The Chelsea bandwagon continued to roll on this weekend courtesy of a 2-1 victory away at fellow Londoners Crystal Palace.

Leading the chasing pack are champions Manchester City, who recorded a 4-1 win at the expense of Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium.

Elsewhere, there was an emphatic 8-0 victory for Southampton over Sunderland, while there was also triumphs for Everton, Newcastle United and West Ham United.

Manchester United and Arsenal were held to 2-2 draws by West Bromwich Albion and Hull City respectively, but there was better news for Liverpool as they overcame Queens Park Rangers 3-2 at Loftus Road.

Here, Sports Mole has picked out the 11 players that made the biggest impression on us during the eighth round of matches.

Joe Hart (Manchester City)
The victory over Spurs was a comprehensive one for the champions, but it was only possible because of the form of Hart in goal. With the score at 2-1, he made two crucial stops from Roberto Soldado - including one from the penalty spot.

Leighton Baines (Everton)
With not too much work to do defensively, the shackles were off Baines. The left-back responded by setting up two of his team's three goals.
Steven Taylor (Newcastle United)
Called into the side for a rare start, Taylor showed no sign of rustiness as Newcastle recorded a much-needed victory and clean sheet.
Marc Wilson (Stoke City)
The Republic of Ireland defender made a host of crucial clearances and challenges as Stoke came from behind to beat Swansea at the Britannia Stadium.
Seamus Coleman (Everton)
Back to fitness and restored to the starting lineup, Coleman was at his best. He made a number of raids forward and was rewarded by scoring the third goal.

Dusan Tadic (Southampton)
The summer signing from FC Twente set up an impressive half of his side's eight goals at the St Mary's Stadium, as well as contributing a goal of his own.
Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea)
There is not a Premier League game that goes by where Fabregas does not have some sort of impact. At Selhurst Park, he scored what turned out to be the winning goal to round off a lively display.
Stewart Downing (West Ham United)
Downing's transformation into a central attacking midfielder has been one of the season's biggest success stories. The former England man created numerous openings away at Burnley.
Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal)
Another goal for the Chilean, who caused plenty of problems to the Hull rearguard with his pace and trickery from a wide position.

Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Just the four goals for Aguero, who took his tally for the season to nine. He tormented the Spurs rearguard from the first minute and would have scored five times but for a poorly taken penalty.
Bobby Zamora (Queens Park Rangers)
He may not have scored, but the veteran frontman caused plenty of problems to the Liverpool defence. His hold up play in particular was of high quality.

Numpty of the week

Santiago Vergini: In all honesty, the entire Sunderland side could have collectively shared this award. In short, they were embarrassing away at Southampton, who hit eight goals. The rout started, though, thanks to Vergini. On the edge of his own penalty area, the Sunderland defender attempted to lash the ball out for a throw, but the Argentine only succeeded in powering it into the bottom corner of the net. It set the tone for the afternoon.

Goal of the week

Stephane Sessegnon – (West Bromwich Albion) vs. Manchester United: Scoring goals against Man United this season hasn't always been the trickiest of tasks, but few have been better than the one that Sessegnon fired in at The Hawthorns. Having been picked out brilliantly by Andre Wisdom on the edge of the box, he powered an effort into the top corner, which left an in-form David de Gea helpless.