Manchester United’s revival, Manchester City fail against Palace, Leicester deny Chelsea, and Tottenham score six in this weekend’s five talking points.
Kane, Son, Eriksen hit Everton for six
Spurs cemented their position among the top three with a cracking display of attacking football that saw them score six against Everton.
The Toffees opened the scoring through Theo Walcott, but were very soon behind following strikes from Son and Dele Alli. Son Heung-Min and Harry Kane both scored twice, with Christian Eriksen scoring a long-range effort, while Dele Alli also got his name onto the score sheet. Tottenham head into Christmas on a four-match winning streak and will enter the new year with a tough UEFA Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund.
United find their happy place
Ole Gunner Solskjaer won his first match as a coach for Manchester United after an emphatic 5 – 1 victory over Cardiff. The Mourinho-less United seemed like a completely different team and played a free-flowing style of attacking football. Former Manchester United player, Wayne Rooney on BT Sport commented on the shift of the players’ morale and how the sacking of Mourinho has improved the mood of Manchester United as a whole.
The Red Devils took three minutes to score after a long range bullet free kick from Marcus Rashford found the back of the net. It was 3 – 1 just before the stroke of the half and United went on to seal the match 5 – 1 in the 90th minute as Jesse Lingard completed his brace. Manchester are still outside of the top five and are eight points behind Arsenal who lie in fifth. But with this renewed confidence United look to be on a positive trajectory.
Palace punish Pep’s ponies
Manchester City lost their second match in just three outings as Crystal Palace sunk the hosts at the Etihad Stadium. City opened the scoring through Ikey Gundogan, but Palace responded with two goals before the half, with Andros Townsend’s wonder-volley set for goal of the season.
Crystal Palace were awarded a penalty after a reckless challenge from Kyle Walker and Palace went 3 – 1 up. City were in search of an equalizer which came from what looked like a long ball from Kevin de Bruyne found the back of the net. Gabriel Jesus missed a golden opportunity to equalize as his header went over the bar from close range toward the end of the fixture.
Palace held on for a memorable win – the loss means that the defending champions are now four points behind leaders Liverpool.
Vardy the difference
Jamie Vardy was the difference as Leicester held on to win 1 – 0. Chelsea had numerous chances to score and hit the post twice through Eden Hazard and from Marcos Alonso. Chelsea took 17 shots at goal and enjoyed 73% of possession.
Leicester ‘parked the bus’ for long periods of the half and made 37 clearances in the process while hanging on for their victory. Chelsea dropped points and are now five behind Tottenham who lie in third.
What to expect?
With Five more months remaining in the season, Liverpool are the only team that remain unbeaten and are now four points ahead of defending champions Manchester City. Jurgen Klopp’s squad will have to fight off a challenge from the top five with their toughest remaining fixtures; Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea. The Reds will still have to balance the UEFA Champions League when they face a tough two-legged fixture against Bayern Munich.
