Louis van Gaal’s unhappy Christmas continued as Manchester United fell to a 2-0 defeat at Stoke City. Guus Hiddink’s reign at Chelsea got off to a stuttering start at the Blues drew with high-flying Watford 2-2. Manchester City put in a sterling performance as they ran out 4-1 winners over hapless Sunderland. Leicester City fell to only their second loss of the campaign as Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool put a mediocre last few weeks behind them to run out 1-0 winners. Elsewhere, Tottenham Hotspur and Swansea City won, while strugglers Aston Villa and Bournemouth drew. An injury time winner from Tom Cleverley gave Everton a cruel victory over Newcastle United.
Stoke City 2–0 Manchester United
Scorers : Krkic 19’, Arnautovic 26’
Memphis Depay seemed to be suffering from a Christmas hangover, as he gifted Stoke City their opener with a woeful mistake. Glen Johnson pounced on Depay’s inexplicable headed back-pass and squared the ball for Bojan to calmly stoke home, giving Stoke the lead in the 19th minute. Marko Arnautovic continued the Christmas cheer at the Britannia in the 26th minute, thundering home with a swerving strike after the ball fell to him from Bojan’s blocked free kick.
Arnautovic had the chance to play the Grinch to van Gaal’s Santa Claus, as he was put clean through by a Bojan pass in the 35th minute, but fluffed the one-on-one against David De Gea. The second half saw Jack Butland present Arnautovic with another clear chance, but the Austrian fell over comically, providing the watching Stoke fans with a moment of Christmas mirth. Butland had to be at his best in the 64th minute, saving a Marouane Fellaini strike from point-blank range.
United were the better team in the second half, but created little clear-cut chances of note. Stoke played out the rest of the game in comfort, with the Britannia celebrating a great Christmas as the final whistle blew, with the Potters rising to 8th, just 3 points behind the Red Devils in 6th.
Chelsea 2-2 Watford
Scorers : Costa 32’ 65’ – Deeney 42’, Ighalo 57’
Diego Costa sparked a turnaround in his fortunes as he began Guus Hiddink’s second spell in charge of Chelsea with a goal in the 32nd minute. A beautifully floated Willian corner found skipper John Terry, who headed the ball back into the melee in front of the box, allowing Costa to hold off his defender, swivel and fire home his first goal in ages.
Nemanja Matic conspired to make things difficult for the Blues, a perplexing handball resulting in the concession of a penalty, which Troy Deeney duly converted, rolling the ball down the middle as Watford were deservedly equal going into the break.
The Hornets were celebrating after the break however, as their in form Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo profited from a Gary Cahill deflection to put Watford ahead in the 57th minute. Chelsea were far more aesthetic in getting their equaliser, as a lovely diagonal from Willian found Costa, who produced a composed finish under Gomes to get Chelsea back on track.
Oscar was far less composed in the 80th minutes, as he stepped up to take a penalty that came from a Behrami foul on Hazard. The Brazilian missed a golden chance to put Chelsea ahead, slipping a la John Terry circa 2008, and skying the ball into the stands, thus leaving the Hornets level on points with United in 8th place, while Chelsea remain in 15th as the final whistle blew.
Manchester City 4-1 Sunderland
Scorers : Sterling 12’, Toure 17’, Bony 20’, De Bruyne 54’ – Borini 59’
‘A Raheem Sterling header’ was the unlikely way in which the Sky Blues started off their Boxing Day fixture at home, the Englishman profiting from a lovely inswinging cross by Kevin de Bruyne to put City ahead in the 12th minute. Yaya Toure kept up the Christmas cheer as the Ivorian danced and dallied before unleashing a powerful daisy cutter with his left foot, flying past a despairing Vito Mannone in the Sunderland goal as City went 2-0 up in the 17th minute.
De Bruyne reprised his role as Santa Claus, gifting Wilfried Bony with a lovely clipped ball from a 22nd minute free kick, which the Ivorian striker powerfully headed into goal as City settled on a comfortable 3-0 lead heading into the break.
It was De Bruyne’s turn to receive a Christmas gift in the second half, as John O’Shea’s poor clearance fell into his path, allowing the Belgian to calmly stroke home City’s fourth in the 54th minute. 5 minutes later it was Fabio Borini’s turn, as he took advantage of a mishit Cattermole shot to shoot past Hart, making the score 4-1.
Bony had a chance to compund Sunderland’s misery in the 69th minute, as City were awarded a penalty as Coates fouled Silva. The Ivorian’s languid runup led to him shooting over the bar, but it didn’t matter as the final whistle blew.
Liverpool 1-0 Leicester City
Scorers : Benteke 63’
Liverpool started the first half quite well, but were unable to make it count, as Divock Origi and Roberto Firmino spurned presentable chances to give the Reds the lead. Leicester had a penalty shout when Shinji Okazaki was felled inside the box under pressure from Sakho, but the surprising lack of appeals meant that the referee wasn’t required to make a big decision.
The deadlock was broken in the 63rd minute as Chistian Benteke profited from a lovely Firmino cross, expertly taking the ball on the half-volley, and firing the Reds into the lead. Claudio Ranieri rung in the changes as Leicester looked to preserve their unbeaten away record, but it was to no avail.
The result left Leicester still on top with Arsenal to play, while Liverpool rose to 8th, only two points behind Manchester United.
Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Norwich City
Scorers : Kane 26’ 42’, Carroll 80’
Swansea City 1-0 West Bromwich Albion
Scorers : Ki Sung-Yeung 9’
Aston Villa 1-1 West Ham United
Scorers : Ayew 62’, Cresswell 45’
AFC Bournemouth 0-0 Crystal Palace
Newcastle United 0-1 Everton
Scorers : Cleverley 90+3’
