Arsenal go top, Mourinho off as Chelsea lose
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Arsenal took over at the English Premier League summit on Saturday, while Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was sent to the stands as his side crashed to defeat at West Ham United.
Buoyed by their mid-week win over Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League, Arsenal defeated Everton 2-1 to usurp previous leaders Manchester City, who visit Manchester United on Sunday in the Manchester derby. But floundering champions Chelsea were left 11 points off the pace in 15th place after Mourinho, his assistant Silvino Louro and midfielder Nemanja Matic were dismissed in a 2-1 loss at Upton Park.
Arsenal took control of the game at a rain-lashed Emirates Stadium with two headers in two first-half minutes by France internationals Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny. Giroud, preferred to Theo Walcott, flicked Mesut Ozil's in-swinging cross past Tim Howard in the 36th minute before Koscielny stole in at the near post to convert a left-wing free-kick by Santi Cazorla.
Everton midfielder Ross Barkley replied before half-time with a shot that took a hefty deflection off Arsenal defender Gabriel. After Giroud had hit the woodwork, Romelu Lukaku skimmed the bar with a header, but Everton could not find an equaliser and had Gareth Barry sent off in stoppage time for a second bookable offence.
Mourinho was banished from the touchline by referee Jon Moss at half-time at Upton Park after Mauro Zarate had put West Ham ahead and Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic had been sent off for two bookable offences. Mourinho's assistant Silvino Louro was also sent off for protesting against Matic's dismissal and although Gary Cahill equalised early in the second half, West Ham substitute Andy Carroll headed in a 79th-minute winner.
Mourinho blanked the media after the game, but Cahill told the BBC: "Last season we weren't used to it. The lads are devastated. You're left scratching your head sometimes. We worked really hard at ten men and had the majority of the play in the second half. It's a summary of our season at the minute."
It was Chelsea's fifth defeat of a wretched season and left them in 15th place in the table, ten points below leaders Manchester City ahead of Sunday's Manchester derby at Old Trafford. Slaven Bilic's West Ham, now unbeaten in seven league games, climbed to second, although they will be leapfrogged if third-place Arsenal beat Everton later on Saturday.
Mourinho now risks a stadium ban, having been handed a suspended one-game ban by the Football Association last week.
Chelsea were unchanged from the mid-week 0-0 draw at Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League, with Cahill, Matic and Eden Hazard named in the team after starting last weekend's 2-0 win over Aston Villa on the bench. West Ham went ahead in the 17th minute when Diego Costa miscued an attempted clearance at a corner and Zarate bludgeoned a low shot into the bottom-right corner.
"The lads are devastated. You're left scratching your head sometimes."
Gary Cahill, Chelsea defender
It prompted chants of "You're getting sacked in the morning!" towards Mourinho from West Ham's fans and the Chelsea manager's mood will have darkened further when Kurt Zouma had a header cleared off the line by Manuel Lanzini. The Hawk-eye replay revealed the ball had failed to fully cross the line by a matter of millimetres.
After Lanzini shot over from Dimitri Payet's exquisite flick and Cesc Fabregas had seen a goal ruled out for offside, Matic was shown a second yellow card for blocking off Diafra Sakho wide on the Chelsea left. It drew a wry smile from Mourinho, who took a seat in the directors' box at the start of the second half.
Cahill slammed home from a corner 11 minutes into the second half, only for Carroll to rise from the bench and meet Aaron Cresswell's left-wing cross with a trademark header for his first goal of the season.
Elsewhere, Jamie Vardy became the eighth player to score in seven successive Premier League games as Leicester City beat Crystal Palace 1-0 to move up to fifth place, four points clear of sixth-place Palace. Andre Ayew increased the pressure on beleaguered Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood with an 87th-minute goal that earned Swansea City a 2-1 win at Villa Park.
Ayew's younger brother Jordan had headed Villa ahead in the 62nd minute, but Gylfi Sigurdsson equalised six minutes later with a fine 25-yard free-kick before Ayew the elder struck at the death. Defeat meant that Villa remain second from bottom, four points from safety, with only four points from ten games.
"Am I going to be in the job next week? I'm not the person to ask. I feel like the club is in a hole," Sherwood said. "We can't carry anyone because we're getting done. At the moment we are short. If people don't give everything, we'll come up short."
Watford captain Troy Deeney scored his first Premier League goal and Almen Abdi also found the net as the promoted side ended Stoke City's three-game winning streak with a 2-0 win at the Britannia Stadium. Meanwhile, Salomon Rondon's header earned West Bromwich Albion a 1-0 victory at Norwich City.