The big news: Costa at it yet again

Chelsea continued their surge at the top as they edged past Crystal Palace 1-0 at Selhurst Park. It also meant that Antonio Conte’s side had completed 11 consecutive wins on the trot as they opened up a nine-point lead at the top.

Diego Costa, who scored Chelsea’s only goal, scored his 50th goal in Chelsea colours but will sit out of the next game owing to a suspension. The only goal of the game a couple of minutes before the half-time whistle with Costa thumping a powerful header into the net. Chelsea have conceded just two goals during this phase.

Other top stories:

  1. Manchester United beat West Bromwich Albion 2-0 as Zlatan Ibrahimovic masterminded their third consecutive league win. The Jose Mourinho-managed team registered a solid win at the Hawthorns with Ibrahimovic scoring both the goals. In defence, the pairing of Marcus Rojo and Phil Jones did wonders once again, keeping Solomon Rondon quiet with ease. 
  2. Sunderland beat Watford 1-0 at the Stadium of Light to move to 18th in the table. Another struggling side, West Ham United, also got three points on the board, getting the better of Hull City through a Mark Noble goal. 
  3. Paris St-Germain failed to narrow the gap on Ligue 1 leaders Nice, with a 2-1 defeat at Guingamp. Edinson Cavani pulled one back with a close-range finish with 10 minutes left but PSG could not find an equaliser. They are four points behind leaders Nice, who host Dijon on Sunday.
  4. Sevilla scored four goals within 11 minutes as they beat Malaga and moved up to second in La Liga. Luciano Vietto scored a brace with Wissam Ben Yedder and Machin Perez scoring the other two to make it 4-0 before halftime.
  5. Gonzalo Higuain’s winner ensured a record-equalling victory for Juventus that extends their lead over Roma at the top of Serie A. Higuain secured Juve’s 25th-straight home league win, matching a record they set between August 2013 and November 2014.      
  6. Champions Leicester City recovered from a two-goal deficit to claim an incredible draw at Stoke City. Stoke took advantage to score twice before half-time. However, after Jamie Vardy’s red card, the Foxes mounted a remarkable comeback in the final 15 minutes, with substitute Leonardo Ulloa and Daniel Amartey scoring one goal apiece.
  7. RB Leipzig climbed back to the top of the Bundesliga with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Hertha Berlin. Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side suffered their first defeat of the season away to struggling Ingolstadt last weekend but responded strongly on Saturday.
  8. Kerala Blasters take on Atletico de Kolkata in the Indian Super League final on Sunday. The Sourav Ganguly co-owned outfit will look to win their second ISL title in three seasons while Kerala seek redemption for their 2014 ISL final loss in Mumbai.