TheCable

Chelsea needed a controversial penalty decision to edge past QPR at Stamford Bridge in the Barclays Premier League (BPL).

The Blues had taken the lead in the 32nd minute when Oscar curled in exquisitely with the outside of his foot. But Charlie Austin flicked in a badly-hit Leroy Fer shot in the 62nd to give Harry Redknapp’s side hope of earning a point.

But in the 75th minute, Eden Hazard went down under the challenge of Eduardo Vargas on the edge of the area and referee Mike Jones pointed to the spot.

The Belgian coolly converted to ensure that Jose Mourinho’s side maintained their four-point lead at the top of the log.

Stoke City blew a 2-0 lead at the Britannia Stadium as West Ham United bagged two second half goals to earn a point.

Victor Moses put Stoke ahead, then Mame Diouf made it 2-0 in the second half with the Potters surging towards a win.

However, that sparked the Hammers into life as Stewart Downing set up Enner Valencia to pull one back, then they combined again to see Downing equalise.

Late on, both teams had chances to snatch the win but the game ended in a draw to place West Ham fifth on 17 points and Stoke 12th on 12 points.

Calum Chambers scored his first goal for Arsenal as they broke Burnley’s dogged resistance with a 3-0 win to climb to fourth in the table.

The 19-year-old right-back set up Alexis Sanchez to head the opening goal in the 70th minute and then scrambled home their second before the Chilean added another late on.

That lifted Arsene Wenger’s side into the Champions League positions for the first time since September.

Victor Wanyama’s superb 40-yard strike, courtesy of goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic’s botched clearance, continued Southampton’s wonderful run this season.

Southampton have now won 10 of their last 11 games in all competitions after Wanyama took full advantage of a blunder from Hull’s third-choice goalkeeper to secure a 1-0 victory.

Swansea bravely held on to claim a point at Everton despite Jonjo Shelvey’s second-half dismissal.

Garry Monk’s side were forced to battle on for the last 18 minutes with a man disadvantage, as Shelvey was shown a second yellow card following a foul on James McCarthy.

But it was a deserved point for the Swans, with this 0-0 score – their fifth clean sheet in 10 BPL games – they now have 15 points from 10 matches.

West Brom left the King Power Stadium with all three points, leaving Leicester without a win in five BPL games.

The Baggies took the lead straight after half-time when Wes Morgan’s clearance went off Leicester team-mate Esteban Cambiasso and past Kasper Schmeichel in goal.

Nigel Pearson’s side rallied to find an equaliser but couldn’t break a resolute West Brom to stay just off relegation places in 17th, while Alan Irvine’s side climb into the top half of the table.

Ayoze Perez scored the winner for Newcastle United for the second BPL game running, as Liverpool were beaten 1-0 at St James’ Park.

The Spaniard scored the decisive goal in the 2-1 win at Tottenham last Sunday and came off the bench this time to earn Newcastle’s fourth win in a row in all competitions and move them to within a point of the Reds.

The league’s highest-scoring fixture – having yielded 129 goals before this meeting – looked set to be heading for a goalless draw until Perez’s 73rd-minute strike condemned the visitors to their fourth top-flight defeat of the season.