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Chelsea and Man United score facile wins

— PHOTO: AFP

GUNG-HO: Darren Fletcher reacts after opening Manchester United’s tally against Everton on Saturday.

LONDON: Chelsea trounced Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-0 to stay five points clear of champion Manchester United at the top of the Premier League on Saturday.

United kept pace with the leader by beating Everton 3-0 at home in the late match to move up to second after Arsenal’s 14-match unbeaten run ended with a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland.

Chelsea, which set a club record of 12 straight home wins, has 33 points from 13 matches to United’s 28. Arsenal is on 25 with a game in hand.

Dominant

Carlo Ancelotti’s sparkling Chelsea side was dominant from the start at Stamford Bridge, strolling into a 3-0 lead after 22 minutes with Florent Malouda opening the scoring with a left-foot shot in the fifth.

Michael Essien made it 2-0 with a 12th minute header and grabbed another 10 minutes later. Joe Cole made it 4-0 in the 56th, unleashing a low, right-foot shot off a pass from Salomon Kalou for his first league goal in more than a year.

“It was an easy game because we played very well,” Ancelotti, who gave French teenager Gael Kakuta his Premier League debut, told Sky Sports.

United went ahead in the 35th minute at Old Trafford when Darren Fletcher smacked a swerving half-volley into the top left corner and doubled its tally in the 67th through Michael Carrick.

Antonio Valencia made it 3-0 with a deflected shot in the 76th after the ball was laid on by Paul Scholes.

“The second goal put us in the comfort zone and from there on I didn’t think we could possibly lose it,” United manager Alex Ferguson told ESPN.

“If we get to the New Year within a point, or a point ahead, or level, then we have a great chance (to win the title) in the second half of the season.”

Arsenal stunned

Sunderland had Darren Bent to thank after his 71st minute goal stunned Arsene Wenger’s high-scoring Arsenal.

“We stifled them in the middle of the park,” said Sunderland manager Steve Bruce. “It’s okay to have a game plan but you’ve still got to go out and do it and they (Sunderland’s players) stuck to their task.”

Wenger, without injured Dutch striker Robin van Persie, said: “it is a big setback. You do not prepare yourself to drop points in a situation like that. It’s frustrating.”

Aston Villa came from behind to draw 1-1 at Burnley and leapfrog Tottenham Hotspur in fourth place on goal difference.

Birmingham City moved away from the drop zone by beating visitors Fulham 1-0.

The results:

On Saturday: Manchester United 3 (Darren Fletcher 35, Michael Carrick 67, Antonio Valencia 76) bt Everton 0; Birmingham City 1 (Lee Bowyer 16) bt Fulham 0; Burnley 1 (Steven Caldwell 9) drew with Aston Villa 1 (Emile Heskey 86); Chelsea 4 (Florent Malouda 5, Michael Essien 12, 22, Joe Cole 56) bt Wolverhampton Wanderers 0; Hull City 3 (Carlton Cole 27-og, Jimmy Bullard 45+1-pen, Kamil Zayatte 44) drew with West Ham United 3 (Guillermo Franco 5, Jack Collison 11, Manuel da Costa 69); Sunderland 1 (Darren Bent 71) bt Arsenal 0. — Agencies

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