Chelsea made light of their injury crisis to cruise to a 5-0 win at Middlesbrough on Saturday as Liverpool were forced to produce another fightback to beat Wigan Athletic and keep pace with the league leaders.
With Arsenal and champions Manchester United also winning, the Premier League table was left with a familiar look to it, with England’s Champions League representatives occupying the top four berths for the first time this season.
Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari was without seven first-team regulars, but Middlesbrough still succumbed to a defeat their manager Gareth Southgate described as a “humiliation.”
“We showed people that we have 23 or 24 good players,” Scolari said.
The win ensured Chelsea remain top of the table on goal difference from Liverpool, who scored twice in the last five minutes to secure a 3-2 win over a Wigan Athletic side that had been reduced to 10 men following the sending off of Ecuadorian winger Antonio Valencia.
Egypt striker Amr Zaki found the net twice to give Steve Bruce’s side a halftime lead.
The visitors, however, paid a heavy price after Valencia collected his second yellow card 15 minutes from time.
Within five minutes Liverpool were level through Spain winger Albert Riera and Kuyt’s second of the afternoon five minutes from time kept the Reds level on points with Chelsea.
Arsenal also had to come from behind to keep their challenge on track, a 3-1 win over Everton lifting the Gunners into third place.
Everton took a ninth minute lead when Leon Osman got on the end of Steven Pienaar’s cross from the left.
Samir Nasri equalized with a crisp 25m drive three minutes into the second half, Robin van Persie nodded Arsenal into the lead in the 70th minute and Theo Walcott came off the bench to wrap up a match Arsene Wenger had admitted his side could ill afford to lose.
“We showed personality and mental strength — and that will be important for the rest of the season,” the Frenchman said.
Wayne Rooney’s rich goalscoring run continued in Manchester United’s 4-0 win over West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford.
Rooney’s opener was his eighth in six games for club and country and further strikes from Cristiano Ronaldo, Dimtar Berbatov and Nani saw Sir Alex Ferguson’s men cruise to a win that leaves them six points off the top two with a game in hand.
The derby clash between Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers was one of three matches to finish goalless.
Bolton had the better of the possession, but it was Blackburn who came closest to breaking the deadlock when Carlos Villanueva’s drive came back off the bar shortly before halftime.
Ten-man Portsmouth held out for a point at Aston Villa, but the home side could scarcely claim to have deserved any more from the match having relied on goalkeeper Brad Friedel to keep them on level terms before Sean Davis was sent off with nine minutes left.
The match at Villa Park was overshadowed by a coin thrown from the crowd that pole-axed the referee’s assistant.
Sunderland left Fulham with a point, but their manager Roy Keane was left fuming after Kieran Richardson found the back of the net with a free-kick only to see his effort chalked off for an infringement in the wall.
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