Arsenal 4-1 Liverpool: Gunners blow away rivals' top four hopes

Arsenal produced a devastating display at the Emirates on Saturday lunchtime to leave Liverpool's top four hopes in tatters.

The Gunners had a seventh successive Premier Leaguevictory wrapped up by half-time, with Hector Bellerin, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez scoring in a stunning eight-minute spell.

Jordan Henderson pulled one back for the visitors from the penalty spot after the break but any hopes of a comeback were extinguished by Emre Can’s sending off for a second bookable offence, and Olivier Giroud’s stoppage time strike closed out a comfortable win for the hosts.

Arsene Wenger's in-form side are now up to second in the table, although Manchester City can move back above them by beating Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Monday.

A second straight defeat for Liverpool, meanwhile, means Brendan Rodgers' faltering team remain five points adrift of the Champions League places.

And the gap to fourth will grow if Manchester United are victorious against Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Saturday.

All the pre-match focus had been on Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling after he had riled Reds chiefs by explaining in an interview not sanctioned by the club why he has rejected a new £100,000-a-week contract.

The starlet, playing as a striker with Daniel Sturridge deemed not fit enough to start, would have been hoping to make headlines for the right reasons and he came agonisingly close to putting Liverpool ahead with 20 minutes played when he was inches away from converting Lazar Markovic’s pass with the goal gaping.

But his impact was limited as Arsenal took control with a stunning spell of attacking football before the break, that was sparked by Bellerini's goal on 37 minutes.

After neat play from Ozil and Aarom Ramsey, the ball found its way to the Spaniard in the Liverpool box and he cut inside Alberto Moreno before curling a superb effort with his left foot past a despairing Simon Mignolet.

It was an excellent finish by the young full-back, who had only scored once for the club before, but it was bettered just two minutes later by Ozil.

The German, so often the subject of criticism, showed just why Wenger splashed out £42million to bring him to north London with a stunning free-kick from 25 yards that left Mignolet with no chance.

It got worse for the visitors just before the break when Sanchez fired home an unstoppable third.

The Chilean, who had snubbed interest from Liverpool last summer to join Arsenal, stepped past the hapless Kolo Toure on the edge of the pox and slammed a powerful shot past Mignolet.

Arsenal eased off in the second half, and Bellerin's needles trip on Sterling in the home box enabled Henderson to reduce the deficit from the spot.

But the visitors' momentum was lost when Can picked up his second yellow card with five minutes remaining following a foul on substitute Danny Welbeck.

And Arsenal went to claim a fourth in the final seconds - Giroud firing past Mignolet to claim his tenth goal in as many games - to round off an excellent day's work.

Adam scores goal of the season as Costa limps off

Charlie Adam scored one of the goals of the season, but it was not enough as Stoke lost to Chelsea 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.

Earlier in the day, Wayne Rooney and Bobby Zamora scored two goal of the season contenders for Man United and QPR respectively, but Adam has surely trumped both with his effort, struck from 64 yards out.

It proved to be in vain though as Jose Mourinho’s emerged triumphant to stretch their lead at the top of the Premier League to seven points, though they were not convincing and they may have to do without Diego Costa for the remainder of the season.

Having begun on the bench, the striker replaced Oscar at half-time, but last just 11 minutes before an injury to his problematic hamstring forced him off.

Despite their star man’s absence, Chelsea began brightly and will feel aggrieved not to have gone in at half-time in front given their inventive play as they prodded and probed the Stoke defence from the off.

Asmir Begovic was forced into early saves from Loic Remy following some lovely play from the Blues, whose free-flowing football continued as Hazard dazzled, showing the fancy footwork that has put him in the running for Player of the Season.

A smart move from the Belgian together with Willian, Azpilicueta and Oscar, was unlucky not to have produced a goal, with the latter’s shot going narrowly wide.

But until Philipp Wollscheid brought down Cesc Fabregas, handing Hazard the chance to score from the spot, it appeared we were heading for a goalless first 45 minutes.

But Hazard scored, and then Charlie Adam drilled the ball past Thibaut Courtois, one of the world’s best keepers, to fire Stoke level in spectacular fashion as he shot from inside his own half on the stroke of half-time.

Standing on the edge of the Chelsea penalty area, Courtois could only palm it into the net as he back peddled frantically to try and keep Adam’s shot out.

Costa was withdrawn shortly after the restart, though Remy’s strike will give his boss some hope the Blues’ title challenge is not in too much danger of faltering.

His goal from five yards out, created by the brilliant Hazard, was the Frenchman’s last act of the game as he was replaced by Juan Cuadrado on the hour mark.

After a quiet game the Frenchman will be pleased he found the back of the net, but as the game wore on Chelsea struggled to put more daylight between them and their opponents thanks to the intervention of Begovic.

The Blues, while not their sparkling best, still found a way to cross the finish line and will be pleased the points are theirs with QPR up next.

Raheem Sterling Latest: 'He's not going anywhere', insists Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers has told Raheem Sterling: You’re staying at Liverpool.

The 20-year-old’s future has been under scrutiny this week after it was reported he has turned down an improved contract offer, worth £100,000 a week.

That has led to speculation he could leave Anfield as early as this summer, with Premier League rivals Arsenal and Manchester City apparently keen, as well as Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Sterling claimed in an interview on Wednesday that his motivation is not money, but silverware, and Rodgers insists the England international will not be allowed to leave Merseyside

The Reds boss said: “If his ambition is trophies, that's perfectly aligned with what we want. This is Liverpool. It's an honour for him to be here.

"Raheem has two and a half years left on his deal and he's not going anywhere in the summer.

"There was no permission (for the interview) from us. He will learn we all make mistakes in life, especially when you are young.

"I think the kid has tried to put off all talk about contract and money. For now hopefully the focus will be on football.

"Liverpool are one of the superpowers of football and if the owners don't want to sell, they don't have to.

"The club is not going to sell and if it doesn't want to sell it won't sell, it is simple as that.

"Money has never been the objective for the club. Whatever player - Raheem or anyone - leaves here it will always be on the terms of the club."

PSG DISCUSSING HOW TO FIT IN MAN UTD WINGER DI MARIA

PSG are discussing how they can sign Manchester United winger Angel di Maria keeping within the Financial Fair Play laws.

The Daily Mail says PSG retain a strong interest in Di Maria but United are reluctant to sell.

PSG particularly want Paul Pogba from Juventus but his purchase will make it difficult for them to sign more than one marquee player under FFP guidelines unless they offload several of their current first team.

Javier Pastore, Blaise Matuidi, Adrien Rabiot and Gregory van der Wiel are among those that could be sacrificed.