Liverpool’s Luis Suarez led a one-man demolition of Norwich City with four goals in a 5-1 win and Arsenal’s forgotten man Nicklas Bendtner netted for the Premier League leaders as they beat Hull City 2-0 last night.
There was no happy reunion for Manchester United manager David Moyes against former club Everton as the Merseysiders won 1-0 at Old Trafford and Sunderland boss Gus Poyet was also left disappointed against his former club Chelsea.
Eden Hazard scored twice for Jose Mourinho’s second-placed side as they edged a seven-goal tussle with Sunderland 4-3 and Aston Villa ended Southampton’s unbeaten home record with a 3-2 win.
Manchester City welcomed back captain Vincent Kompany after two months out and he helped his side improve their patchy away record by beating West Brom 3-2.
Bendtner scored his first Arsenal goal since March 2011. The striker was recalled to the starting XI to give leading forward Olivier Giroud a rest, and headed the hosts in front inside two minutes.
Mesut Ozil extended Arsenal’s lead at the start of the second half, finishing off a fine passing exchange with Aaron Ramsey.
Bendtner – who last started a league game for Arsenal three seasons ago and almost left the club in the summer – took just 90 seconds to get on the scoresheet for the first time since an FA Cup tie against Leyton Orient in March 2011.
Suarez was in scorching form to send the number crunchers into overdrive and Norwich back to East Anglia disconsolate.
The statistics piling up for the Uruguay international at Anfield are remarkable and surpassed only by his personal record against the Canaries as the 26-year-old became the first Premier League player to score three hat-tricks against the same team in the 5-1 victory.
Suarez now has 11 goals in five appearances against Norwich – and he did not score in his first game against them. In his last four appearances he is averaging a goal every 33 minutes.
The bigger picture shows Suarez’s 50th league goal for the Reds which came up in only his 85th game and in doing so took the outright lead as the Premier League’s top scorer this season with 13 in nine matches.
Hazard turned in a virtuoso display at Sunderland.
The Belgium international was both provider and scorer on the night, producing the cross from which Frank Lampard cancelled out Jozy Altidore’s opener and then two pieces of individual magic to effectively win the game.
Bryan Oviedo piled the pressure on David Moyes by slamming home an 86th-minute winner to end Everton’s 21-year Old Trafford hoodoo.
Not since 1992 had the Toffeemen beaten Manchester United away from home. For 11 of those years, Moyes had been the man trying.
Oviedo, signed by Moyes last year, arrived with perfect timing at the far post to condemn United to their fourth defeat of the season, which leaves them 12 points adrift of Arsenal and five off the Champions League places.
Wayne Rooney struck a post and came close to netting a rebound before half-time.
Former United goalkeeper Tim Howard did brilliantly to repel a Patrice Evra header before Danny Welbeck headed the rebound against the bar.
Summaries
Arsenal 2
Bendtner 2; Ozil 47;
Hull City 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 60,017.
Fulham 1
Dejagah 57;
Tottenham 2
Chiriches 73; Holtby 82;
HT: 0-0. Att: 24,128.
Liverpool 5
Suarez 15, 29, 35; Suarez 74; Sterling 88;
Norwich City 1
Johnson 83;
HT: 3-0. Att: 44,514.
Man. United 0
Everton 1
Oviedo 86;
HT: 0-0. Att: 75,210.
Southampton 2
Rodriguez 48; Osvaldo 69;
Aston Villa 3
Agbonlahor 15; Kozak 64; Delph 80;
HT: 0-1. Att: 29,814.
Stoke City 0
Cardiff City 0
Att: 25,104.
Sunderland 3
Altidore 14; O’Shea 50; Bardsley 86;
Chelsea 4
Lampard 17; Hazard 36, 62; Bardsley 84og;
HT: 1-2. Att: 40,652.
Swansea 3
Dyer 45; Debuchy 67og; Shelvey 82;
Newcastle 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 20,457.
West Brom 2
Pantilimon 85og; Anichebe 90;
Man. City 3
Aguero 9; Toure 24, 74p;
HT: 0-2. Att: 22,943.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Arsenal | 14 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 29 | 10 | 34 |
| Chelsea | 14 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 14 | 30 |
| Man. City | 14 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 40 | 14 | 28 |
| Liverpool | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 30 | 17 | 27 |
| Everton | 14 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 22 | 13 | 27 |
| Tottenham | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 15 | 24 |
| Newcastle | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 19 | 21 | 23 |
| Southampton | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 13 | 22 |
| Man. United | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 22 | 18 | 22 |
| Aston Villa | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 16 | 19 |
| Swansea City | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 20 | 19 | 18 |
| Hull City | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 18 | 17 |
| West Brom | 14 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 17 | 19 | 15 |
| Stoke City | 14 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 14 |
| Cardiff City | 14 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 20 | 14 |
| Norwich | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 28 | 14 |
| West Ham | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 15 | 13 |
| Fulham | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 12 | 26 | 10 |
| C. Palace | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 22 | 10 |
| Sunderland | 14 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 11 | 28 | 8 |
Next fixtures
Saturday: 13.45 Man. United vs Newcastle. 16.00 C. Palace vs Cardiff City; Liverpool vs West Ham; South-ampton vs Man. City; Stoke City vs Chelsea; West Brom vs Norwich City. 18.30 Sunderland vs Tottenham.
Sunday: 14.30 Fulham vs Aston Villa. 17.00 Arsenal vs Everton.
Monday: 21.00 Swansea City vs Hull City.
The Championship
Derby County 2 - M’boro 1
Leeds United 2 - Wigan 0
League Two
Portsmouth 2 - Wycombe 2
Scottish Cup, 4th round replay
Dunfermline 1 - Ayr Utd 0
Scottish Championship
Dumbarton 1 - Alloa 1