Chelsea recovered from painful home defeats against Brentford and Real Madrid with a 6-0 win away to Southampton.
Thomas Tuchel’s men looked like a team with something to prove and led 2-0 after the 16th minute with goals from Marcos Alonso and Mason Mount late on Saturday.
Timo Werner made it 3-0 in the 21st minute and Kai Havertz all but ended the match when he added a fourth just after the half hour, Xinhua reports.
Both Werner and Mount scored again in the 49th and 54th minutes before Chelsea took the foot off the gas to save their legs for next Tuesday’s Champions League quarterfinal in Madrid and after this display they will believe they have a chance of overturning their 3-1 first leg defeat.
Anthony Gordon’s deflected first half strike gave Everton three vital points in their battle against relegation against a hapless Manchester United, who produced another chaotic display that puts their hopes of playing in Europe next season in severe doubt.
Arsenal’s hopes of a top-four finish also suffered a big setback as they suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at home to Brighton — a team with six defeats and a draw from their last seven matches.
Leandro Trossard on 28 minutes and Enock Mwepu’s 67th minute half-volley put Brighton 2-0 up before Martin Odegaard’s late consolation for Mikel Arteta’s side.
Tottenham took full advantage of Arsenal’s slip up with a 4-0 win away to Aston Villa. The win had two heroes, Heung Min Son, who scored a hat-trick, with the first goal coming in the third minute.
Hugo Lloris made a series of first half saves as Villa peppered the Spurs goal after Son’s opener, but after Dejan Kulusevski doubled the lead five minutes into the second half, Son netted twice more to seal the win.
Leeds United look safe from relegation after Raphinha, Rodrigo and Jack Harrison gave Jesse Marsch’s men a 3-0 away win to condemn Watford to their eighth successive home league defeat, while lifting Leeds 9-points clear of the bottom three.
Newcastle United also look safe as Chris Wood’s second half penalty gave them a 1-0 win at home to Wolverhampton.