The slightly surprising thing about the mid-week Premier League matches over the last few days, was perhaps the fact that all of the top seven sides (with Stoke City winning to move into eighth above Swansea City) managed to earn all three points in their games. If football was that predictable all of the time, then more of us would probably be doing the pools every week. With European places still up for grabs at the end of the season, if not in the top level Champions League, then the second-tier Europa League, the main thing was probably to not lose ground to those teams around you in the league.
The battle at the top between Chelsea and Manchester City remains firmly in Jose Mourinho's court, as his newly crowned Capital One Cup winners enjoy the luxury of a five-point advantage over City and a game in hand. Eden Hazard's first-half header proved enough for Chelsea to defeat West Ham 1-0 at Upton Park last night, ensuring that there would be no hangover from their Wembley success. Manchester City remained on their coat tails, by brushing off their weekend loss to Liverpool, at home to Leicester City with a solid 2-0 victory. Their goals came from David Silva and James Milner, as Vincent Kompany was dropped to the bench and the away side struck the post.
Arsenal remain third after a hard-fought London derby win against relegation-threatened QPR.
A purple patch for the Gunners mid-way through the second-half saw them establish a two-goal lead through strikes from Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez, but they were made to sweat for their 2-1 success by a late goal from Charlie Austin.
A disastrous error by Newcastle United keeper Tim Krul right at the death allowed Manchester United to win 1-0 at St James' Park, after his rushed clearance from a back pass fell to Ashley Young, who finished clinically.
The match featured the good and bad things in football, as Newcastle brought on Jonas Gutierrez in the second half for his first game in 17 months, following his recovery from cancer. The game also featured an unsavoury incident when Jonny Evans and Papiss Cisse appeared to spit at each other. Victory in the match keeps the Red Devils in fourth, a point behind Arsenal.
Liverpool won 2-0 at home against Burnley to maintain their Champions League hopes in fifth, with Jordan Henderson again on target for the Reds. Daniel Sturridge continued his return to form and fitness with the crucial second goal.
Southampton lie sixth after their 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Tuesday night, with Sadio Mane ending the Saints' goal drought at home after more than six hours of football.
Spurs also maintained their interest in the European places with a 3-2 home victory over Swansea City. Nacer Chadli, Ryan Mason and Andros Townsend scored for Tottenham, with Ki Sung-yeung and Gylfi Sigurdsson's 89th minute goals for the visitors keeping the outcome in the balance right to the final whistle. The Swans' Bafetimbi Gomis collapsed while on the pitch and had to be taken off, although officials say that he is now "fine".