Sunday, 28 December 2014

Festive Joy For Favourites

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. 

Liverpool secured a rare away win this season with a narrow 1-0 win against Burnley who remain in the bottom three ahead of a tough end to 2014. Liverpool sit ninth after claiming all three points with a 62nd minute winner from Raheem Sterling who continues to be the Reds top scorer this season. 

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. 

Manchester United continued their bid to close on the top two with a 3-1 win at home to a Newcastle side on the fringes of mid-table with Wayne Rooney putting the home side in control with a brace in the 23rd and 36th minutes. Robin van Persie added a third for the hosts in the 53rd minute which looked to have wrapped up the win but Newcastle did claim a late consolation with Papiss Cisse slotting in an 87th minute penalty. 


Hull came from behind to end a run of nine games without a win as they triumphed 3-1 away to Sunderland who made a perfect start with Adam Johnson putting them in front inside the first minute before Gaston Ramirez equalised in the 32nd minute. James Chester gave the Tigers the lead in the 51st minute with Nikica Jelavic sealing the win in the 90th minute.

 

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.

Manchester City cut Chelsea's gap at the top with a 3-1 win away to West Brom with Fernando opening the scoring with his first City goal inside eight minutes before Yaya Toure added a quick second from the penalty spot in the 13th minute. David Silva increased the lead to 3-0 in the 34th minute to put the visitors firmly in control with the Baggies only consolation coming late on with in the form of an 87th minute strike from Brown Ideye.

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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