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No one's safe in the EPL: Chelsea kicks in, Man U and Liverpool frustrated

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Kabir Ali
Kabir AliDec 07, 2016 | 08:37

No one's safe in the EPL: Chelsea kicks in, Man U and Liverpool frustrated

With a third of the season done, the English Premier League (EPL) gave on Matchday 14 its most significant clash yet. This was England's answer to the El Clasico, the clash of English football's nouveau riche - Manchester City and Chelsea. With six out of the last 12 titles, the two had a recent history of decisive games, and all signs pointed to this being another classic six-pointer. Chelsea, the form team in Europe, looking to make it eight wins on the bounce. City, on their heels and desperate for a win on their patch. Something had to give.

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City dominated the early exchanges and were rewarded when Chelsea's stand-in skipper Gary Cahill bundled the ball over the line for an own goal. However they failed to put the game beyond Chelsea, Agüero poor with his finishing as his team squandered chance after chance, including De Bruyne's point-blank howler, the miss of the season so far.

As Pep watched the effort crash onto the bar he sank to his knees, almost in admission of defeat he knew was coming. Chelsea needed no invitation and ruthlessly cut through the home side in the last 20 minutes to secure a brilliant 3-1 win. A fantastic encounter for the most part, it was marred by Agüero's horror tackle on David Luiz (who himself was lucky to escape red earlier) in the dying moments, which sparked a mass brawl that saw both him and Fernandinho sent off.

Guardiola's miserable afternoon leaves City 4 points of the top and without two key players in the middle of a packed December schedule.

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Chelsea needed no invitation and ruthlessly cut through the home side in the last 20 minutes to secure a brilliant 3-1 win.

North London's Arsenal and Tottenham played later on Saturday and enjoyed handsome wins against relegation candidates West Ham and Swansea. Spurs were at their best after a long time in their 5-0 triumph meaning the Swans were unable to build on their first win under Bob Bradley. Alexis Sanchez was simply unplayable at times as he scored three and set up another in Arsenal's 5-1 demolition of West Ham with which they rose to second. Having evaded the curse of November, this was the sort of performance from the Gunners that saw everyone revisiting the idea of them being crowned champions.

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Liverpool visited Bournemouth in a bid to keep pace with the leaders and, for the best part of 70 minutes, looked like they were going to keep their end of the bargain when they were 3-1 up. What followed was a defensive capitulation which allowed Bournemouth to first get back in the game and in the dying minutes, snatch all three points. Anyone touting Liverpool to finally get their hands on the Premiership title may have to think again, Bournemouth's extraordinary comeback underlining some gaping holes in the Reds’ squad.

Klopp's men were not the only to taste last minute disappointment as a late, late Baines spot kick rescued a point for Everton in a 1-1 draw against Man United, this their third consecutive game with the same scoreline in the league. Mourinho may find some respite in cup competitions this season, but he continues to feel the heat in the league, and his decision making has come under question once again.

His decision to introduce Marouane Fellaini late in the game to secure the three points backfired horribly as within minutes of coming on the Belgian conceded the penalty from which Everton equalised. While Marcos Rojo was extremely fortunate to be on the pitch after his lunge on Lukaku, Ibranhimovic may not be so lucky. Video evidence of him kicking out at Seamus Coleman as the pair tangled means he's likely to be retrospectively banned to further add to Mourinho's worries.

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Goals, comebacks, fouls and brawls, great calls and poor decisions - this week had them all. Another round of matches closer to the great prize and there's no telling what may still happen. With five more games for each side before the end of the year, all we do know for sure is that no one is safe in the EPL.

Last updated: January 03, 2017 | 14:02
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