Christmas has come and gone as the football resumed on a packed Boxing Day that saw a change at the top and in the bottom three but bad tempered day saw four dismissals including two for one side.
The early kick off saw Hull take a shock 2-0 lead with goals from Chester and Meyler inside 15 minutes but go on to lose 3-2 to Manchester United who completed a superb comeback with began with a goal from Smalling in the 19th minute, Rooney made it 2-2 going into the break and the win was handed to them by Chester who scored an own goal meaning he had scored for and against his former side by scoring in the 66th minute and United even held on with ten men with Valencia sent off in the final minute after a second booking for kicking the ball away.
Crystal Palace left it late to seal a 1-0 win at Aston Villa as Gayle broke away and stunned Villa Park with a stunning last minute winner which took his side out of the bottom three while Chelsea kept up their impressive home record with a 1-0 win over Swansea thanks to a goal from Hazard.
Everton lost at home for the first time this season and in 2013 after calamitous two minutes in the first half that saw Howard sent off and sub 'keeper Robles beaten by the resulting penalty by Ki as Sunderland completed a vital win but one which still saw them occupy bottom spot in the table.
Newcastle hammered Stoke 5-1 but did so after Stoke lost the plot despite taking the lead through Assaidi on the half-hour as both Whelan and Wilson were sent off in the space of the final two minutes of the first half,.
Remy levelled after the second dismissal and in the second half, Newcastle ran riot with the two man advantage as Gouffran made it 2-1 three minutes into the half with Remy hitting his second and Cabaye adding a fourth just after the hour mark. Cisse struck an 80th minute penalty as they moved closer to the top four.
Fulham avoided dropping to bottom spot with a 2-1 win over Norwich despite going behind to an early opener by Hooper as Kasami levelled in the 33rd minute and with the final minutes ticking down it looked like a draw was on the cards until Parker struck an 87th minute winner for the Cottagers.
Tottenham had to settle for a 1-1 draw despite Eriksen giving them the lead with his first league goal in the 36th minute as within minutes, Olsson drew West Brom level to share the points while Arsenal returned to the top with a 3-1 win over West Ham despite Cole giving the home side a lead a minute after half time as Walcott hit a 68th and 71st minute double with Podolski scoring the third on his comeback from a long injury layoff in the 87th minute.
The final game of the day saw Liverpool travel to face Man City knowing a win would see them return to the top while a loss would drop them to fourth, Liverpool took the lead with Coutinho scoring to stun the Etihad after 24 minutes but a Kompany leveller six minutes later coupled with Negredo's chip on half-time which was tipped in by Mignolet kept up City's home record and meant that once again, Liverpool failed against one of their title rivals but one incident that soured the game was the ruling of offside on Sterling after he raced clear to score and replays showed he was a good two yards onside meaning Liverpool should have claimed a point at least.
So an exciting Boxing Day programme with some real surprises leading to unbeaten records tumbling and others being increased but the teams have no real break as the next run of games begins later today.
The early kick off saw Hull take a shock 2-0 lead with goals from Chester and Meyler inside 15 minutes but go on to lose 3-2 to Manchester United who completed a superb comeback with began with a goal from Smalling in the 19th minute, Rooney made it 2-2 going into the break and the win was handed to them by Chester who scored an own goal meaning he had scored for and against his former side by scoring in the 66th minute and United even held on with ten men with Valencia sent off in the final minute after a second booking for kicking the ball away.
Crystal Palace left it late to seal a 1-0 win at Aston Villa as Gayle broke away and stunned Villa Park with a stunning last minute winner which took his side out of the bottom three while Chelsea kept up their impressive home record with a 1-0 win over Swansea thanks to a goal from Hazard.
Everton lost at home for the first time this season and in 2013 after calamitous two minutes in the first half that saw Howard sent off and sub 'keeper Robles beaten by the resulting penalty by Ki as Sunderland completed a vital win but one which still saw them occupy bottom spot in the table.
Newcastle hammered Stoke 5-1 but did so after Stoke lost the plot despite taking the lead through Assaidi on the half-hour as both Whelan and Wilson were sent off in the space of the final two minutes of the first half,.
Remy levelled after the second dismissal and in the second half, Newcastle ran riot with the two man advantage as Gouffran made it 2-1 three minutes into the half with Remy hitting his second and Cabaye adding a fourth just after the hour mark. Cisse struck an 80th minute penalty as they moved closer to the top four.
Fulham avoided dropping to bottom spot with a 2-1 win over Norwich despite going behind to an early opener by Hooper as Kasami levelled in the 33rd minute and with the final minutes ticking down it looked like a draw was on the cards until Parker struck an 87th minute winner for the Cottagers.
Tottenham had to settle for a 1-1 draw despite Eriksen giving them the lead with his first league goal in the 36th minute as within minutes, Olsson drew West Brom level to share the points while Arsenal returned to the top with a 3-1 win over West Ham despite Cole giving the home side a lead a minute after half time as Walcott hit a 68th and 71st minute double with Podolski scoring the third on his comeback from a long injury layoff in the 87th minute.
The final game of the day saw Liverpool travel to face Man City knowing a win would see them return to the top while a loss would drop them to fourth, Liverpool took the lead with Coutinho scoring to stun the Etihad after 24 minutes but a Kompany leveller six minutes later coupled with Negredo's chip on half-time which was tipped in by Mignolet kept up City's home record and meant that once again, Liverpool failed against one of their title rivals but one incident that soured the game was the ruling of offside on Sterling after he raced clear to score and replays showed he was a good two yards onside meaning Liverpool should have claimed a point at least.
So an exciting Boxing Day programme with some real surprises leading to unbeaten records tumbling and others being increased but the teams have no real break as the next run of games begins later today.
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