Arsenal and Manchester City kept the pressure on Chelsea by recoring contrasting wins on Saturday.
While Arsenal closed the gap to a point by overwhelming Sunderland 4-1, City were three points back with a game in hand after edging Stoke City 1-0.
Arsenal had been dealt a dispiriting 2-0 defeat by Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday and they reacted in style by outclassing third-bottom Sunderland at the Emirates Stadium.
Left on the bench against Bayern, Olivier Giroud was restored to the starting line-up to face Sunderland and the Frenchman responded with a brace of goals in the first 31 minutes. The former Montpellier man also played a role in the glorious move that led to Tomas Rosicky chipping in Arsenal's third goal before half-time, with Laurent Koscielny heading home a fourth in the 57th minute.