Arsenal's dramatic 2-1 Champions League win against Anderlecht on Wednesday rescued three valuable points but the victory only served to paper over the ever-widening cracks.
Manchester United, who spent 150 million pounds on new players in the summer, might need to spend another 100 million pounds before they can compete for the Premier League title, according to former defender Phil Neville.
IMAGES from EPL matches played on Sunday.
Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres applied the gloss to a workmanlike 2-0 victory at Hull City that lifted Chelsea ominously to the top of the Premier League on Saturday.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday
Fourth-tier Newport County stunned former FA Cup winners Leeds United with a last-gasp 2-1 win in the third round to spark a joyous pitch invasion at their Rodney Parade ground on Sunday.
Leicester City stumbled on their march towards the Premier League title when they drew 2-2 with West Ham United and had goalscorer Jamie Vardy sent off at the King Power Stadium on Sunday.
'It's only 13 games in, that's the most important thing and there's so many points to be won. You need to carry on for 38 games and show consistency'
Holders Spain suffered their first defeat in qualifying for a major tournament in eight years when Miroslav Stoch nodded a late goal to earn Slovakia a shock 2-1 victory in Euro 2016 Group C on Thursday.
Manchester City had to battle back from behind to earn a 1-1 draw against Premier League newcomers Wolverhampton Wanderers who gave the champions a real test at Molineux on Saturday.
Arsenal denied Chelsea the double with a 2-1 victory in an enthralling FA Cup final.
The result against the tiny Scandinavian country, who had clearly been hugely undervalued, was a humiliation for a proud football nation that appeared to have badly lost its way.
Images from Saturday's action in the Premier League.
Images from Sunday's English Premier League matches.
Samuel Eto'o's hat-trick lifted Chelsea to a 3-1 win over Manchester United on Sunday which all but ended the champions' slim hopes of defending their Premier League title.
Manchester United suffered a double blow on Thursday with Daley Blind ruled out for a 'long' spell due to a knee problem and Radamel Falcao receiving a "new injury" that will keep him out for at least two more weeks.
Watford climbed into the top four of the Premier League after Tom Cleverley's 92nd-minute goal gave them a 2-1 victory over Arsenal at Vicarage Road on Saturday.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
England's Harry Kane scored on his debut less than two minutes after coming on as they brushed Lithuania aside 4-0 at Wembley on Friday.
For the first time in the seven-year history of the new Wembley, the arena was less than half full for an England international as 40,181 underwhelmed fans witnessed a familiar old diet of mostly turgid, uninspiring fare from Roy Hodgson's World Cup failures, enlivened mainly by the sparky contribution of Raheem Sterling.
Images from Sunday's action in the Premier League.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
England's last appearance at this stage was in 1990 when they lost in a penalty shootout to West Germany in Turin while eight years later, in their first World Cup as an independent nation, Croatia lost to hosts and eventual winners France.
Liverpool put their recent troubles behind them, showing touches of their best early-season vibrancy to overcame Arsenal 3-1 at a jubilant Anfield and leapfrog the Gunners into third place in the Premier League on Saturday.
Arsenal delivered a brutal lesson in fast-paced Premier League football to beat Liverpool 4-1 on Saturday, maintaining their faint title aspirations and almost certainly dashing their opponents' hopes of a top-four finish.
Images from the football matches played across Europe on Tuesday.
Swansea City came from behind to beat Arsenal 2-1 and Tottenham Hotspur's misery continued with a 2-1 home defeat by Stoke City, making it a nightmare Sunday for north London.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester United ushered in a new era under interim manager Ryan Giggs with a 4-0 Premier League win over Norwich City on Saturday full of the verve and attacking intent often absent under the sacked David Moyes.
Manchester City squandered a gilt-edged opportunity to close the gap on Premier League leaders Chelsea when they let slip a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at home to struggling Burnley on Sunday.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Veteran Drogba showed that he still has a lot of steam in him as he scored in Chelsea's win over Spurs, while Aguero continued to top the goal-scorers' list this season, finding the net for City. Images from the EPL matches played across England on Wednesday.
In April last year Leicester City were seven points adrift at the foot of the Premier League and seemingly going down.
From the planet's costliest player Neymar to 'tiki-taka' kings Xavi and Iniesta to the ultimate sorcerer Ronaldinho, the FIFA Under-17 World Cup has been the cradle for many of world football's household names.
Inter will be his sixth club in a career which began when he made his debut for Anderlecht as a 16-year-old and has taken him to Chelsea, West Bromwich Albion and Everton.
Match-by-match facts and statistics ahead of the Premier League fixtures on April 28-30
Chelsea face the prospect of having veteran Didier Drogba as their only fit striker for their visit to Manchester United on Sunday in what is usually one of the standout matches of the Premier League season.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Brighton & Hove Albion scored three times in the second half to fight back from two goals down and beat Manchester City
Manchester City made sure of third place in the Premier League when they romped to a 5-0 win at Watford on Sunday to ensure a Champions League berth for next season.
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