LONDON: Chelsea strengthened their position at the top of the Premier League by cruising to a 4-0 win over struggling Wolves on Saturday.

Manchester United remained five points adrift of the leaders after beating Everton 3-0 but Arsenal stumbled ahead of their meeting with Chelsea on November 29. The Gunners failed to score for the first time this season as they went down to a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland, with Darren Bent notching the winner in the 71st minute.

Chelsea’s win was their 12th on the trot at Stamford Bridge, a new club record. Florent Malouda opened the scoring with a 25-yard drive and a Michael Essien double ended the contest before half-time. Joe Cole’s first goal of the season, 11 minutes into the second half, rounded off a satisfying afternoon for the Blues.

After losing to Chelsea

on their last outing, Manchester United returned

to winning ways with

the help of a stunning opener from Darren Fletcher, who lashed a bouncing ball into the top corner of the net 10 minutes before half-time. Second-half strikes from Michael Carrick and Antonio Valencia rounded up the game.

Earlier, Liverpool and Manchester City’s hopes of challenging for the title were left looking remote after they settled for a 2-2 draw at Anfield. Liverpool are now 12 points adrift of Chelsea while City trail the leaders by 11 points.

Aston Villa climbed into the top four at the expense of Tottenham after coming from behind to earn a 1-1 draw at Burnley. Steven Caldwell’s ninth-minute strike had put Burnley ahead but Emile Heskey salvaged a point for Villa with four minutes left.

Birmingham’s recent improvement continued with a 1-0 win over Fulham. Lee Bowyer beat Fulham’s offside trap to score the winner after 16 minutes. The relegation battle between Hull and West Ham ended in a 3-3 draw. Headers from Guillermo Franco and

Jack Collison put the Hammers 2-0 up after only 11 minutes but Hull were ahead by the interval after an own goal by Carlton Cole, a strike by Kamil Zayatte and a Jimmy Bullard penalty. Manuel Da Costa equalised for Hammers.

Spanish La Liga

MADRID: Barcelona dropped two points in a 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday to fall a point behind new leaders Real Madrid ahead of next Sunday’s eagerly-anticipated ‘El Clasico’ at Camp Nou.

Brazilian Dani Alves put Barca ahead early in the second half but substitute Gaizka Toquero, only on the pitch a few minutes, equalised soon after as Barca surrendered top spot to Real. Real produced a nervy 1-0 home win over Racing Santander on Saturday thanks to a Gonzalo Higuain strike and supplant their rivals at the summit. Losing top spot now is an untimely blow for Barca who have two huge home games next week, beginning with a crucial Champions League match against Inter Milan on Tuesday and then the Clasico against Real at Camp Nou.

Sevilla kept up their own title charge with a 2-1 win at promoted Tenerife to stay three points behind leaders Real. Argentine winger Diego Perotti and Brazilian Renato were on target as Sevilla kept pace with Barcelona and Real. Elsewhere, Deportivo La Coruna moved up to fourth with a dramatic 2-1 home win over Atletico Madrid. Mexican Andres Guardado converted a controversial penalty five minutes into stoppage time to down Atletico who stay in the bottom three.