Aleksandar Kolarov wrecked the Republic of Ireland's World Cup dream as 10-man Serbia eased themselves to the brink of qualification on a controversial night in Dublin.

Serbia have recalled Torino attacker Adem Ljajic to their squad for the upcoming World Cup qualification double-header against Moldova and Ireland.

Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte has made a veiled criticism of Manchester United and Manchester City, saying spending money does not guarantee success.

Chelsea 4 Brentford 0: As impressive as Antonio Conte’s revival of Chelsea has been, Asmir Begovic is ready to sacrifice a role in the club’s bid to complete a league and cup double in favour of regular first-team football.

And we still have Southampton v Arsenal to come….

Chelsea captain John Terry was sent off as the Premier League leaders beat Peterborough 4-1 in the FA Cup third round at Stamford Bridge.

So where does this leave Chelsea? Top of the table, certainly, having shown the invaluable ability to win despite being outplayed for large swathes of a game.

Wales have drawn 1-1 with Serbia in their World Cup qualifying Group D match at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Our writers round up the weekend's Premier League talking points.

Hull 0 Chelsea 2

Antonio Conte praised Chelsea's team ethic after they overcame a sluggish first half to end a run of two straight Premier League defeats against Hull at the KCOM Stadium.

Theo Walcott hailed Arsenal's bright young things as the Gunners put the past behind them to soundly beat London rivals Chelsea yesterday evening.

Serbia 2 Republic of Ireland 2: After Robbie Keane’s retirement, the big question was where would Ireland’s goals come from?

It’s a long, straight motorway, cutting through endless fields of corn, which takes you from the centre of Belgrade to Stara Pazova where, tucked away at the back of a small industrial park, resides the modern home of Serbian football, a state of the art training complex opened in 2011.

Chelsea have signed left-back Marcos Alonso from Fiorentina, the Serie A club have announced.

Chelsea 2 West Ham United 1: New season, same story. Diego Costa scored a late, late winner to get Antonio Conte’s reign off to a winning start, but controversy swirled round Stamford Bridge with unhappy West Ham supporters and staff claiming the Spain striker should have been sent off long before he put the ball into the net.

New Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante has revealed a speech from Antonio Conte helped convince him to leave Premier League champions Leicester for Stamford Bridge.

Liverpool 1 Chelsea 1: Eden Hazard may finally have rediscovered the form that has deserted him for virtually the entire season, but the one player foremost on Chelsea’s minds at Anfield was John Terry.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insists he has no timetable to make the club league champions again but is confident if they maintain their current progress, they are right on track.

Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez knows a thing or two about second-half comebacks and he duly effected another as his side came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with former club Liverpool.

Everton striker Romelu Lukaku produced two moments of magic to knock his former club Chelsea out of the FA Cup.

Branislav Ivanovic has defended Eden Hazard after the Chelsea playmaker’s midweek shirt swap against PSG and says the Belgian remains committed to the Blues.

Chelsea 1 PSG 2 (PSG win 4-2 on aggregate): Zlatan Ibrahimovic exacted revenge on Chelsea in the most satisfying way, scoring the winning goal against them at Stamford Bridge to send Paris St Germain through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Southampton 1 Chelsea 2

Gary Cahill is confident Chelsea can cope in the absence of injured captain John Terry.

Captain John Terry conceded defeat in his bid to play for Chelsea in tonight’s Champions League clash at Paris St Germain and is a doubt for Sunday’s FA Cup tie with Manchester City, interim boss Guus Hiddink has admitted.

Chelsea tore through Newcastle to send the Magpies spiralling into the Premier League relegation zone.

The result extended the Blues’ current unbeaten run to 11 games.

However the likelihood of Chelsea playing European football next term receded further.

Guus Hiddink is naturally predisposed towards optimism but he has acknowledged that Chelsea are vulnerable defensively at the moment, having conceded five goals in their last two games.

Chelsea 2 West Brom 2: Guus Hiddink had undeniably improved Chelsea — but this game showed just how much more work the interim manager has to do if he is to have any hope of steering last season’s champions back towards the leading group.

Chelsea’s search for successive Barclays Premier League wins this season goes on.

Guus Hiddink has vowed to blood youngsters in Chelsea’s pursuit of a top-four finish in the Premier League — and insisted the quest would not be “boring”.

The next pavement slab in Chelsea’s road to recovery under Guus Hiddink has been laid, with a nervy FA Cup victory over Scunthorpe but their performance suggests the route ahead is not yet clear of obstacles.