Chelsea extends EPL lead with win
Chelsea easily coped without top scorer Diego Costa, sweeping aside fading champion Leicester 3-0 to go seven points clear in the English Premier League on Saturday.
Marcos Alonso scored twice and Pedro Rodriguez headed in the third in Leicester as Chelsea put its title bid back on track after a
13-match winning run ended at Tottenham in the previous game.
“It was a very professional, solid performance by us on the back of the Spurs game,” Chelsea defender Gary Cahill said. “We had to prove it. It’s all about bouncing back.”
Whether Costa returns to the Chelsea team is unclear, with the striker linked with a move to China but officially out of the game due to a back injury.
Elsewhere, Harry Kane’s hat trick gave Tottenham a club-record-equaling sixth straight EPL victory, 4-0 over West Bromwich Albion. Tottenham temporarily moved into second place over Liverpool, which plays Sunday at Manchester United.
Arsenal rose to third, winning 4-0 and
sending Swansea sliding to the bottom of the standings in Paul Clement’s first home game in charge since replacing the fired Bob Bradley.
Manchester City, tied with Tottenham entering Saturday, plays at Everton on Sunday.
Lionel Messi scored from close range to help Barcelona rout Las Palmas 5-0 and move two points behind Spanish league leader Real Madrid.
The Los Angeles Galaxy traded defender A.J. DeLaGarza to the Houston Dynamo for $175,000 in allocation money. DeLaGarza was the Galaxy’s longest-tenured player, joining the franchise in 2009. Football: Pat Flaherty, who spent last season with the 49ers as Chip Kelly’s offensive line coach, was one of three hires by new Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Marrone.
Marrone also retained Todd Wash as defensive coordinator and hired Perry Fewell as secondary coach.
“Pat Flaherty is a Super Bowl-winning coach (with the Giants under new Jaguars executive Tom Coughlin) and teacher, and I could not be more excited to welcome him to our staff,” Marrone said. Skiing: Lindsey Vonn’s return to World Cup skiing was delayed for at least a day after snowfall forced the cancellation of downhill training and the race itself in AltenmarktZauchensee, Austria.
Vonn, a four-time overall champion, and American teammate Julia Mancuso planned to make their World Cup comebacks this weekend after extensive injury layoffs.
The World Cup men’s downhill in Wengen, Switzerland, was canceled due to heavy snowfall.