Chelsea heaped more Christmas misery on Liverpool with a 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge and Olivier Giroud’s goal helped Arsenal win 1-0 at Newcastle United to return to the top of the Premier League yesterday.
Everton moved back into the top four with a 2-1 win over Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur beat Stoke City 3-0 to get their first victory since appointing Tim Sherwood as the English game served up more drama in its congested festive schedule.
Chelsea fell behind to a goal from Martin Skrtel after four minutes, but rallied with first-half strikes from Eden Hazard and Samuel Eto’o to inflict a second defeat in four days on Liverpool following their loss at Manchester City.
Arsenal’s win came courtesy of France striker Giroud, who had not scored in all competitions since Nov. 23, but got the faintest of touches to glance a Theo Walcott free-kick into the net midway through the second half.
They now top the table with 42 points from 19 games, one clear of Manchester City with Chelsea a point further adrift in third.
Liverpool, top on Christmas Day, dropped to fifth, a point behind local rivals Everton who moved fourth with 37 points thanks to a second-half winner from Romelu Lukaku.
A Roberto Soldado penalty and goals from Mousa Dembele and Aaron Lennon lifted Tottenham to seventh on 34 points.
Liverpool had their tails up after four minutes when Skrtel put them ahead, tapping home from close range after Luis Suarez beat Branislav Ivanovic to a Philippe Coutinho free-kick.
That sparked Chelsea into life. They attacked in waves and drew level through Hazard on 17 minutes with the Belgium international curling home after the ball broke fortuitously to him on the edge of the area.
The Blues deservedly took the lead 11 minutes before the break when Eto’o darted in front of his marker Skrtel to poke an Oscar cross past Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet into the net.
Chances were limited in the second half, Liverpool’s best effort coming from Mamadou Sakho who hit the woodwork with a looping header seconds before Eto’o forced an excellent save from Mignolet with a powerful near-post shot.
Liverpool were incensed not to be awarded a penalty late in the match when Eto’o appeared to foul Suarez right in front of referee Howard Webb, but the official waved away their protests and Chelsea closed out the win.
“We were lucky to win the game because it is very tight,” Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho told Sky Sports before praising the players for putting on a fantastic show for fans.
“The players are like monsters – they fight until the last seconds.”
Arsenal’s visit to Newcastle promised goals after the North Londoners won 7-3 when the teams clashed on the same day last year, but this game soon descended into a more stolid affair with both defences well on top.
Arsenal kept possession neatly, but without injured playmaker Mesut Ozil lacked incision and failed to create a chance of note in the first half.
It looked to be heading towards a draw when Arsenal struck the decisive blow.
Walcott’s free-kick was perfectly angled into the box and Giroud got in between the Newcastle centre-backs to feather a delicate header into the net.
There was a frenetic finale but Arsenal’s defence held out to ensure they go into the New Year on top of the table for the first time since 2007-08, to provide manager Arsene Wenger with some festive cheer.
“There was a big satisfaction because we surprised many people and we want to go on from here,” he said.
Everton, who played more than 60 minutes of their defeat to Sunderland on Thursday with 10 men, seemed to be rejuvenated with their full quota on the field and took the lead after nine minutes.
Seamus Coleman cut inside, switched the ball to his right foot and fired an angled shot into the net for his fourth goal in his last seven Premier League games.
Gaston Ramirez levelled with a thundering shot from distance, but parity lasted only a few minutes as Lukaku ran on to a pass from James McCarthy and the Belgium striker took one touch and fired home from 12 metres.
Premier League results
Chelsea 2
Hazard 17; Eto’o 34;
Liverpool 1
Skrtel 4;
HT: 2-1. Att: 41,614.
Everton 2
Coleman 9; Lukaku 74;
Southampton 1
Ramirez 71;
HT: 1-0. Att: 39,092.
Newcastle 0
Arsenal 1
Giroud 65;
HT: 0-0. Att: 52,161.
Tottenham 3
Soldado 37 pen; Dembele 65; Lennon 69;
Stoke City 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 36,000.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Arsenal | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 37 | 18 | 42 |
| Man. City | 19 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 54 | 21 | 41 |
| Chelsea | 19 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 35 | 19 | 40 |
| Everton | 19 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 31 | 18 | 37 |
| Liverpool | 19 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 44 | 23 | 36 |
| Man. United | 19 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 32 | 22 | 34 |
| Tottenham | 19 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 22 | 24 | 34 |
| Newcastle | 19 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 29 | 24 | 33 |
| Southampton | 19 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 26 | 20 | 27 |
| Hull City | 19 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 22 | 23 | 23 |
| Swansea City | 19 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 24 | 25 | 21 |
| Stoke City | 19 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 18 | 29 | 21 |
| Aston Villa | 19 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 18 | 25 | 20 |
| Norwich City | 19 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 32 | 19 |
| West Brom | 19 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 22 | 27 | 18 |
| Cardiff City | 19 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 30 | 18 |
| C. Palace | 19 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 12 | 28 | 16 |
| Fulham | 19 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 19 | 41 | 16 |
| West Ham | 19 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 15 |
| Sunderland | 19 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 15 | 32 | 14 |
Top scorers
19 goals: Suarez (Liverpool).
13 goals: Aguero (Man. City).
10 goals: Remy (Newcastle).
9 goals: Sturridge (Liverpool), Toure (Man. City), Rooney (Man. United), Lukaku (Everton).
8 goals: Giroud (Arsenal), Ramsey (Arsenal), Hazard (Chelsea), Negredo (Man. City), Rodriguez (Southampton).
Wednesday’s fixtures
13.45: Swansea City vs Manchester City.
16.00: Arsenal vs Cardiff; Crystal Palace vs Norwich; Fulham vs West Ham; Liverpool vs Hull City; Southampton vs Chelsea; Stoke vs Everton; Sunderland vs Aston Villa; West Brom vs Newcastle.
18.30: Manchester United vs Tottenham.
The Championship
Barnsley 1 - Derby 2
Blackburn 2 - Birmingham 3
Blackpool 0 - Brighton 1
Bournemouth 1 - Ipswich 1
Charlton 1 - Sheffield Wed. 1
Doncaster 0 - Millwall 0
Huddersfield 5 - Yeovil 1
Leicester 5 - Bolton 3
Middlesbrough 3 - Reading 0
Nottm Forest 2 - Leeds 1
Watford 0 - QPR 0
Wigan 0 - Burnley 0
Standings: Leicester City 48; Derby, Burnley 44; QPR 43; Nottingham Forest 39; Ipswich, Leeds United, Brighton 35; Reading 34; Blackpool 32; Huddersfield, Blackburn Rovers 31; Watford, Wigan 30; Middlesbrough, Bourne-mouth 29; Birmingham City 28; Bolton Wanderers 26; Charlton Athletic 23; Millwall 22; Doncaster 21; Sheffield Wednesday 19; Yeovil 17; Barnsley 16.
League One
Bradford 1 - Swindon 1
Brentford 3 - MK Dons 1
Bristol City 4 - Stevenage 1
Carlisle 2 - Peterborough 1
Colchester 1 - Crewe 2
Coventry 1 - Oldham 1
Crawley 1 - Notts County 0
Gillingham 2 - Walsall 2
Port Vale 2 - Rotherham 0
Sheffield Utd 3 - Tranmere 1
Shrewsbury 0 - Preston 1
Wolves 1 - Leyton Orient 1
Standings: Brentford 49; L. Orient, Wolves 48; Preston 44; Peterborough 39; Rotherham 38; Port Vale 36; Swindon, Walsall 34; Bradford, MK Dons 31; Coventry, Crawley 29; Colchester United, Carlisle 27; Gillingham 26; Sheffield Utd 25; Oldham 24; Shrewsbury, Tranmere 23; Bristol City 22; Crewe 21; Stevenage 19; Notts County 18.
League Two
Accrington 1 - Southend 1
Wimbledon 1 - Plymouth 1
Burton 1 - Newport 0
Bury 2 - York 1
Cheltenham 1 - Mansfield 2
Chesterfield 1 - Dagenham 1
Morecambe 1 - Hartlepool 2
Oxford 0 - Scunthorpe 2
Portsmouth 0 - Northampton 0
Rochdale 2 - Bristol Rovers 0
Torquay 1 - Exeter 3
Wycombe p - Fleetwood p
Standings: Chesterfield, Scunthorpe, Burton 41; Rochdale 40; Oxford, Southend 38; Newport 37; Fleetwood, Morecambe 35; Cheltenham 33; Exeter 32; Dagenham, Hartlepool 31; Plymouth 30; Wimbledon 28; Wycombe 27; Portsmouth 26; Accrington, Mansfield 25; Bury 24; Bristol Rovers 23; York Torquay 22; Northampton 19.