Chelsea score convincing win over Sunderland

Beleaguered defending champions Chelsea found their winning touch as they beat Sunderland 3-1 at Stamford Bridge two days after the departure of Jose Mourinho was sacked as the team manager.

Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic celebrates scoring the first goal against Sunderland on Saturday. Reuters / Dylan Martinez

Goals by Branislav Ivanovic and Pedro in the first half and a penalty conversion by Oscar in the second helped Chelsea score three valuable points and move up in  championship standings. Before Saturday’s game, they were languishing in 16th place after losing nine of their 16 games.

Chelsea opened the scoring through defender Branislav Ivanovic who scored a header in the fifth minute following a corner.

The hosts put pressure on Sunderland with attacking play right from the word go.
It paid instant dividends as the west London club went two goals up by the eighth minute as Pedro’s left footed shot found the right corner of the net.

Chelsea kept on piling up the pressure as Ivanovic, Pedro and Diego Costa came close to increasing the lead in the first half.

The second half started in a similar fashion for Chelsea as they extended their lead in the 50th minute as Oscar converted the penalty kick after a foul on Willian by Costel Pantilimon in the penalty area.

However, just two minutes later the visitors managed to reduce Chelsea’s lead thanks to a right footed shot by Fabio Borini which found the back of the net.

In other matches, championship leaders Leicester City continued their impressive run this season after beating Everton 3-2 in a tightly fought contest.

Two goals by Riyad Mahrez on either side of the half and a second half goal by Shinji Okazaki helped the visitors beat Everton whose goal scorers were Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas.

Leicester now have 38 points from 17 matches and are five points ahead of second placed Arsenal who have a game in hand.

Former champions Manchester United suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at the hands of Norwich City at home. Cameron Jerome opened the scoring for the visitors in the 38th minute.

Alexander Tettey doubled the lead 10 minutes into the second half with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner of the net.

For United, Anthony Martial was the only goal scorer.