A round-up of Saturday's action in the English Premier League.
Frank Lampard passed the 150-goal milestone for Chelsea on Saturday with four goals in a 7-1 hammering of Aston Villa as Carlo Ancelotti's side roared back to the top of the English Premier League.
Substitute Alexandre Lacazette ended his goal drought as Arsenal secured their first English Premier League win since New Year's Day with a 4-0 victory over Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Lacazette had gone nine games in all competitions without a goal before he found the target with a mis-hit shot in the final moments of the game. The win moves Arsenal up to tenth position and will give them hope they can make a late push towards European qualification for next season.
Blackburn Rovers gave their new Indian owners an immediate return on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa that lifted the club five places in the English Premier League table.
Frank Lampard broke Chelsea's all-time scoring record with two goals as the European champions all but secured a top-four finish in the Premier League with a 2-1 win in an incident-packed game at Aston Villa on Saturday.
The Argentine scores a hat-trick to become the highest foreign goal scorer in the Premier League on Sunday. Also, in bagging a 12th Premier League hat-trick he surpassed the 11 of Alan Shearer with whom he had shared the record.
Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa gained ground in the Premier League's increasingly tight battle for fourth place on Sunday as they beat Wigan Athletic and Burnley respectively.
Darren Bent scored on his debut four days after becoming Aston Villa's most expensive player to give his new side a 1-0 win over Manchester City in the Premier League at Villa Park on Saturday.
A summary of Saturday's action in the English Premier League.
Arsenal's Arteta wary of old foe Villa
Chelsea's defensive frailties were exposed again on Saturday when they gifted Aston Villa two goals from corners in a 2-1 away defeat, their second loss in three league games after they had won their first six.
Striker Dimitar Berbatov will miss Manchester United's Premier League match at Aston Villa on Saturday (1730) after suffering a thigh injury, his agent said.
Aston Villa reached the League Cup final after coming from 2-0 down to beat Blackburn Rovers 6-4 in a thrilling semi-final second leg on Wednesday.
Manchester United wasted a glorious chance to catch Chelsea at the top of the Premier League when they lost 1-0 at home to Aston Villa on Saturday. Earlier leaders Chelsea were held 3-3 at home by Everton despite two goals from Didier Drogba.
Arsenal survived a late scare to regain top spot in the Premier League with a 2-1 victory at Aston Villa on Monday, both their goals arriving in the space of a minute in the first half.
Timo Werner scored his first goal of the season as a much-changed Chelsea side crept into the fourth round of the League Cup by beating Aston Villa 4-3 on penalties after the Stamford Bridge clash ended 1-1 on Wednesday.
Liverpool have agreed a 32.5 million pounds deal with Aston Villa for striker Christian Benteke, British media reported on Sunday.
Manchester United moved a step closer to retaining the Premier League title with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Aston Villa on Sunday to move five points clear at the top.
It will be a poignant evening, with both games -- City vs Arsenal and Aston Villa vs Sheffield United -- played inside empty stadiums and marked before kickoff by a minute's silence for the more than 40,000 people to die of the virus in the UK.
Two goals for Roman Pavlyuchenko and two own goals helped Tottenham Hotspur advance to an FA Cup quarter-final meeting with Fulham after a 4-0 home win over Bolton Wanderers in their fifth-round replay on Wednesday.
Chelsea's title hopes suffered a blow when the Premier League leaders finished with nine men in a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday after Manchester City won 2-0 at Hull City to cut the gap at the top to six points.
Liverpool moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League with a 4-0 demolition of Bournemouth that extended their unbeaten league run to 14 games on Sunday.
Aston Villa fans will be able to munch on a special pie named in honour of their Bulgarian captain Stiliyan Petrov, who is battling leukaemia, in the home Premier League match against Sunderland on Saturday.
Pioneers Aston Villa have put almost all their faith in young players this season but the bold policy is at risk of badly backfiring for the Premier League club after Tuesday's defeat at fourth tier Bradford City.
The Turkey defender said his Aston Villa contract would not have been cancelled if his recent spat with England captain David Beckham had been with any other player.\n\n\n\n
In-form Liverpool face a 'difficult' match on Saturday against an Aston Villa side who have improved after a change in system, boss Brendan Rodgers said as he welcomes back top scorer Luis Suarez after a one-match ban.
Liverpool's Luis Diaz scored a hat-trick as they maintained their perfect Champions League campaign with a barnstorming second-half display in a 4-0 victory over Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen at Anfield on Tuesday.
Villa are sixth, five points behind the leading pair after four matches but have won both home games.
Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United both sealed comeback victories to boost their European qualification hopes.
Aston Villa became the latest of the Premier League's top-four challengers to miss an opportunity when they were held to a disappointing goalless draw by West Ham United on Sunday.
Liverpool took another step towards the Premier League title with a 2-0 win at Manchester City.
Manchester City came from behind to beat Club Brugge 3-1 and secure their place in the Champions League playoffs
Liverpool moved back to the top of the Premier League with a 2-0 victory at struggling Burnley
The majority of Premier League clubs would prefer not to have the distraction of playing in the FA Cup, according to Paul Lambert, the manager of seven-time winners Aston Villa.
Phil Foden struck twice as Manchester City stepped up their bid for a fourth Premier League crown in a row with a ruthless 4-0 victory at Brighton & Hove Albion on Thursday.
Aston Villa captain Micah Richards became embroiled in a heated pitchside debate with disgruntled fans on Saturday as the Premier League strugglers' desperate season unravelled further with a 1-1 draw at fourth-tier Wycombe Wanderers in the FA Cup.
Steven Gerrard scored a hat-trick as Liverpool maintained their stunning recent form by crushing Aston Villa 5-0 at Anfield on Sunday to close the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester United to just one point.
Diego Maradona, out of work since Argentina went out of the World Cup six weeks ago, might consider managing an English club if his chances of returning to the national team disappeared altogether.
A number of Manchester United players are "not good enough" while some others are being "overpaid", the club's co-owner Jim Ratcliffe said.
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