Chelsea held, Reds battle to beat Stoke, Man Utd thrash Hull

Premier League leaders Chelsea were unable to continue their
fine form as they were held by a resilient Sunderland to a
0-0 draw at the Stadium of Light.
The Blues failed to win for only the third time in the league,
and the draw sees Chelsea seven points clear at the top of the
table ahead of Southampton, who play third-placed
Manchester City on Sunday.
Willian struck the foot of the post and Santiago Vergini
clipped the crossbar in a tight first half, but apart from those
occasions, neither Costel Pantilimon nor Thibaut Courtois was
overextended, with the Romanian's block from Branislav
Ivanovic the only troublesome save either had to make.
It was a spirited performance by Sunderland, who came close
to snatching victory late on only for Adam Johnson to waste
the chance.
Liverpool battled to a 1-0 victory over Stoke City to claim
their first victory since beating Swansea in the Capital One
Cup on Oct. 28.
Liverpool went into the match needing a victory to avoid their
worst-ever start to a Premier League season, having lost
their past three in succession, and with boss Brendan Rodgers
acknowledging he is now the favourite to get the sack.
After a first half that did not see a single shot on target, both
sides came close in the second half, with Bojan Krkic hitting
the post and Mame Biram Diouf seeing a shot cleared off the
line for Stoke, while Joe Allen missed a good chance for the
hosts.
Glen Johnson eventually made the breakthrough, though,
heading home after Rickie Lambert had seen an effort come
back off the crossbar to ease the pressure on the manager.
Manchester United claimed their third consecutive victory in
the Premier League with a routine win at home to Hull.
The match began in frustrating fashion for the hosts when
Angel Di Maria had to be withdrawn due to an apparent
hamstring injury, but United took the lead when Chris
Smalling's shot from close range just found its way past Allan
McGregor, with referee Anthony Taylor having to rely on
goal-line technology before awarding the goal.
Wayne Rooney then put them 2-0 up just before the break,
curling home from 25 yards for his fifth goal of the season
before Robin van Persie fired in a third from distance.
Danny Welbeck bagged a crucial winner for Arsenal as the
Gunners clinched a comfortable 1-0 win at West Brom.
In front of watching England boss Roy Hodgson, the striker
nodded in to condemn the Baggies to a third straight defeat as
the Gunners hit back from last week's defeat to Manchester
United. The hosts rarely threatened, although Saido
Berahino headed against the bar late on, and they have now
failed to score in their past three matches.
West Ham ended Newcastle's winning streak with a 1-0
victory at Upton Park, where the visitors had midfielder
Moussa Sissoko sent off late on.
The Irons, who had not won since beating Manchester City
before the international break, edged a match of few chances
with a neat finish from defender Aaron Cresswell, his first
goal for the club, after 56 minutes.
Newcastle, who had surged into the top five following six
successive Barclays Premier League wins, never really got
going, and any hope of a comeback went with 15 minutes left
when Sissoko received two careless yellow cards in quick
succession.
Queens Park Rangers saw off Leicester City 3-2 at Loftus
Road thanks to Charlie Austin's winner.
Things started badly for the hosts as Esteban Cambiasso slotted
Leicester in front early on -- the first goal the Foxes had
scored following a fallow run of 56 days, or 504 minutes of
football, without a goal.
QPR recovered to dominate the remainder of the first half
and led at the break through a Wes Morgan own goal and a
first club goal for Leroy Fer.
Nigel Pearson's side hit back in the second half as Jeffrey
Schlupp drew them level, only for Austin to hit his fifth goal in
as many games with 17 minutes remaining to settle the contest.
Burnley's decent form continued with a 1-1 draw at home to
Aston Villa but the Clarets were grateful to an 87th-minute
penalty from Danny Ings after Lukas Jutkiewicz had been
fouled.
Villa had gone ahead in the 39th minute thanks to Joe Cole,
who marked his first Premier League start since December
2013 with the opening goal.
Swansea City and Crystal Palace shared the spoils as
Wilfried Bony's sixth goal of season saw the Swans take the
lead, but Neil Warnock's visitors battled back to secure a 1-1
draw.
Palace's Australian skipper, Mile Jedinak, scored from the
spot for his fifth goal in eight matches after Jonjo Shelvey had
been penalised for fouling Marouane Chamakh.
Information from the Press Association was used in this
report.

Source:Espn