Match Report

Samuel Eto'o scored a hat-trick as Chelsea beat Manchester United 3-1 to reduce the gap to Premier League leaders Arsenal to two points.

The Cameroon forward struck twice in the first half and was on target again just after the break at Stamford Bridge to take his tally to eight goals for the season as third-placed Chelsea stretched their winning run to six matches in all competitions. Javier Hernandez pulled a goal back for United after coming off the bench, but It was not a good afternoon for his manager David Moyes, who will be without his captain Nemanja Vidic for three matches after the defender was sent off in injury time for a foul on Eden Hazard.
The defeat was Moyes's side first away from home in the league for almost four months, as their chances of retaining their title were made more remote. The champions are 14 points behind Arsenal and face a battle to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, sitting six points adrift of fourth-placed Liverpool.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho celebrated his 100th Barclays Premier League win in only 142 matches, requiring fewer matches than any other manager to achieve the landmark.
His defender Branislav Ivanovic returned from injury ahead of schedule at the expense of Ashley Cole, while Eto'o was preferred to Fernando Torres. New signing Nemanja Matic started on the bench alongside fit-again midfielder Frank Lampard. Ashley Young and Phil Jones were back in the United starting line-up as Shinji Kagawa and Chris Smalling dropped to the bench.
United made an encouraging start, but found themselves behind after 16 minutes when Eto'o conjured up a goal out of nothing. There appeared to be no danger when the striker picked up a loose ball, but he cut in from the right and jinked past Jones before unleashing a shot from the edge of the penalty area that deflected off Michael Carrick and looped into the far corner of the net.
United responded well to going behind and the lively Adnan Januzaj created a great chance for Danny Welbeck when he picked out the striker in the area, but the England forward’s shot was saved by Petr Cech. That miss proved costly as Gary Cahill picked out Eto'o a minute before half-time and the forward finished from six yards out.
Eto'o punished some loose United defending just three minutes into the second half to complete his treble. He was first to react when a header from an unmarked Cahill was well saved by De Gea and tucked home the rebound.
Welbeck's frustrating afternoon continued when he headed wide from six yards out, but substitute Hernandez pulled a goal back when he turned in Jones's shot from inside the six yard box 12 minutes from time. It was too little, too late for Moyes's side and Matic came on to make his second debut for Chelsea five minutes from time after rejoining from Benfica as they saw out the victory with ease.
United’s misery was complete when Vidic was shown a red card for a foul on Hazard.

AS IT STANDS Top 6 in the EPL:

1 Arsenal  51 points,

2 Man City  50,

3 Chelsea 49,

4 Liverpool 43,

5 Spurs 43,

6 Everton 41