Soccer: No change as Premier League's top four all win

LONDON - Chelsea maintained their drive for their first title for 50 years when they thrashed Newcastle United 4-0 at Stamford Bridge today to stay five points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League.

Chelsea briefly led the table by eight points after kicking off early but the status quo returned at the top when Arsenal beat Birmingham City 3-0 at Highbury, Everton beat Bolton Wanderers 3-2 at Goodison Park and Manchester United beat Southampton 3-0 at Old Trafford.

With 16 matches played, Chelsea lead the standings with 39 points followed by Arsenal (34), Everton (33) and Manchester United (30).

It took Chelsea more than an hour to make the breakthrough against Newcastle, who have won only twice at Stamford Bridge in the last 50 years and were beaten there 5-0 last season.

There was only going to be one outcome after Frank Lampard put Chelsea ahead in the 63rd minute with a volley after chesting down a header by Didier Drogba.

Drogba doubled the tally after 69 minutes after being set up by a 30-metre pass by Lampard and goals from Arjen Robben (89) and Mateja Kezman with a stoppage-time penalty, completed the rout. It was the fifth time in seven matches that Chelsea had scored four goals.

Arsenal had things almost as easy at Highbury where they beat Birmingham thanks to goals from Robert Pires and Thierry Henry, who scored twice in the last 10 minutes to take his tally for the season to 16.

It was Arsenal's first win in any competition for five matches and manager Arsene Wenger, who dropped goalkeeper Jens Lehmann and gave a league debut to Manuel Almunia, was a relieved man afterwards.

"What was important today was that we did the job and got a win. We stayed focused and showed some real strength."

Everton stayed third on 33 points after coming from behind twice to beat Bolton Wanderers 3-2 in a fiercely contested Lancashire derby at Goodison Park with an 85th-minute own goal from Radhi Jaidi handing Everton the points.

Kevin Davies twice put Bolton ahead but Everton equalised first through Duncan Ferguson and then Thomas Gravesen before sealing victory when Jaidi deflected the ball into his own net five minutes from time.

Manchester United won their fourth successive league game, with Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo all scoring in the second half.

United manager Alex Ferguson was delighted afterwards and told Sky Sports News: "We played exceptionally well for periods in the second half."

West Bromwich Albion stayed bottom on 11 points after conceding two late goals to lose 3-2 at Portsmouth and remain two points behind Southampton and Norwich, who lost 1-0 at home to Fulham.

Aston Villa drew 1-1 with Liverpool, whose opening goal was a rare header from Harry Kewell - his first goal for 33 matches.

Blackburn Rovers were playing Tottenham Hotspur in an evening match while Crystal Palace were playing Charlton Athletic on Sunday and Middlesbrough were facing Manchester City on Monday.

- REUTERS