Chelsea’s search for successive Premier League wins this season goes on after James McClean’s late strike earned West Brom a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge. Cesar Azpilicueta’s goal was cancelled out by substitute Craig Gardner before Gareth McAuley deflected Willian’s cross into his own goal.
The Baggies came from behind for a second time when McClean struck four minutes from time as the visitors earned a deserved point. Chelsea felt aggrieved and Diego Costa made his frustrations known at the final whistle by arguing with Baggies players.
Costa felt Claudio Yacob, already booked for a first-half foul, should have received a second yellow card for an off-the-ball trip on him early in the second half. The midfielder was promptly substituted and referee Anthony Taylor was barracked by Chelsea players and supporters thereafter.
Meanwhile, Jermain Defoe struck a hat-trick as Sunderland won a thrilling relegation battle at Swansea. The Black Cats’ 4-2 victory was mired in controversy with some questionable refereeing decisions as they recovered from a 2-1 half-time deficit to claim a second successive league win and provide real hope of avoiding the drop.
Also, Southampton impressively outplayed and outworked Watford to secure a 2-0 victory that should signal the end of their poor run. On an evening when Watford were as poor as the hosts were intense, goals in each half from Shane Long and Dusan Tadic took Southampton into 12th place.
Norwich proved instrumental in their own downfall as they succumbed to a 3-1 defeat at Stoke. With the score at 0-0, the Canaries were reduced to 10 men in the 31st minute when Gary O’Neil was sent off for an utterly needless slide tackle on Ibrahim Afellay.
After then falling behind to Jonathan Walters’ 49th-minute effort, Norwich did well to level six minutes later through a cracking Jonny Howson strike.
Stoke regained the lead via Joselu’s smart finish in the 67th minute, and the away side then shot themselves in the foot again as Ryan Bennett’s own-goal 12 minutes from time sealed victory for the hosts.
