LONDON: Chelsea and Manchester City secured convincing wins in the Premier League on Wednesday to fuel expectations that it will be a two-team fight for the title this season.

Chelsea preserved their six-point advantage at the summit with a consummate 3-0 triumph over Tottenham Hotspur and champions City stayed second with a 4-1 canter at Sunderland with Sergio Aguero scoring in each half.

Southampton’s last-gasp 1-0 loss at Arsenal, with Alexis Sanchez a match-winner again, left City with a four-point cushion in second place, and the ease of the leading pair’s successes suggests the gap is only likely to increase.

Chelsea had been held to a goalless draw at Sunderland at the weekend, but they returned to winning ways against London rivals Tottenham thanks to first-half goals in a three-minute span by Eden Hazard and Didier Drogba, followed by a third from substitute Loic Remy.

The 36-year-old Drogba proved a splendid replacement for suspended top-scorer Diego Costa, grabbing his first chance within two minutes of Hazard’s 19th-minute opener before his replacement Remy also netted to seal the points.

“It’s remarkable,” Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said of Drogba. “He’s a team player, not selfish, not vain, a humble guy who plays and fights for the team. Fantastic.”

It was a predictable loss for Spurs, who haven’t won at Stamford Bridge since 1990 — a run that now extends to 28 games — and remain 10th in the table with 20 points from 14 matches, 16 points adrift of Chelsea.

Sergio Aguero is leading City’s attempts to haul back Chelsea, with the Argentina striker taking his league-high tally to 14 goals at the Stadium of Light.

Aguero struck two minutes after Connor Wickham had put Sunderland ahead on 19 minutes, equalising with the sweetest of strikes.

He then set up Stevan Jovetic six minutes before the break, Pablo Zabaleta added a third and the Argentine completed the rout in the 71st minute.

“Sergio is only 26 and he can improve every day,” said City manager Manuel Pellegrini told the BBC. “At the moment we are seeing very high performances from him. Not only is he scoring but he’s playing well as well.”

Arsenal closed to within two points of fourth-placed Manchester United and 13 behind Chelsea after Sanchez’s 89th-minute goal snatched a 1-0 win at home to third-placed Southampton.

Visiting goalkeeper Fraser Forster twice saved superbly from Danny Welbeck and produced a fine stop to repel substitute Olivier Giroud’s header, only for the Chilean once again proving why he has been one of the buys of the season when he latched on to Aaron Ramsey’s drilled cross for his ninth Premier League goal of the campaign.

“Alexis Sanchez can dig deep and has such desire and a will to win, he still finds that resource to get you something special,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.

Hull City squeezed out of the relegation zone with a 1-1 draw at Everton, Sone Aluko scoring a 59th-minute equaliser after a superb 34th-minute Romelu Lukaku effort for the home side.

English Premier League table after Wednesday’s matches (tabulated under: played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):

Chelsea 14 11 3 0 33 11 36
Man City 14 9 3 2 31 14 30
Southampton 14 8 2 4 24 10 26
Man Utd 14 7 4 3 24 16 25
West Ham 14 7 3 4 23 17 24
Arsenal 14 6 5 3 22 15 23
Swansea 14 6 4 4 19 14 22
Liverpool 14 6 2 6 19 19 20
Newcastle 14 5 5 4 15 17 20
Tottenham 14 6 2 6 18 21 20
Everton 14 4 6 4 24 22 18
Aston Villa 14 4 4 6 8 18 16
Stoke 14 4 3 7 14 18 15
Sunderland 14 2 8 4 13 23 14
Crystal Palace 14 3 4 7 18 23 13
West Brom 14 3 4 7 14 20 13
Hull 14 2 6 6 15 21 12
Burnley 14 2 6 6 10 22 12
QPR 14 3 2 9 14 27 11
Leicester 14 2 4 8 14 24 10

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2014