Chelsea moved another step towards regaining the Premier League title with a 3-1 drubbing of Arsenal in the table-topping London derby at Stamford Bridge on Saturday as only Tottenham Hotspur maintained their distant pursuit of the leaders.
Antonio Conte's side moved 12 points clear of Arsenal with a performance decorated by one of the goals of the season, a dazzling individual effort from Eden Hazard starting from near the halfway line.
The 2015 champions' command at the top of the table was strengthened further with fourth-placed Liverpool falling 13 points adrift after their wretched 2017 continued with a shock 2-0 defeat at resurgent Hull City.
Only second-placed Spurs, the one team to have defeated Chelsea in their last 17 matches in all competitions, appear up for the fight, reducing the gap at the top to nine points with their 1-0 win over Middlesbrough in the day's late match.
Hull's win over Liverpool saw them clamber up one place to 18th in the relegation zone while another startling result featured Crystal Palace, who lost 4-0 at home to bottom club Sunderland, with all the goals coming in the first half.
Conte was a satisfied man as he watched Chelsea avenge their worst defeat of the season in September at the Emirates, the 3-0 reverse that prompted him to change their tactical approach.
The Blues have never looked back since and an early header from Marcos Alonso, the dazzling second-half solo goal from Hazard and a poor clearance from Petr Cech that allowed Cesc Fabregas to chip into an unguarded net in the dying minutes sealed their revenge.
Olivier Giroud earned a stoppage-time consolation goal but a fourth defeat in nine league matches effectively ended Arsenal's title hopes for another season as they now lie third on 47 points, after 24 games, to Chelsea's 59.
Sunderland's Jermain Defoe scored twice in first-half stoppage time as he turned Sam Allardyce's reunion with his former club into a nightmare, the Palace boss having to watch his side ship three goals in six minutes before the break.
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