Arsenal’s youngsters eased the pressure on Mikel Arteta as they inspired the Gunners to a 3-1 victory over Chelsea on Boxing Day.
Alexandre Lacazette converted a penalty on 34 minutes after Chelsea defender, Reece James was penalised for a foul on Kieran Tierney, before Granit Xhaka fired Arsenal into a two-goal half-time lead for the first time this season with a stunning free-kick.
Bukayo Saka’s long-range lob over Chelsea shot-stopper, Edouard Mendy early in the second half put Arsenal three up before Tammy Abraham sparked a late rally, but it proved too little, too late for Chelsea as Bernd Leno saved Jorginho’s stoppage-time penalty to end their hopes of pulling off the unlikeliest of comebacks.
Axel Tuanzebe’s late own goal earned Leicester a 2-2 draw with Manchester United at the King Power Stadium.
Marcus Rashford gave Manchester United a lead in the first half which was cancelled out by Harvey Barnes before the interval in what was an evenly-balanced contest between the two sides.
Bruno Fernandes’ 79th-minute goal had looked to have won it for united but Tuanzebe deflected in Jamie Vardy’s strike to level it up on 85 minutes with the match ending all-square.
Semi Ajayi headed a late equaliser to stun Premier League champions Liverpool and clinch a 1-1 draw for West Brom at Anfield.
Liverpool took an early lead when Sadio Mane finished clinically from a Joel Matip pass but they struggled to create clear chances after that and Sam Allardyce’s side punished their sluggish display with a deserved leveller eight minutes from time.
Matheus Pereira was the provider, his cross from the right finding Ajayi, whose towering header crept over the line after bouncing off the inside of the post.
The draw means Liverpool missed the chance to move five points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
Romain Saiss’ late goal earned a well-deserved 1-1 draw for Wolves after Tanguy Ndombele had put Tottenham ahead inside a minute.
It was almost a classic Jose Mourinho performance once again from Tottenham, as Ndombele send a low, hard strike past Rui Patricio after 57 seconds.
They then sat back and soaked up plenty of Wolves pressure, having only one shot in the second half. But Spurs were let down by some lax set-piece defending as Saiss flicked home from a corner in the 86th minute to seal a point for the hosts. Ruben Neves and Fabio Silva both missed late chances to win it for Wolves.
Tottenham missed the chance to go back into the top four and have now gone four Premier League games without victory.
Manchester City breezed past Newcastle as goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Ferran Torres gave them a 2-0 win at the Etihad Stadium.
City dominated the ball in the first half and took the lead through Ilkay Gundogan, converting from close range after Raheem Sterling had squared in the box.
The hosts turned it up a notch in the second half, doubling their lead through Torres after both Miguel Almiron and Federico Fernandez’s failed clearances.
Bernardo Silva hit the post and sub Sergio Aguero saw a big late chance superbly saved by Karl Darlow, but it ended 2-0, meaning a 13th clean sheet in all competitions this season for City, more than any other team in the top five European leagues.
Aston Villa survived playing over a half of football with 10 men to ease past a woeful Crystal Palace 3-0, scoring two of those goals despite being a man down.
Bertrand Traore gave Villa a lead they deserved but their momentum in the match looked to be halted when Tyrone Mings was dismissed for a second yellow card after two clashes with Wilfried Zaha right before halftime.
However, the numerical disadvantage didn’t hamper Villa’s play on the break as Palace struggled to put their defence under any pressure and Kourtney Hause headed home Villa’s second
The chances kept on coming for Dean Smith’s team and Anwar El Ghazi stuck home a sensational third. Aston Villa will go into their next game with Chelsea high on confidence after incredible display.
Gylfi Sigurdsson’s late strike secured Everton a narrow 1-0 win against Sheffield United on Boxing Day to lift them up to second in the Premier League table.
It was a tight game at a wet and windy Bramall Lane, with chances for both in a goalless first half. David McGoldrick and Oliver Burke went close for winless Sheffield United while Dominic Calvert-Lewin just flashed an effort wide at the other end.
The Blades looked to be heading for a second successive draw in their battle against relegation, but a low strike from Sigurdsson secured three points for Everton. Oli McBurnie had two glorious chances in added time to snatch an equaliser, but Sheffield United were condemned to another undeserved defeat.
West Ham came from behind twice to secure a 2-2 draw with Brighton at the London Stadium.
The Hammers were lacklustre during a first half played at a slow tempo and were punished one minute before the interval when Neal Maupay capitalised on dreadful defending to stab his side ahead.
David Moyes called upon Manuel Lanzini and Andriy Yarmolenko at the break in place of Jarrod Bowen and Mark Noble and his side immediately started to apply pressure on Graham Potter’s men.
Yarmolenko caused chaos with a left-footed cross on the hour, which eventually rebounded to 20-year-old Ben Johnson to fire past Robert Sanchez and score his first goal for the club.
Brighton restored their lead 10 minutes later after Lewis Dunk evaded Soucek to smash his effort into the roof of the net from close range.
But the Hammers’ threat from set-pieces proved to bite Brighton eight minutes from time, with Soucek storming through a crowd of defenders to head home his side’s second leveller and secure the draw.
Theo Walcott was denied by a marginal offside call following a VAR review as Southampton were held to a 0-0 draw by Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Southampton carved out the better chances as Alphonse Areola superbly tipped James Ward-Prowse’s free-kick onto the bar before Che Adams was unable to convert the rebound during the opening half.
Shane Long’s rifled finish was then ruled out for offside on the field before Walcott thought he had earned a fourth away league win for the visitors but his effort from Adams’ cross was ruled out upon VAR review.
Patrick Bamford’s fifth-minute penalty was enough to see Leeds move up to 11th in the Premier League with a 1-0 victory over Burnley at Elland Road.
The hosts made the perfect start when Bamford fired home from the penalty spot for his 10th goal of the season after being brought down in the penalty area by goalkeeper Nick Pope.
Burnley came on strong in the second half as they went in search of an equaliser, but they found no way through as Marcelo Bielsa’s side, who missed plenty of first-half chances, held firm for a valuable three points.
