valdes ejected in the 74th minute, remains 10 points atop the standings.
"There was no fortune in our result. My players worked extremely hard. To stop Barcelona you've got to be fast and you need a thousand eyes," Valencia coach Claudio Ranieri said.
In another game, Zinedine Zidane's injury-time header earned Real Madrid a 3-2 victory at struggling Racing Santander and moved into second place.
Santander twice led on goals by Israeli forward Yossi Benayoun and striker Javi Guerrero, before Michael Owen and Raul Gonzalez replied for Madrid.
Madrid, which played without Ronaldo, David Beckham and Roberto Carlos, improved to 29 points, moving it past Valencia and Espanyol, which was to play today.
Serie A leader Juventus drew 0-0 with second-place AC Milan, leaving a four-point difference between the two heading into a two-week Italian league break.
Milan, which commanded play throughout the much anticipated match at Turin's Stadio Delle Alpi, came close when Andriy Shevchenko hit the post in the first half, created several dangerous attacks but failed to break the league's best defense.
The match before a soldout crowd of 70,000 featured Italy's two most successful clubs -- combining for 44 league titles -- which are considered by many as the favorites for the 2005 "Scudetto."
After today's games, the league will be idle until Jan. 6.
Lille drew 0-0 at next-to-last Ajaccio, missing a chance close within a point of French first-division league leader Lyon.
The result left Lille in second place with 36 points, three behind Lyon after 19 rounds as the Ligue 1 heads into a three-week winter break.
Three-time defending champion Lyon drew 1-1 with Marseille on Friday to remain the league's only unbeaten team.
Auxerre moved past Monaco into third place with a 4-3 victory over Nice, trading the lead five times in eight minutes midway through the second half before Benjani Mwaruwari scored his second for the winner in the 63rd minute.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two