The Warm-Up: Chelsea take control, Arsene Wenger and Rod Stewart lose it

The near-instant reaction of the players and referee nearby – and the muting of Stamford Bridge that followed it – was enough of an indication that Ryan Mason’s clash of heads with Gary Cahill was more than just “a sore one”.

Mason was assessed carefully and comprehensively for almost 10 minutes on the pitch before being stretchered off and, soon after, being rushed to hospital for surgery on his fractured skull.

“Everyone at the club would like to express their sincere thanks for the excellent and swift care given to Ryan by both the Accident and Emergency department and Neurosurgery Unit at St Mary’s hospital,” read a Hull statement. “Ryan is in a stable condition and is expected to remain in hospital for the next few days.”

Denied only the clean sweep of title-race good fortune by Alexis Sanchez’s 97th-minute penalty at the Emirates earlier in the day, Antonio Conte otherwise couldn’t have planned the weekend’s results better.

With Chelsea wrapping up the matchweek’s action late on Sunday afternoon, Conte could sit back and watch first Liverpool have their pants pulled down at Anfield by Swansea, Manchester United (nominal though their challenge may be) have to settle for a late point at Stoke, and then Manchester City and Spurs expend blood, sweat and tears for just a point apiece.

Momentum lies solely at Stamford Bridge. Defeat at Tottenham at the start of the month has been followed by three largely untroubled wins since, and even that slip has been atoned for by the otherwise relentless collection of three points. Chelsea have drawn just once this season – City four times, Arsenal five, Liverpool six and Spurs seven – and another win was ground out against a limited but spirited Hull at Stamford Bridge.

A trip to Anfield and a visit from Arsenal await before Valentine’s Day – Chelsea’s margin for error has been significantly widened now.

Despite looking slightly sarcastic in print, Arsene Wenger’s swift apology for his tunnel altercation with fourth official Anthony Taylor – having already been sent to the stands for his reaction to Burnley’s penalty award – was a frank admission of guilt. But it may not be enough to avoid the ire of the FA, who care little for the manhandling of match officials.

Wenger’s mood was presumably lifted when Alexis Sanchez dinked home a late spot-kick of his own deep into injury time to earn Arsenal three precious points. But Granit Xhaka’s penchant for a late tackle means the Gunners’ central midfield looks a little threadbare with a crunch title-race clash with Chelsea looming on the horizon.

Wenger – whose occasional touchline transgressions are always hugely telegenic affairs – could be in the stands for that one.

Cup competition organisers and broadcasters alike continue their bid to sex up the fundamentally rather bland act of drawing teams to play each other. The Scottish Cup upped the stakes considerably on Saturday by pairing Alan Stubbs with Rod Stewart for its fifth-round draw. One of them – we won’t ruin the suspense – proved to be…a bit much.

By the eighth consecutive time you watch this, your eyes will be focused purely on SFA president Alan McRae, who simply cannot wait for the whole administrative process to be over with. Honestly, just get someone like Paul Lambert or David Weir to do it next time – you know where you stand with them.

This was a welcome glimpse of Peak Wayne Rooney, even for his most weary detractors. As with any such landmark, there had been plenty of recent anticipation for Manchester United’s all-time record goalscorer’s moment to become just that: would it be at Old Trafford, would it be an anti-climactic penalty, or could he engineer the script in his favour one more time?

In the end, you suspect he would have settled for the manner in which he reached 250 goals in a United shirt. Individual recognition in a team sport is always an awkward business, but it’s naive to think that such an achievement shouldn’t mean something to Rooney.

The goal itself was worthy of the moment. Three and a half minutes into injury time, Rooney seized the responsibility for a set-piece that looked promising, but no more. The subsequent venom, whip, technique and accuracy of the shot that left his right boot – while his body deployed every sinew to the cause – suggested that the innate, explosive talent that made us “remember the name” is still there, somewhere.

The fall has been hard, and it’s getting harder. Nobody can – or would even want to – take away Leicester’s stunning 2015/16 season, but the abandonment of almost everything that made that Premier League title somehow possible has been almost as extraordinary.

A Jamie Vardy brace had seen Leicester storm back to win a point at St Mary’s last season but, this time around, there was no fire in the Foxes’ collective belly. Indeed, the collective barely resembles the all-for-one-one-for-all machine of last season and its biggest component – captain Wes Morgan – cut a frazzled figure against Southampton. A glaring miss at one end, then an own goal that was chalked off by an offside flag, and then a desperate challenge on Shane Long to concede a penalty: this was light years away from being dragged gleefully round the floor of Vardy’s kitchen.

Ranieri spoke after the 3-0 defeat of that 40-point mark – just as he was last season, but without any hint of mischief this time – and his Leicester side will need to roll those sleeves back up to avoid further ignominy as defending champions. The resumption of the Champions League in four weeks’ time is just another surreal twist.

The Guardian’s Daniel Taylor begins the long goodbyes for London’s history-rich but now inadequate football stadiums. Money talks, and the proposed new designs are extraordinary, but one nostalgic part of you still hopes Chelsea fans will be allowed to park their cars behind one of the goals, just like the weird old days.

Oh, four years is enough to qualify as “retro” now, is it? Look, things move pretty fast around here, so happy 4th birthday to Eden Hazard’s spectacular loss of patience with that pesky Swansea ballboy.

Group B reaches a crescendo at the Africa Cup of Nations today – and Leicester could be welcoming back Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimani a little earlier than expected. Algeria must beat the already-qualified Senegal and hope that Zimbabwe do them a favour (but, crucially, not too emphatically) against Tunisia. The pre-tournament favourites have an anxious night ahead of them.