Premier League results - gameweek 16
Christmas is just around the corner and that means the Premier League schedule is becoming more congested with each passing week.
Gameweek 16 kicked off with thrilling meeting between newly-promoted Brentford and Watford on Friday night, before Chelsea and Leeds shared five goals and and Liverpool welcomed back Steven Gerrard back to Anfield as visiting Aston Villa manager.
On Sunday, Leicester thumped Newcastle while Burnley and West Ham played out a contender for the most boring match of the season so far.
To wrap up the weekend's action, a two-goal salvo from Conor Gallagher helped Crystal Palace to a 3-1 victory over a poor Everton side.
Here's 90min's coverage of the action as it unfolded...
Saturday
Man City 1-0 Wolves
The first half between Manchester City and Wolves was largely uneventful, with a Ric Flair-esque 'thumb to the eye' from Raheem Sterling to Romain Saiss literally the only thing worth writing down.
But that all changed on the stroke of half-time when Raul Jimenez inexplicably got himself sent off for Wolves. First, the Mexican nibbled away at Rodri's ankles to pick up a yellow card, before he - for reasons unknown - decided not to back away from the free kick and intentionally blocked City's attempt to restart the game.
What followed was an Oscar-winning performance of throwing both of his gloves on the floor and trundling off in slow motion, after Jon Moss had cautioned him again, to a cacophony of boos from the home support. Truly wonderful stuff.
City were awarded a penalty just after the hour mark after Moss judged Joao Moutinho to have blocked Bernardo Silva's cross with his arm, which was confirmed after a lengthy VAR check.
Sterling stepped up and scored from the spot to earn his place in the Premier League 100 club and secure the three points.
Read 90min's player ratings from Man City vs Wolves here.
Arsenal 3-0 Southampton
With three defeats in their last four, Mikel Arteta desperate needed a win to bring the feel-good factor back to Arsenal.
Luckily for him, Southampton again appeared to be in the giving mood on their travels, quickly ensuring that the absence of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang because of a disciplinary breach would not be felt.
Alexandre Lacazette was the player to fire the Gunners ahead against the run of play, and his strike was quickly doubled up by a Martin Odegaard effort.
The lead then stretched to 3-0 in the second half, as Gabriel nodded home Gabriel Martinelli's cross from close range, and in truth the manner of victory could of been greater as Takehiro Tomiyasu was denied by a good Willy Caballero stop.
Read 90min's player ratings from Arsenal vs Southampton here.
Chelsea 3-2 Leeds
Thomas Tuchel came into Chelsea's game against Leeds in the midst of his toughest period in charge of the club.
The Blues had won one of their last four games, conceding three goals in back-to-back games against West Ham and Zenit having previously shipped just ten all season.
At Stamford Bridge, it became 11 conceded just before the half hour mark when Marcos Alonso clumsily brought down Daniel James in the penalty area. That allowed Raphinha to step up and bag his seventh goal of the season from the spot.
But after parity was restored by Mason Mount before half time, Chelsea hit the front thanks to a penalty of their own - converted by, guess who, Jorginho.
Ordinarily you'd expect Chelsea to go on and comortably win the game, but with confidence perhaps a little lacking after recent results, Leeds were able to haul themselves level with seven minutes to go through young Joe Gelhardt.
There was still time for one final twist to the tail, though, as Jorginho netted another penalty in stoppage time after Mateusz Klich was adjudged to have fouled Antonio Rudiger.
Read 90min's player ratings from Chelsea vs Leeds here.
Liverpool 1-0 Aston Villa
After a week full of gushing, sentiment and suffocating clamour to see Steven Gerrard return to Anfield as Aston Villa manager, it was time to get down to business against Liverpool.
For the first hour, everything was going according to plan for Gerrard, as the Reds failed to find their groove with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain operatiing as a false nine. But after his withdrawal, business started to pick up for the home side, and it wasn't long before magic man Mohamed Salah carved out a glorious opportunity.
Using his other worldly pace, he drew a foul from Tyrone Mings in the penalty area, before coolly slamming the spot kick past the sprawling Emi Martinez.
Read 90min's player ratings from Liverpool vs Aston Villa here.
Norwich 0-1 Man Utd
Manchester United won three successive Premier League games for the first time since September as a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty made the difference against Norwich at Carrow Road – this was also a second straight 1-0 win for new interim manager Ralf Rangnick.
Both sides had chances to score before and after the goal, with Tim Krul and David de Gea each making important saves. The penalty came when Ronaldo was hauled down by Max Aarons with just over 15 minutes to go and the 36-year-old made no mistake in converting it.
There was still time for Ronaldo to miss a glorious chance to double the lead, firing over from close ranger after he was unable to sort his feet in time. De Gea was also called into action to stop Ozan Kabak from equalising for Norwich in stoppage time.
Read 90min's player ratings from Norwich vs Man Utd here.
Sunday
Burnley 0-0 West Ham
Burnley and West Ham played out a contender for the most boring game of the season on Sunday afternoon, drawing 0-0 at Turf Moor.
Neither side really deserved to take three points away from the game, although both threatened to notch the opener at various points. Issa Diop and Declan Rice came closest for West Ham, while Dwight McNeil looked likeliest to create something for the hosts.
In the end, however, the 0-0 scoreline was definitely a fair reflection of the quality both teams produced on the day.
You can read 90min's player ratings from the bore draw here.
Leicester 4-0 Newcastle
James Maddison inspired Leicester to an easy victory over a really disappointing Newcastle United.
Maddison was fortunate to win a first-half penalty, from which Youri Tielemans made no mistake, but there was no disputing his quality after the interval as he played an integral part in all three goals.
A glorious pass helped Patson Daka net his side's second, before some nice link-up play allowed Tielemans to double his tally, and Maddison topped it all off with a nice strike of his own to get Leicester back to winning ways.
You can read 90min's player ratings from a big Foxes win here.
Crystal Palace 3-1 Everton
Two-goal Conor Gallagher was the hero for Crystal Palace as they saw off a lacklustre Everton side at Selhurst Park.
Palace had the better of a first half of few chances. Jordan Ayew spurned a good early opportunity, firing straight at Jordan Pickford after a neat one-two with Odsonne Edouard. Wilfried Zaha then tested the England number one from the angle, but the keeper blocked the strike at his near post.
Everton were blunt in attack and were made to pay at the opposite end shortly before half-time. It was a completely avoidable goal, with both Seamus Coleman and Demarai Gray failing to clear before the ball fell to Ayew, who played a simple pass for Gallagher to finish from close range.
That goal was the catalyst for the match bursting into life after the break. Gallagher went close again with a header before James Tomkins doubled the hosts' lead - prodding home from inside the six-yard box after Will Hughes' cross somehow reached him at the back stick.
Everton finally started to impose themselves on the match, going close through a Gray free kick and then pulling a goal back through substitute Salomon Rondon, who stretched to finish after Abdoulaye Doucoure's shot was blocked.
Anthony Gordon should have equalised late on but saw his low shot saved by Vicente Guaita. Gallagher punished the Toffees, pouncing on a loose ball at the other end after a mindless quick free kick from Coleman, and bending an unstoppable shot into the top corner - via a kiss of the crossbar - to seal victory for Palace in stoppage time.
You can read 90min's player ratings from Crystal Palace's win here.
Friday
Brentford 2-1 Watford
It looked like Watford were going to take the three points from this one as they led Brentford 1-0 heading into the final six minutes of the game.
Emmanuel Dennis netted yet again to give the Hornets a lead midway through the first half, but Brentford pushed and pushed and pushed for an equaliser, eventually finding it as the clock ticked over to 84.
Brentford continued to press and won themselves a penalty deep into stoppage time, and up stepped Bryan Mbeumo to send the home crowd wild.