Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham and Manchester City had all conspired to drop points on Saturday to give Chelsea the chance to further extend their lead at the top of the table, something they did with style in a 2-0 win over Hull.
Chelsea could have been toasting a clean sweep of disappointment for their rivals had Arsenal not once more mounted an improbable comeback at the Emirates, cancelling out Burnley’s 93rd minute equaliser from the spot with a penalty of their own to secure a 2-1 win that took them second in the table.
Nevin wrote in his column on the Chelsea website: “There is an old saying, ‘Make hay while the sun shines.’ Well there hasn’t been a lot of sunshine in west London recently but metaphorically, Chelsea have certainly been harvesting the points while others have been caught napping.
“For the second week in a row, others near us have frittered points away and Chelsea haven’t. It is slightly infuriating that from our point of view, Arsenal managed to somehow get an extra two points with a last-second penalty that shouldn’t have been a penalty and was offside anyway.”
Antonio Conte’s side still have a commanding eight point lead over Arsenal at the top of the table but face a potentially decisive double header of league fixtures, Liverpool away followed by the Gunners’ trip to Stamford Bridge, that could see their margin chipped away.
