Chelsea comfortably outclassed defending champions Leicester City on Saturday, shrugging off the absence of star striker Diego Costa to win 3-0 at the King Power Stadium while Tottenham Hotspur’s forward, Harry Kane, made the headlines for the right reasons with a superb hat-trick as Spurs crushed West Bromwich Albion 4-0 in the early kick-off.

Costa, who allegedly has a ‘back’ problem, was dropped from the squad as rumours of an imminent move to China grow stronger by the minute. While his absence will surely hamper the team’s title ambitions in the long run, against Leicester, they never looked in danger of losing their second game on the bounce, recovering well from their loss to Tottenham.

Marcos Alonso was the unlikely hero for the Blues, the defender scoring a well-taken brace to ensure a routine win for the league leaders. He opened the scoring in the 6th minute, curling the ball into the far corner with his weaker foot after Eden Hazard had set him up smartly.

Chelsea manager continued to keep Michy Batshuaiyi on the bench, playing Hazard up top and had the result not gone their way, the Italian would have been under intense scrutiny but had his flying wing-back Alonso to thank.

For the defender then got his and his side’s second six minutes after the interval, sending in a half-volley from the edge of the box which went in via deflection to put the visitors in a commanding position. And Pedro made the result final with a well-worked move involving himself and Willian, brilliantly releasing the winger on the wing with a cheeky back-heel before heading in the cross from the Brazilian in the 71st minute.

Chelsea thus restored their lead at the top of the Premier League table to seven points as Tottenham Hotspur had momentarily cut their lead to four with a easy home win over a hapless West Brom.

The Lilywhites have been playing some slick football in recent weeks and their star striker, Kane, took full advantage of the chances that came his way to get his third hat-trick in Spurs colours.

The fact that he could have scored another three just speaks volumes of the home side’s dominance and while they could be demoted to third in the table should Liverpool win their game on Sunday, there is no denying the fact that Spurs are going great guns at the moment.

And speaking of guns, Spurs’ arch-rivals, Arsenal thrashed Swansea 4-0 to keep their title aspirations alive at the Liberty Stadium.
In-form striker Giroud made the breakthrough in the first-half before two-second half own goals sealed the result in favour of the Gunners. The North London side’s talismanic winger, Alexis Sanchez, then put gloss on the scoreline with a 73rd minute strike.

Arsenal move upto third in the table on 44 points, one behind Spurs and eight behind Chelsea.