Chelsea produced a masterclass display to put Everton to the sword on Sunday in a 4-0 drubbing of the visitor as Manchester United beat fierce rival, Manchester City 2-0 in an all Manchester derby on Sunday to claim the bragging right.
Chelsea were clinical at Stamford Bridge, with two goals in each half to eclipse Everton’s hope of ever coming back into the game.
The defeat was a bitter pill for Everton’s boss, Carlo Ancelotti, who led Chelsea to the Double in 2009-10 and his first game back got off to a woeful start as Mason Mount and Pedro scored inside the opening 21 minutes.
Former Everton midfielder Ross Barkley released Pedro for the second goal and also laid off for Willian to score with a superb low strike early in the second half.
Moments later Olivier Giroud poked in from Willian’s cross to seal Chelsea’s biggest league win of the season – five days after they beat Liverpool in the FA Cup fifth round.
It gave them a five-point cushion in the Champions League places – seventh-placed Manchester United host Manchester City at 16:30 GMT on Sunday – while Everton remain in 12th.
For Manchester United, Anthony Martial volleyed home from Bruno Fernandes’ clipped free-kick, although Ederson should have saved it.
Sergio Aguero had a goal disallowed in the second half for offside and Phil Foden’s powerful shot was tipped over the bar by David de Gea.
Scott McTominay added a late second from 35 yards after City keeper Ederson threw the ball directly to him.
The result means Liverpool only need two more wins to clinch their first English league title since 1990.
United move up to fifth, which would be enough for a Champions League place if City lose their appeal against a European ban, BBC reports.
Check out the English Premier League table after Sunday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):
Liverpool 29 27 1 1 66 21 82
Manchester City 28 18 3 7 68 31 57
Leicester 28 15 5 8 54 28 50
Chelsea 29 14 6 9 51 39 48
Manchester United 29 12 9 8 44 30 45
Wolverhampton 29 10 13 6 41 34 43
Sheffield United 28 11 10 7 30 25 43
Tottenham 29 11 8 10 47 40 41
Arsenal 28 9 13 6 40 36 40
Burnley 29 11 6 12 34 40 39
Crystal Palace 29 10 9 10 26 32 39
Everton 29 10 7 12 37 46 37
Newcastle 29 9 8 12 25 41 35
Southampton 29 10 4 15 35 52 34
Brighton 29 6 11 12 32 40 29
West Ham 29 7 6 16 35 50 27
Watford 29 6 9 14 27 44 27
Bournemouth 29 7 6 16 29 47 27
Aston Villa 27 7 4 16 34 52 25
Norwich 29 5 6 18 25 52 21
