( CNN ) -- A sharply taken goal was followed by a celebration which showed he also has a sense of humor . Samuel Eto ' o scored the crucial opener in Chelsea 's 4-0 rout of Tottenham Hotspur Saturday to take them seven points clear in the English Premier League -- then faked as if he was an old man with a bad back , using the corner flag as a walking stick . Maybe it was in reaction to his manager Jose Mourinho 's unguarded comments to a French TV channel last month . The Portuguese apparently questioned the age of the Cameroon star , who is 33 later this week , as well as making unflattering reference to the other strikers at Chelsea . Perhaps it has acted as unintentional motivation , but Eto ' o showed his old qualities as he latched on to Jan Vertonghen 's clumsy back pass and calmly beat Hugo Lloris to put Chelsea ahead just after half time . Moments later Eto ' o raced on to Eden Hazard 's through ball and went quickly to ground under challenge from Younes Kaboul . Referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot and compounded Tottenham 's anger by sending off Kaboul . Hazard converted from the spot and Eto ' o 's work was essentially done , being replaced by Demba Ba , but earning a pat on the back from Mourinho . He had only earned his place in the starting line up when Fernando Torres injured himself in the warm-up and Mourinho told Sky Sports , that it was `` fate '' that he later scored his seventh EPL goal of the season . `` I think he 's amazing . The way he copes with the situation in the last couple of weeks , I think he 's fantastic . And today I told him before the game : 'You are going to score for sure . ' '' Tottenham 's part in their own downfall , looking comfortable until Vertonghen 's disastrous error after a slip , was summed up by Chelsea 's two late goals . Sandro also slipped to allow Ba to score a rare EPL goal this term and he doubled his tally and made it 4-0 after he intercepted Kyle Walker 's careless header . Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood was left shaking his head in disbelief , Mourinho had a spring in his step after a victory which left them clear of second-placed Liverpool and nine points ahead of Manchester City , who have three games in hand . Sherwood launched a post-match tirade against his team , whose chances of Champions League football have all but disappeared . `` You ca n't legislate for the capitulation -- you ca n't have that . Lack of characters , too many of them too nice to each other and you need to show a bit more guts and not want to be someone 's mate all the time , '' he said . `` It hurts me and I wo n't forget about this when we hit the motorway , but some might , '' he added . Earlier , Manchester United kept their slim hopes of Champions League qualification alive with a 3-0 win over West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns . Goals from Phil Jones , Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck gave United a second straight league win , while Pepe Mel 's WBA remained a point above the drop zone after the home defeat . `` I thought our forward play was very good , '' under-pressure United manager David Moyes told BT Sport . Third-placed Arsenal were involved in FA Cup quarterfinal action Saturday and beat Everton 4-1 at the Emirates to book a last four match at Wembley . The match hinged on the award of a penalty to the home side in the second half with the scores tied at 1-1 . Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was tripped by Gareth Barry and Mikel Arteta converted from the spot . Olivier Giroud came off the bench for the home side to add gloss to the scoreline with two late goals as Everton pushed for an equalizer . Mesut Ozil had put Arsenal ahead before Romelu Lukaku leveled for the visitors .
Chelsea stretch lead at top of English Premier League . Samuel Eto ' o stars in 4 - 1 win over Tottenham Hotspur . Man Utd win 3 - 0 at WBA to ease pressure on manager David Moyes . Arsenal through to FA Cup Final with 4 - 1 win over Everton .