London - Chelsea stretched their lead at the top of the English Premier League on Saturday with a thumping 4-0 win over Bolton. Goals from Frank Lampard, Deco, Didier Drogba and an own goal from Zat Knight sealed the victory at the Reebok Stadium, taking Chelsea to 27 points.
Arsenal moved into second place on 22 points with a 3-0 win over Spurs. Behind them on goal difference are Manchester United, who were due to play Blackburn Rovers later on Saturday.
Bolton were reduced to 10 men in the final minutes of the first half when Jay Lloyd Samuel was sent off for a professional foul on Drogba before Frank Lampard despatched the ensuing penalty.
The win was sealed just fifteen minutes into the second half as Deco completed a lightning fast counter attack. Zat Knight could then only put the ball into his own net and Drogba fired the fourth in injury time.
Earlier in the day, Arsenal won the north London derby over their local rivals Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium.
Two goals from Robin van Persie and one for Cesc Fabregas gave the home side a comfortable victory, though their opponents played a large part in each of the goals through very poor defending.
Van Persie converted Bakari Sagna's low cross three minutes before half-time before Spurs gifted Fabregas the second straight from the ensuing kick-off. Van Persie added a simple third to seal the victory on the hour mark.
Liverpool suffered a nightmare in their attempts to rebuild their title challenge, crashing 3-1 at Fulham with red cards for Philipp Degen and Jamie Carragher in the second half.
Bobby Zamora opened the scoring before Fernando Torres's ninth goal of the season levelled the scores before half-time. But substitute Erik Nevland restored the home side's lead after 73 minutes.
Reduced to nine men and chasing an equaliser, Liverpool were quickly picked off by Fulham as Clint Dempsey scored the third to hand the away side their fifth league defeat of the season.
Sunderland came back from 2-0 down to a 2-2 draw at home to West Ham through goals from Andy Reid and Kieron Richardson, while Stoke were held at home by Wolverhampton Wanderers by the same scoreline.
Elsewhere, Everton could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to Aston Villa, Burnley beat Hull 2-0 and bottom club Portsmouth claimed their first home win of the season with an emphatic 4-0 over Wigan Athletic.
