Manchester City breezed especially in the first half to beat Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge, leaving Frank Lampard’s side with just one win in six Premier League games.
Ilkay Gundogan continued his goalscoring run with a brilliant turn and finish from 18 yards, before Phil Foden’s finish at the near post from Kevin De Bruyne’s cross moments later to double the City lead.
Playing without a recognised striker, City made Chelsea look like they were playing without defenders as De Bruyne turned scorer. Chelsea committed numbers forward, and the Belgian finished off on the rebound after Raheem Sterling had hit the post having found himself through on goal from the halfway line.
Chelsea sub Callum Hudson-Odoi finished at the far post for a consolation, but the damage had been done, leaving Lampard with a points-per-game ratio in the Premier League of 1.67, lower than any Chelsea manager in the Roman Abramovich era.
Manchester United kicked off the New Year by with a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa that moved them level on points with Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.
Anthony Martial’s second league goal of the season and Bruno Fernandes’ second-half penalty were enough to see off a spirited Villa, who equalised through Bertrand Traore and pushed United all the way in an entertaining contest at Old Trafford.
Tyrone Mings, Matty Cash and Keinan Davis squandered late chances to snatch a point but United stood firm to end Villa’s five-game unbeaten run.
Heung-Min Son’s 100th Tottenham goal helped his side return to winning ways as a 3-0 victory over Leeds moved Spurs back into the top four.
Harry Kane put Spurs ahead from the spot just before the half-hour mark after Steven Bergwijn was fouled by Ezgjan Alioski, and moments before half-time Son doubled the lead when he combined yet again with the England striker to stroke past Illan Meslier.
Patrick Bamford was guilty of missing Leeds’ best chance but the visitors created few clear-cut opportunities to worry Hugo Lloris, while at the other end Toby Alderweireld headed in his first goal since July to add Spurs’ third from Son’s corner.
James Maddison and Youri Tielemans fired Leicester City to a 2-1 win at Newcastle as they registered a seventh away Premier League win this season.
Jamie Vardy had the ball in the net for Leicester in the 13th minute, but it was ruled out for offside, in a tame first half lacking goal-mouth action.
Both sides improved in the second half, with Maddison firing Leicester into the lead shortly after the break. Tielemans then powered home a great finish before Andy Carroll made it a nervy finish for the Foxes with a left-foot volley.
Alexandre Lacazette continued his recent scoring spree with a double in Arsenal’s 4-0 win at West Brom, with the Gunners winning a third successive Premier League game.
Kieran Tierney put the visitors ahead with a superb solo goal – his first of the season. Bukayo Saka then doubled the lead shortly after as Arsenal showed off some sensational team play.
An error from Semi Ajayi allowed Arsenal to hit the Baggies with a devastating attack that was eventually finished by Lacazette in the Second half. The Frenchman added his second shortly afterwards, turning home from close range to make it 4-0 for the Gunners.
Tomas Soucek’s late strike handed West Ham the first Premier League victory of 2021, beating Everton 1-0 in a game that lacked clear-cut chances.
Chances were at a premium for much of the game, with only one shot on target in the first half. It came when Bernard forced a leaping save from Darren Randolph in the 45th minute.
The second half was slightly improved. Aaron Cresswell and Pablo Fornals went close for West Ham, while Seamus Coleman drew an easy save from Randolph. But the visitors finally made the breakthrough in the 86th minute as Soucek fired home after a huge deflection from Yerry Mina.
Ebere Eze’s sensational solo goal helped Crystal Palace ease past Sheffield United 2-0 as Chris Wilder’s side made it a record-breaking 17 Premier League games without a win from the start of the season.
The visitors made the worst possible start when falling behind to Jeff Schlupp’s deflected strike after just four minutes at Selhurst Park.
The hosts then doubled their lead thanks to Eze’s individual effort in first-half stoppage time as the substitute beat three players after starting his run midway inside his own half, before finding the bottom corner.
Brighton and Wolves celebrated the New Year by putting on an exciting clash that ended 3-3.
With just one win at the Amex in 2020, Potter’s men looked to have turned a corner when Aaron Connolly handed them an early lead, but Wolves hit back with three goals before the break.
Romain Saiss headed them level before Dan Burn scored an unfortunate own goal gave them the lead. Burn then compounded a miserable evening by fouling Adama Traore inside the box and Ruben Neves slotted home the penalty at the end of the half.
Wolves also gave away a penalty just 15 seconds into the second half when Joao Moutinho tripped Neal Maupay, who dusted himself down to make it 3-2 from the spot.
Brighton hit the bar through Adam Webster but eventually broke through when his defensive partner Lewis Dunk powered home a header. Wolves could have stolen the points with the last touch but substitute Owen Otasowie headed over from six yards out.
