Wednesdays Premier League Round Up

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Premier League: Chelsea bounce back with win over Spurs, victories for Liverpool and Manchester City (February 27, 2019)

Goalkeepers on the agenda at Stamford Bridge and plenty of goals elsewhere - in our review of Wednesday's top-flight action.

Premier League results

Arsenal 5-1 AFC Bournemouth
Southampton 2-0 Fulham
Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Crystal Palace 1-3 Manchester United
Liverpool 5-0 Watford
Manchester City 1-0 West Ham United

Cabballero's clean sheet as Spurs goalkeeper makes headlines

Maurizio Sarri's position as Chelsea head coach was strengthened by a 2-0 win which featured a Willy Caballero clean sheet and a Tottenham defensive howler.

Under-fire Sarri belatedly exerted his authority by dropping Kepa Arrizabalaga for his refusal to be substituted in Sunday's Carabao Cup final penalty shootout loss to Manchester City.

The world's most expensive goalkeeper was replaced by Caballero as Pedro's 57th-minute strike was followed by an embarrassing Kieran Trippier own goal.

The right-back passed the ball by Hugo Lloris into his own net after 84 minutes as Spurs slipped to a fourth successive away loss.

They will now be looking over their shoulders, with Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea closing in, after slipping nine points off leaders Liverpool in the title race.

It might have been worse for Spurs had Harry Kane been sent off in the first half for motioning his head towards Cesar Azpilicueta.

The Blues stayed sixth, but are two points behind United with a game in hand and Sarri's status appears secure for the first time in a month.

Kepa - a £71.6million buy from Athletic Bilbao - was fined one week's wages and apologised after refusing to go off with penalties looming at Wembley, sending Sarri apoplectic as he tried unsuccessfully to send on Caballero.

The incident was described as a "misunderstanding" in the immediate aftermath of the 4-3 penalty shootout loss to City, but the 24-year-old was subsequently fined one week's wages by the Chelsea board and admitted making "a big mistake".

Sarri on Tuesday said the situation was "finished" and "we don't want to kill him", but the decision to omit Kepa from the starting line-up extends the fallout.

Virgil at the double as five-star Liverpool maintain lead with Watford win

Premier League leaders Liverpool brushed aside concerns about their recent struggles as Sadio Mane had a starring role in a resounding 5-0 win at home to a toothless Watford.

Questions were starting to be asked after four draws in their last five matches in all competitions but this performance was a return to the verve and inventiveness which they desperately needed to rediscover.

It was typified by Mane's - and Liverpool's - second of the night: a brilliant backheel from 12 yards out which caught goalkeeper Ben Foster unawares.

The Senegal international had already, somewhat surprisingly, scored with a header having been given the job of central striker in the absence of the injured Roberto Firmino.

Firmino's replacement Divock Origi, who was posted on the left wing to accommodate Mane in his new role, added the third in the second half with Virgil Van Dijk scoring two headers in the final 11 minutes.

Mane's double meant this is his best Premier League goalscoring return of 14 goals, with 10 matches still to go, and was the fifth home league match in succession in which he had found the net.

The result was exactly the boost Liverpool, still a point ahead of Manchester City, needed to inject life into what some argued was a flagging title challenge and the last thing Everton, hosts of Sunday's Merseyside derby, wanted to see.

Aguero stays in Golden Boot hunt as City edge Hammers on Pellegrini return

Sergio Aguero's second-half penalty kept Manchester City within a point of Premier League leaders Liverpool as the champions clinched a hard-fought 1-0 win over West Ham.

The Hammers, under the charge of former City manager Manuel Pellegrini, frustrated the hosts for an hour at the Etihad Stadium as the exertions of winning the Carabao Cup at the weekend perhaps took their toll.

But substitute Bernardo Silva reinvigorated the City attack and the Portuguese earned the spot-kick from which the prolific Aguero made no mistake, tucking home his 25th goal of the season.

City deserved their victory having dominated the game and created numerous chances but Pellegrini, who won the title with City in 2014, will be disappointed his side's dogged defending was not rewarded.

Injury-hit Man United see off Eagles.

Romelu Lukaku made his mark as he capitalised on Manchester United's lengthy injury list to lead them to a 3-1 victory at Crystal Palace that maintains their pursuit of a top-four finish.

The Belgian had gone nine games without a goal and was becoming a more peripheral figure since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's appointment, while Marcus Rashford established himself as United's leading striker.

With Rashford not fit to start and Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard also injured, United were without their entire first-choice front three.

But after recovering from missing a glorious chance Lukaku scored in each half to keep Arsenal, a point and a position above them in fourth, under pressure.

A further finish from Ashley Young, after Joel Ward had responded for 14th-placed Palace, ultimately ensured a continuation of the momentum they will hope to carry into next week's crucial Champions League fixture at Paris St Germain and perhaps next season's competition.

Top-four hopefuls Arsenal hit five past Bournemouth

Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan put on an Emirates masterclass as Arsenal thrashed Bournemouth to retain their place in the Premier League top four.

With fellow hopefuls Chelsea and Manchester United also securing victories, the Gunners stayed fourth - but this was in much more emphatic style as they eased to a 5-1 win over a hapless Cherries side.

Eddie Howe's men have now lost their last nine league games away from the Vitality Stadium and were second-best for much of the night as Ozil and Mkhitaryan ran riot.

The pair scored the first two goals before Lys Mousset pulled one back for Bournemouth - only for Laurent Koscielny, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette to seal a comfortable win with second-half strikes.

While Bournemouth's struggles on the road continue, Arsenal have made their home something of a fortress and have won their last eight at the Emirates.

Fulham fans protested against manager Claudio Ranieri during a 2-0 defeat at Southampton which pushed them closer to Premier League relegation.

Ranieri faced chants of 'You don't know what you're doing' at St Mary's, while a banner containing the words: 'Risk free? Are you watching Tony Khan?' was unfurled in reference to comments made by the club's vice-chairman following the Italian's appointment in November.

First-half goals from Oriol Romeu and James Ward-Prowse, which lifted Saints out of the bottom three, leaves the Cottagers an alarming 10 points from safety with as many games remaining.

Ranieri has failed to spark an upturn in results since replacing the sacked Slavisa Jokanovic at Craven Cottage and his side's position is precarious after a seventh defeat from eight top-flight fixtures.

Despite the experienced Italian manager urging his players to believe otherwise, the 19th-placed Cottagers - along with bottom club Huddersfield - appear almost certain to be playing Championship football next season.