Chelsea maintained their three-point lead over Manchester City as both team's won over two of the Premier League's weakest sides on Saturday, and Arsenal kept pace by throttling Newcastle.
Eden Hazard headed home in the seventh minute as Chelsea bounced back from last week's defeat against Newcastle to beat Hull City 2-0.
In a game of few chances, Tom Huddlestone's sending off on the hour mark for a shocking tackle on Filipe Luis opened things up.
Hazard then laid on a perfect assist for Diego Costa to double the lead in the 68th minute.
Olivier Giroud netted two goals and Santi Cazorla bagged his second goal in two games shortly after half-time to hand Arsenal a 4-1 win against Newcastle, with Ayoze Perez getting one back for the Magpies.
Giroud delivered a powerful header to open the scoring from an Alexis Sanchez cross and the Gunners went into the break just 1-0 ahead. Danny Welbeck had a goal disallowed, then Cazorla's chipped finish doubled the lead.
Giroud bagged his second and Arsenal's third seemingly from an offside position, then Perez got on the end of a free kick to give the home fans some nerves. These were settled, though, as Welbeck was brought down in the box and Cazorla struck a "Panenka" style penalty down the middle to seal a comfortable win.
Frank Lampard equalled Thierry Henry's 175 Premier League goals as second-placed Manchester City maintained their form with a 1-0 win at Leicester City.
Lampard scored in the 40th minute from Samir Nasri's pass to secure all three points for the title holders, making it five top-flight wins on the spin. The midfielder, on loan from New York City, now has 175 Premier League goals to his name, meaning he is now joint-fourth in the all-time scoring charts.
However, City's title hopes were put into doubt as captain and talisman Vincent Kompany limped off with a hamstring injury late in the second half.
Jozy Altidore's Sunderland nightmare continued as his first-half horror miss consigned the Black Cats to their fifth draw in their last six matches at the Stadium of Light, 1-1 against West Ham.
Altidore's dismal goal-scoring record now stands at one in 41 appearances for the club after he somehow contrived to fluff an effort from three yards out with the goal at his mercy.
Jordi Gomez put the home side in front with a 22nd-minute penalty but Stewart Downing dragged the Hammers level five minutes later with a deflected effort from the right flank.
Connor Wickham saw an 85th-minute drive tipped over by Hammers keeper Adrian but the best chance of a winner -- Altidore apart -- fell to former Newcastle star Andy Carroll.
Tom Heaton and Ashley Barnes were the heroes as Burnley picked up their third win of the season against stuttering Southampton to climb out of the relegation zone.
Heaton saved Dusan Tadic's penalty on the hour mark and with 73 minutes gone Barnes scored his second goal of the campaign to earn the Clarets a 1-0 victory.
After defeats by three of the biggest teams in the league, this looked an ideal chance for Southampton to get their top-four bid back on track, but they slipped to a fourth successive loss.
Craig Gardner eased the pressure on West Brom boss Alan Irvine as the Baggies clinched a crucial 1-0 derby win over 10-man Aston Villa.
The former Villa trainee -- who took a swipe at his former club before the game -- smashed in with 18 minutes left to settle a feisty derby after Kieran Richardson was sent off. The visitors had to play 68 minutes with 10 men following Richardson's reckless challenge on Stephane Sessegnon.
Christian Benteke poked wide late on but Villa's second-half surrender should concern boss Paul Lambert.
Inspired by the excellent Silvestre Varela, on his full Premier League debut, the Baggies clinched just their second win in 10 games and ended Villa's five-match unbeaten run.
One toothless attacking force cancelled out another as Crystal Palace and Stoke played out an uninspiring 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park.
James McArthur headed his first goal in 15 games to hand Palace the lead before Peter Crouch equalised in a dire Premier League clash.
Palace's patchy run of one win in 10 games has edged the Eagles closer to the relegation zone, while Stoke slipped markedly from the pace of last week's Arsenal triumph.