GOOD: Eto’o Has Same Old Blues

Chelsea just can’t help winning at the moment and after a weekend in which none of the other top four teams played, Jose Mourinho’s men marched to a seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.

It wasn’t a vintage performance, with Tottenham pretty much coughing up all four goals but the weight of the result just lends credence to the feeling that Chelsea has the look of champions.

Manchester City now has three games in hand but Manuel Pellegrini must recognise he cannot afford a single slip-up to overtake the Blues, and only on goal difference.

And a special mention should go to Samuel Eto’o for his ‘old man’ celebration, in reference to Mourinho’s jibe about his age.

“It was fantastic. We knew it, because he was preparing something,” Mourinho told Sky Sports.

“I think he’s amazing. The way he copes with the situation in the last couple of weeks, I think he’s fantastic. And today I told him before the game: ‘You are going to score for sure.’

“I think now he’s 33.”

MOYES ENJOYS

Usually, at this time of the season, Manchester United beating a relegation-threatened West Brom 3-0 would just be a pit stop on the way to another title. But this season, it’s more of a sense of a relief.

The reigning champions are still nine points of fourth place but with five points between them and Tottenham in fifth, and a game in hand, a Europa League spot remains a distinct possibility.

United strolled in this one, something that David Moyes has rarely seen during his tenure but was happy to point out afterwards.

“It was more like it. We were more creative and played well,” he said. “It’s never the easiest of places to come and we had lost to them earlier in the season so it was good to get a good result.

“We earned the right to be in front. When we did we sort of controlled chunks of the game. They were a threat and we were always going to have to defend.”

On a side note, Danny Wellbeck has now scored as many Premier League goals in his career as Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge has in one season.

BAD

CAULKER CORKER

Still stuck in the bottom three and having played more games than the surrounding teams, Cardiff’s future is bleak — but defender Steven Caulker did his bit for the cause, with two goals in the resounding defeat of Fulham.

Cardiff next four games are Everton, Liverpool, then West Brom and Crystal Palace, so it’s fair to say the Bluesbirds’ Premier League tenancy could be decided very soon — but Caulker himself is staying optimistic.

“It was a vital win,” he told Sky Sports. “We were determined to make up for recent disappointments. We have a lot of spirit and you saw how we responded after Fulham equalised.

“If we carry that on in the next games, I am sure we can stay up.”

But then again, Fulham manager Felix Magath is still sating the same thing: “Nine games [left this season] is a lot of points, but for sure we have to win our home games like Cardiff did today. It is still possible.”

SHAKY PALACE

Tony Pulis’s mid-season revival is stuttering. After taking 10 points from a possible 18, Crystal Palace gave up the only goal of the game in the 1-0 defeat to Southampton, a result that keeps the Eagles floating perilously above that terrible dotted line.

Stylish Southampton easily coped with Palace’s more direct style and it was an individual error from Jason Puncheon that gifted the goal to Saints striker Jay Rodriguez — and Pulis admitted how important these type of games are to his side’s hopes.

“Every game that we play at home, we have to try and get points from,” he told Sky Sports.

“We’re disappointed to not get a point out of the game at least today, but we have to move on. We have got 10 cup finals now, 10 very, very tough games and they’re all cup finals for us.”