Manchester United took a gigantic step forward in their quest to get back into the Champions League with an impressive 2-1 win away at Liverpool on Sunday. Mata was the difference with a brace, as Rooney missed a penalty and Gerrard was remarkably sent off after only being on the pitch for less than a minute in the second half. United are now 5 points clear of closest rivals Liverpool who are in 5th place, and with only 8 games left are also only 2 points off Manchester City who are 2nd as the Champions League race heats up.
Meanwhile Chelsea put a poor run of results behind them after being kicked out of Europe in midweek with a tough 3-2 win away at Hull City. Hazard and Costa scored fantastic early goals to ensure Chelsea are now 6 points ahead at the summit of the Premier League and have a game in hand. Hull City on the other hand are dangerously close to the drop zone and need to find points quickly to ensure their Premier League survival.
Saturday's early kick off was at Manchester, as Man City hosted West Brom. City were too strong and although there was controversy throughout, ended up winning comfortably 3-0. City are the closest but have Arsenal & Man United on their tails and cannot afford to drop any more points especially as they too went out of Europe in midweek. West Brom look safe and only need a few more wins to ensure their Premier League safety. Other fixtures on Saturday saw relegation threatened Aston Villa. They hosted Swansea in Birmingham. However, the Welch outfit were too strong, finally scoring in the 87th minute to come away with the 3 points winning 1-0. Arsenal won 2-1 away in Newcastle thanks to a wonderful double from the inform Giroud. Southampton put a damper on Burnley's good form with a 2-0 win at home whilst Crystal Palace had a fantastic win away at Stoke City after coming back from behind to win 2-1. Spurs had an amazing 4-3 win at home to Leicester City thanks to a hat trick from inform Harry Kane who is making a late run for golden boot as he joins Costa on 19 league goals and West Ham won the late kick off 1-0 over Sunderland.
Sunday's last fixture saw Everton win 2-1 away in the Capital at QPR, who also both needed points to draw away from the relegation zone.
| 1 | Chelsea | 29 | 67 |
| 2 | Man City | 30 | 61 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 30 | 60 |
| 4 | Man Utd | 30 | 59 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 30 | 54 |
| 6 | Southampton | 30 | 53 |
| 7 | Tottenham | 30 | 53 |
| 8 | Swansea | 30 | 43 |
| 9 | West Ham | 30 | 42 |
| 10 | Stoke | 30 | 42 |
| 11 | Crystal Palace | 30 | 36 |
| 12 | Newcastle | 30 | 35 |
| 13 | Everton | 30 | 34 |
| 14 | West Brom | 30 | 33 |
| 15 | Hull | 30 | 28 |
| 16 | Aston Villa | 30 | 28 |
| 17 | Sunderland | 30 | 26 |
| 18 | Burnley | 30 | 25 |
| 19 | QPR | 30 | 22 |
| 20 | Leicester | 29 | 19 |
Wesley Tronson is a bank manager on the Gold Coast and lived in England for seven years to 2010 in banking and soccer.
Wesley Tronson's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/wesley-tronson.html