Fernando Torres was sent off for the first time in his Premier League career as Chelsea bounced back from defeat at Manchester United with a 4-1 win over Swansea on Saturday.
Torres, who was widely ridiculed after his open goal miss at Old Trafford, looked to have banished the blues after rifling home a superb opener to put Andre Villas-Boas's side ahead at Stamford Bridge.
The £50 million striker had a hand in Chelsea's second goal scored by Ramires on 36 minutes but then saw a promising display take a disastrous turn when he was given a straight red for a two-footed lunge on Swans midfielder Mark Gower.
The dismissal did not prevent Chelsea clinching the win however, Ramires adding his second before Ashley Williams grabbed a late consolation for the promoted Welsh side. Didier Drogba added a fourth in the dying moments.
The win saw Chelsea go to within two points of Manchester United, who face Stoke in Saturday's late kick-off at the Britannia Stadium.
Manchester City had earlier edged one point clear of United at the top of the table after second half goals from substitutes Mario Balotelli and James Milner gave them a 2-0 win over Everton at Eastlands.
City's unbeaten arch-rivals United will return to the top later Saturday however if they avoid defeat at Stoke.
In other results Saturday, Arsenal captain Robin van Persie brought up a century of goals for the London club after scoring twice in the Gunners 3-0 win over Bolton at the Emirates.
Dutch striker van Persie scored in the 46th and 71st minutes before Alex Song added a third late on.
The win relieved the pressure on Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger but left Bolton rooted to the bottom of the table with only three points.
Liverpool bounced back from their 4-0 thrashing at Spurs last week with a 2-1 win over Wolves at Anfield.
Liverpool took the lead courtesy of a Roger Johnson own goal on 11 minutes and added a second through Luis Suarez shortly before half-time.
Wolves came back strongly in the second half however, Scottish substitute Steven Fletcher pulling a goal back in the 49th minute to ensure Kenny Dalglish's side could never relax.
Newcastle maintained their fine start to the season with a 3-1 win over Blackburn at St James Park with Senegalese striker Demba Ba scoring a hat-trick.
Ba put Newcastle 1-0 up in the 27th minute after collecting a Leon Best cross and drilling his shot beyond former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson.
Ba added his second only three minutes later, heading home to leave Blackburn reeling. Rovers fought back with a David Hoilett goal on 37 minutes but Ba sealed his hat-trick early in the second half to make sure of the points.
Tottenham followed up their win over Liverpool with a 2-1 win over Wigan at the DW Stadium courtesy of first half goals from Rafael van der Vaart and Welsh winger Gareth Bale.
Wigan clawed their way back with a Mohamed Diame goal on 50 minutes but a red card for Steve Gohouri for a second bookable offence left the Latics on the back foot for the remainder of the game.
In the day's other game, Fulham and West Bromwich Albion played out a 0-0 stalemate at the Hawthorns.
Source: AFP
Source: AFP