A thrilling collection of games saw clubs such as Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Leicester all get three points as some of the cream of last season’s crop started to rise to the top of the Premier League table.
Let’s start our detailed look at the drama at Goodison Park as Carlo Ancelotti and Mikel Arteta enjoyed vastly different work anniversaries.
Everton 2-1 Arsenal
Carlo Ancelotti saw his side march into the top four after dogged display of both attack and defence at home to a desperate looking Arsenal side. A year ago, Arsenal plumped for the inexperienced former Gunners midfielder Mikel Arteta as their new manager after the disastrous spell under Unai Emery.
An initial spell of success including an F.A. Cup win and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang signing a new contract seemed to hint at a bright future for Arteta’s ‘Arsenal 2.0’, but the wheels are rusting up on the bandwagon now.
With all the goals in the first half, Everton went ahead after a comical own-goal from Rob Holding put the home side in the lead. That lead was short-lived, however, when Nicolas Pepe scored a deserved equaliser for Arsenal on 35 minutes. But with a minute to go before half-time, Yerry Mina scored from a corner to put The Toffees into a half-time lead.
That lead held the rest of the game as Arsenal failed to put any pressure on Ancelotti’s side, their limp attack missing the absent Aubameyang, the lacklustre Lacazette no kind of replacement when he came on and looking every bit a player worth £6m instead of £60m. Can Arsenal escape the mire? They will be just a point ahead of Burnley if The Clarets win at home to Wolves tomorrow night.
Tottenham Hotspur 0-2 Leicester City
A stunning victory for The Foxes saw Jose Mourinho’s side lose back-to-back games in the Premier League for the first time this season and vaulted Brendan Rodgers plucky side into second place in the division at The Lilywhites expense.
It was Rodgers first victory against Mourinho in their eighth meeting as rival managers and a well-deserved one, with Jamie Vardy a constant threat on the break and Leicester’s defence, at times flimsy this season, standing strong in the face of the league’s deadliest partnership so far during this campaign.
Leicester took the lead through a penalty right on half-time that was taken after the whistle was blown and VAR decreed that Serge Aurier’s foul on Wesley Fofana merited punishment. The always deadly Vardy never seems to miss when it comes to crunch moments, and he gave his side a lead as the half-time oranges were being divided.
Just 15 minutes into the second half, the game was all but over, Vardy again putting pressure on the Spurs defence and gleefully seeing Toby Alderweireld convert into his own net.
Spurs had no way back, and as returning full-back Timothy Castagne said at full-time, with a fair wind behind them, there’s no limit to how far this Leicester team can go.
Manchester United 6-2 Leeds United
A war of the roses was how this match was hyped, but the two old rivals seemed worlds apart for most of this thoroughly entertaining fayre at Old Trafford.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side threw caution to the wind from the off, but it was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Red Devils who seized upon the space better than last year’s Championship winners. Scott McTominay smashed home from Bruno Fernandes’ cutback in just the second minute, before scoring again just sixty seconds later in a flurry of opening chances. Fernandes himself made it three inside 20 minutes, and Leeds were in a firefight rather than a dogfight of a derby.
It was 4-1 at half-time, with late goals in the half from centre-backs Victor Lindelof and Liam Cooper, but in the second half, it was only more of the same. Daniel James and Bruno Fernandes added two more goals from the home side before a late stunner from Stuart Dallas gave Leeds their second goal from 17 shots. For Manchester United, a record 26 shots saw the home side finally rectify their Old Trafford woes and push them to within five points of the leaders with a game in hand. You can watch the highlights right here if you live in the United Kingdom.
With Premier League rivalries renewed on Boxing Day, it’s sure to be a cracking Christmas of action in the biggest and most popular football league in the world.
