Mourinho Relieved After Chelsea victory, Reds Stun City, Arsenal Suffers Defeat, as Leicester Move T

A 64th-minute goal from wayward striker Diego Costa earned Chelsea their first win in four Premier League matches on Saturday and some breathing space for Jose Mourinho, who said he was still targeting a top-four finish.

Costa had been anonymous for most of the 1-0 win over Norwich City.He had hung back during waves of Chelsea attacks, shot high when set up by Pedro in the first half, failed to get on the end of crosses from Willian and Eden Hazard and hesitated in front of an open goal before halftime.But he made up for his quiet first hour when he controlled a quickly taken free kick from Cesc Fabregas, steadied himself and placed the ball out of reach of a diving John Ruddy for his third Premier League goal of the season.

Mourinho said he was not generally nervous during a game but the dying moments were tough."It's a bit of a relief... (Kurt) Zouma hit the post... then in the last minute maybe we could have scored an own goal so yes there's a bit of relief."The coach, whose club offered him another vote of confidence this week when technical director Michael Emenalo said he trusted Mourinho to pull Chelsea out of their slump, said fourth place and a Champions League spot was still on the cards.

Manchester City suffered a surprise 4-1 defeat by Liverpool while Jamie Vardy equalled a Premier League goalscoring record to leave Leicester as the shock leaders of English football's top-flight on Saturday.

City started the late kick-off match at their Eastlands ground knowing victory would see them go top on a day when the Premier League paid tribute to the victims of the Paris terror attacks.But instead Manuel Pellegrini's men found themselves 3-0 down inside 32 minutes after an Eliaquim Mangala own-goal preceded two sweeping Liverpool moves finished by the Brazilian pair of Phillippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino respectively.

City pulled a goal back before the interval through Sergio Aguero's 20-yard effort, but Jurgen Klopp's visitors had the last word when Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel struck nine minutes from time.

England striker Vardy equalled Ruud van Nistelrooy's record of scoring in 10 consecutive Premier League games for his club by netting Leicester's opener in a 3-0 win over Newcastle during first-half stoppage-time at St James' Park. However, Vardy is still short of all the time English top-flight record for goals in an unbroken run of 12 club matches set by Jimmy Dunne of Sheffield United in the old First Division during the 1931/32 season.

City were bidding to return to first place after being usurped by Leicester City earlier in the day, but they were left in third after a sloppy and unfocused display at the Etihad Stadium culminated in their third defeat of the campaign.

Raheem Sterling, playing against Liverpool for the first time since his acrimonious close-season exit, had been the focus of the pre-match build-up, but it was Firmino, a £29 million capture from Hoffenheim, who stole the headlines.

Arsene Wenger described Arsenal's 2-1 defeat at West Bromwich Albion as the "perfect nightmare" after midfielders Francis Coquelin and Mikel Arteta added to his injury problems.

Arteta's own goal, coupled with a late penalty miss by Santi Cazorla, ended the Gunners' six-match unbeaten Premier League run and dented their title challenge.

And Gunners boss Wenger, already without Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey and Danny Welbeck, suffered further setbacks as he lost Coquelin to a knee problem and Arteta to a recurrence of a calf injury.Both players will be assessed and are doubts for Tuesday's Champions League home match against Dinamo Zagreb, which Arsenal must win to stand any chance of staying in the competition."It was a very bad afternoon for us.

We had 70 per cent possession, we scored an own goal, we missed a penalty, we gave away a goal from a set piece. That's perfect to make the afternoon a nightmare," Wenger said."We missed open goal chances too. I believe that West Brom fought with 100 per cent commitment as well. You have to give them credit for that.

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