With Arsenal dropping games against Manchester United and Chelsea in the past week, the Premiership’s top two have opened a seven point gap on the Gunners in the title race. Chelsea’s 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge on Sunday ensured they stayed top of the table, two points ahead of United.

United had temporarily gone top on Saturday, courtesy of a 5-0 win over the bottom club, Portsmouth. A hat-trick of own goals from Portsmouth certainly didn’t help their cause, but it was Wayne Rooney who opened the scoring in the 40th minute, his 21st EPL goal this season. The win took United’s goal differential to +41, slightly better than Chelsea’s +40 – making this title run-in even closer.

However, on Sunday it was Chelsea’s turn to respond and they took the opportunity to handily dismiss Arsenal 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. The visitors started brightly and Andrei Arshavin looked lively, but from a Chelsea corner in the eighth minute it was John Terry who met the cross and knocked it on to Didier Drogba for a tap in at the far post. He doubled their margin in the 22nd minute from a swift counter-attack and Chelsea never looked back.

This matchday also saw another hotly contested Merseyside Derby, with the match living up to its fiery reputation. Sotirios Kyrgiakos was sent off in the 34th for a two-footed lunge on Fellaini, though replays showed Fellaini entering the chalenge with a studs-up, two-footed lunge of his own that left Kyrgiakos needing stitches in his leg. Everton were reduced to 10 men late on as Steven Pienaar picked up a long-overdue second yellow, meaning this derby has now provided 19 red cards in the Premier League – the most of any fixture. There were also three points on the line, which Liverpool kept at Anfield courtesy of a Dirk Kuyt goal in the 55th minute.

Coupled with Tottenham’s 0-0 draw with Aston Villa, Liverpool’s result over Everton put the Merseysiders into fourth place. Spurs looked the brighter of the two sides, but it was a masterclass from Villa’s American keeper Brad Friedel that kept the hosts out. The point kept Villa in seventh with 41, City stayed in sixth with 41 despite losing 2-1 at Hull City and Tottenham fell to fifth with 43 as Liverpool moved into fourth with 44. With four teams within a single match of the final Champions League place, there’s sure to be some bad blood between them by the time everything is settled.

At the other end of the table, West Ham was pushed into the relegation spots again after a 2-1 loss at Burnley. Burnley came into the match with the worst form in the league, picking up just one point out of their last possible 15, but by taking the three points, they leapt past West Ham, Bolton and Wigan into 15th.

Elsewhere:

Sunderland 1-1 Wigan

Stoke 3-0 Blackburn

Bolton 0-0 Fulham

Birmingham City 2-1 Wolverhampton

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