The joys and festivities of Christmas have come and gone as the Premier League resumed with a full Boxing Day schedule which saw a rarity as not a single game ended in a draw.
The early kick-off saw a London derby and top four clash between Chelsea and West Ham which saw the table toppers secure a 2-0 win with John Terry giving the home side the lead in the 31st minute before Diego Costa continued his fine scoring run this season with the second goal in the 62nd minute to complete the win.
Southampton remain in the top five after a comfortable 3-1 win away to Crystal Palace who at the time of writing have sacked Neil Warnock after a bad start to the season and in the game itself, Sadio Mane gave the Saints the lead after 17 minutes before Ryan Bertrand added a second just three minutes into the second half.
Toby Alderweireld added a third for the visitors just five minutes later to all but seal the points though Palace did claim some consolation with an 86th minute strike from Scott Dann.
Everton remain in the bottom half after suffering a 1-0 defeat at home to Stoke who leapfrogged the Toffees as a result with the crucial strike coming in the 38th minute as Bojan Krkic converted from the penalty spot which was enough to claim the three points.
Tottenham closed up on the top five with a 2-1 win away to Leicester who remain bottom of the table after a nightmare start saw them go behind inside a minute to Harry Kane's strike. Leonardo Ulloa equalised for the Foxes just after the interval with a 48th minute effort but Tottenham regained the lead in the 71st minute with a superb goal from Christian Eriksen which was enough for victory.
Swansea continued their chase towards the top five with a narrow 1-0 win at home to an Aston Villa side who are just four points clear of the bottom three. Gylfi Sigurdsson rifled in a superb free-kick after only 13 minutes to put the Swans ahead and his effort proved to be enough to claim the victory.
The final game of the day saw Arsenal secure a 2-1 win over QPR despite playing the majority of the second half with 10 men. Alexis Sanchez had a penalty saved early in the first half before making amends with the opening goal in the 37th minute, Olivier Giroud saw red in the 53rd minute after an apparent head-butt on Nedum Onuoha but the Gunners extended their lead thorough Tomas Rosicky just 12 minutes later. QPR responded with a penalty from Charlie Austin in the 79th minute to set up a tense finish but the Gunners held on.
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