EPL Round-up | Zlatan scores again for United, Chelsea, City & Liverpool register easy wins

BySamarendranath Soory, SportsCafe Editor

12/15/2016

There were no surprises in the Premier League on Wednesday, as all the top-ranked clubs registered easy victories on matchday 16. Cesc Fabregas scored the lone goal as Chelsea beat Sunderland to make it ten wins in a row, while Liverpool recovered with a comfortable 3-0 over Middlesbrough.

Zlatan pumps in late winner

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a dramatic late winner as Manchester United maintained their sixth place in the table with a 2-1 win against Crystal Palace.

Wayne Rooney started things brightly for United as he went close with a header over the near post from Juan Mata's cross in the fifth minute. Paul Pogba's strike in late in the first half put the visitors ahead at Selhurst Park.

James McArthur netted a classy equaliser for Palace in the 66th minute after Joel Ward set it up by cutting in from the left.

However, Palace were unable to stop the combine of Pogba and Ibrahimovic, as the Frenchman set up the Swedish striker two minutes from finish with a brilliant through ball. The visitors suffered a setback as Eric Bailly's injury appearaed to have relapsed, forcing him to be replaced by Matteo Darmian early in the second half.

Cesc keeps Chelsea on top

Cesc Fabregas, who is speculated to leave Chelsea in the January transfer window, proved his worth for the Blues as his 40th minute strike against Sunderland helped maintain a six-point lead over second-placed Liverpool at the top of the table. The win also marked Chelsea's tenth victory in as many league games after suffering a terrible start to the season under Conte.

The leaders took full advantage of Arsenal's 2-1 loss at Everton on Tuesday as they dominated the proceedings, although Thibaut Courtois was called upon to make a stunning save to prevent Patrick van Aanholt to score an injury-time equalizer.

Willian went close twice in the second half as Chelsea dominated the possession but Sunderland keeper Jordan Pickford kept things at bay while Adnan Januzaj came close to scoring the equalizer for the hosts.

No trouble for City and Liverpool

Following a poor run these past few weeks, title contenders Manchester City and Liverpool bounced back with victories against Watford and Middlesbrough respectively. While the Reds stands six points adrift of leaders Chelsea, Pep Guardiola's City stay put in fourth position, one point behind third-placed Arsenal.

City's lead at the Etihad Stadium came from an unlikely source as Argentine fullback Pablo Zabaleta opened the scoring on 33 minutes with his first goal in two years. Odion Ighalo had the only good opportunity at the other end, stopped for a lacklustre Watford as David Silva sealed the points for the hosts four minutes from time after being teed up by Raheem Sterling.

Liverpool pushed newcomers Middlesbrough further into the relegation zone as they secured an easy 3-0 victory at the Riverside Stadium courtesy a brace by Adam Lallana. The Englishman opened the scoring in the 29th minute before extending the lead in the second half following an exquisitely worked team move by the Reds. Divock Origi sealed the points for Liverpool on the hour mark by scoring off a rebound from Sadio Mane.

Fifth-placed Tottenham were also comfortable at home as they recorded a 3-0 win over relegation strugglers Hull City as Christian Eriksen scored two goals on either side of half time before Viktor Wanyama added the third in the 73rd minute.

West Ham United got back to winning ways to move away from the relegation zone with a 1-0 victory over Burnley while West Brom triumphed over Swansea City 3-1. The only goalless game of the week was between Stoke City and Southampton at the Britannia Stadium.

EPL Round-up | Zlatan scores again for United, Chelsea, City & Liverpool register easy wins

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