EPL: Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal and Spurs win

Brighton wrapped up a busy Premier League boxing day with a remarkable 2-0 win over Brentford.

Goals from Leandro Trossard and Neal Maupay helped the hosts to seal their first victory in eleven matches and move up to the ninth position in the league. 

Earlier, Aston Villa gave Chelsea quite a scare as they went 1-0 up against the European champions through a Reece James own goal, threatening to throw them even further behind the top two places.

The visitors, who had won only once in their previous four Premier League outings, drew level in the 34th minute as Jorginho converted a penalty.

Lukaku makes a comeback

Romelu Lukaku turned the tie on its head, coming on as a second-half substitute.

He scored in the 56th minute to put Chelsea ahead and won a penalty in stoppage time. Jorginho scored his second penalty of the evening and got his team a 3-1 win.

Leicester City were on the verge of making a remarkable comeback as they cut a four-goal deficit to make it 4-3.

But, Aymeric Laporte and Raheem Sterling made sure the Citizens remain out of touch as the match ended 6-3 in favour of the hosts.

Manchester City cruised to a 4-0 lead within the quarter of an hour mark, as Raheem Sterling, Kevin de Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, and Riyad Mahrez were all on target.

Early second-half goals from James Maddison, Ademola Lookman, and Kelechi Iheanacho sparked life into the match, but goals from Laporte and Sterling secured the points for the reigning Champions and kept them six points clear at the top.

Arsenal continue rise

Arsenal remain in contention for a Champions League spot as the Gunners picked up an emphatic 5-0 away win at Carrow Road against Norwich.

Bukayo Saka hit a brace, sandwiching a brilliant Kieran Tierney goal to make the score 3-0. Alexandre Lacazette scored a penalty before Emile-Smith Rowe scored in his third successive substitute appearance to bag a 5-0 victory for Arsenal. 

Tottenham Hotspur continued their resurgence by registering an easy 3-0 win at home against Crystal Palace, thanks to goals from Harry Kane, Lucas Moura, and Heung-Min Son.

Palace had several notable absentees because of covid and their day got worse when Wilfried Zaha got sent off for repeated fouls on Davinson Sanchez.

The Lilywhites are six points shy of fourth-placed Arsenal but have three matches in hand to make up for that deficit.

West Ham stunned

West Ham United’s top-four ambitions took a big hit as they suffered a 3-2 defeat at home to Southampton.

James Ward-Prowse catalysed the victory for the Saints with a goal and an assist.

It was the first Premier League win Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men had picked up since November 5.