Chelsea’s joy of victory

Action from the English Premier League was full of drama on Saturday as a late Middlesborough goal denied Manchester City all three points, while Chelsea breezed past Everton with a 5-0 thumping of the Toffees.

Following their stunning 3-1 Champions League win over Barcelona, Man City were out to maintain their positive momentum in the premier league when they hosted Middlesborough on Saturday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the match played at the Etihad Stadium saw City completely controlling matters in the first half with Sergio Aguero opening scoring in the 43rd minute.

City had several opportunities to seal the deal but failed to finish things off and M’borough made them pay as Marten de Roon netted a stoppage time equalizer to salvage a point for the visitors.

Following Man City’s earlier slip, Chelsea climbed to the summit of the table, at least for the day, with Arsenal and Tottenham  set to play on Sunday.

However, the Blues needed to get the better of a tricky Everton outfit at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea are unbeaten in their last 21 home premier league games against the Toffees and they showed why early on.

Eden Hazard gave his side the lead in the 19th minute. The Chelsea fans had barely finished celebrating Hazard’s goal by the time Antonio Conte’s men doubled their lead.

Summer signing Marcos Alonso was on hand to grab his maiden goal for the club in the 20th minute.

It was all one-way traffic from then on as the Blues dominated possession and dictated the pace of the game.

They could have made it three just after the half hour mark, when Victor Moses hit the upright with a well struck shot.

Nevertheless, they would go into the break in full control as the league’s top scorer, Diego Costa added to his tally, netting his ninth of the season with a sweet volley.

Chelsea maintained their energy and aggression going into the second stanza with star man Hazard their main threat as he grabbed his brace in style.

The Blues were running rampage in London as the Toffees had no answers and Pedro Rodriguez made it 5-0 from close range to put Chelsea in dream land.

NAN also reports that Super Sunday promises yet another thriller as Arsenal and Tottenham will continue the race for the title.

The North London derby is the peak of the bunch with Spurs still unbeaten.

The Blues go top of the premier league by a single point with Arsenal and Liverpool still to play.

Burnley moved into the top half following their win over Crystal Palace.

Bottom of the table, Sunderland finally got off the mark on Saturday with their first win of the season, while Stoke rose to 11th place following their 1-1 draw to West Ham. NAN)