Chelsea eased past West Ham, with Frank Lampard scoring his 200th goal for the club, while Tottenham lost their grip on third in the English Premier League, crashing to Fulham at White Hart Lane.
Chelsea were two points behind Tottenham before Sunday, but goals from Lampard and Eden Hazard, who was easily the best player on the pitch, gave the Blues a deserved three points over their London rivals West Ham at Stamford Bridge.
Hazard, who has found his early-season form, played in a nice cross from the right for the unmarked Lampard to head in on 19 minutes. The Chelsea midfielder is now just two goals away from equaling Bobby Tambling's all-time goalscoring record of 202.
The Blues continued to push forward and really should have been out of sight by the first half, but missed several chances, with Demba Ba in particular having an off night.
However, the home side got their second goal five minutes after the restart, with Hazard scoring a goal of individual brilliance, firing a shot low into the bottom corner after leaving a couple of West Ham defenders for dead.
At White Hart Lane, Spurs were under pressure to pick up a victory after Arsenal and Everton had taken three points Saturday, but a rather flat performance from the North London side consigned them to a defeat.
Former Spurs man Dimitar Berbatov scored the only goal of the game, slotting in from close-range off a cross from Sascha Riether after a classic counter-attack.
Gareth Bale did not have the usual effect, and with Aaron Lennon also out injured, Spurs could just not find a way through, although Fulham were indebted to Mark Schwarzer, who made a couple of nice saves late on, particularly one off Jermain Defoe in the final moments.
Spurs are fourth, four points ahead of Arsenal, and one behind Chelsea, but both their rivals have a game in hand. Everton are sixth on 48 points, six adrift of Tottenham, but also having played a game less.
Manchester United are on their way to another Premier League title, after their 1-0 win over Reading gave them a 15-point lead at the top, following Manchester City's defeat at the hands of Everton.
In the day's other games, Wigan kept up their survival charge with a 2-1 victory over Newcastle, while Sunderland drew 10-man Norwich 1-1.
Results: Chelsea 2-0 West Ham; Wigan 2-1 Newcastle; Sunderland 1-1 Norwich; Tottenham 0-1 Fulham.
