Aston Villa missed the chance to move level on points with Premier League pace-setters Liverpool as they were forced to settle for a draw in a scrappy, low-quality encounter with Everton at Goodison Park.
In the first goalless draw in manager Unai Emery’s 97 top-flight games with Arsenal and Villa, his side could not produce the decisive moment to enable them to overhaul Manchester City and move into second place.
Tottenham came back from behind twice in a pulsating Premier League encounter to deny Manchester United a victory in front of new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Ratcliffe, attending his first game since a proposed 25% purchase of his boyhood club was confirmed on Christmas Eve, said beforehand that he was “very excited” to be there.
And he saw Rasmus Hojlund drive United into a third-minute lead.
But Ratcliffe’s pre-match assertion that United “normally do well against Spurs” wasn’t quite borne out here.
Brazilian striker Richarlison levelled with his sixth goal in as many Premier League games for the visitors, who were without three players, including captain Son Heung-min – away with South Korea at the Asian Cup.
Marcus Rashford put the hosts ahead before the break, but Rodrigo Bentancur wiped out the advantage a minute after the restart with a blistering shot, his first goal since April, during which time he has recovered from a cruciate knee ligament injury and an ankle problem.
Cole Palmer’s first-half penalty gave Chelsea a narrow win over West London rivals Fulham at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.Oscar Bobb scored a stoppage-time winner as Manchester City moved within two points of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League with victory over Newcastle in a breathless encounter at St James’ Park.
The Norwegian, 20, latched on to a superb lofted pass from fellow substitute Kevin de Bruyne and showed superb footwork to take the ball pass Martin Dubravka and tap into the empty net.
It rounded off a brilliant game that saw both sides dominate periods, but City controlled the second half and showed the fight and quality to seal what could be a huge win come the end of the season.
While Bobb enjoyed his first Premier League goal, the success was sparked by De Bruyne.
Just four minutes and 35 seconds after he came off the bench, the Belgian found space in between the home defence and midfield before sweeping a finish into the far corner.
Bernardo Silva had put the Premier League champions ahead in the 26th minute, meeting Kyle Walker’s right-wing cross with an audacious backheel, before two goals in three minutes put Newcastle in charge.
First, Alexander Isak collected a sweeping Bruno Guimaraes pass before curling past City’s reserve keeper Stefan Ortega – who had replaced the injured Ederson – and into the top corner for his fourth goal in four games.
Then, Anthony Gordon was released down the left and he took advantage of Walker backing off to spectacularly curl into the bottom corner and send the home fans into raptures.
City had only lost once in 72 Premier League games when taking the lead and that was under serious threat until their talisman De Bruyne continued his comeback from injury with a top-class strike and a wonderful assist for Bobb.
Boss Pep Guardiola and the entire City squad, including substitutes, celebrated emphatically at the full-time whistle as the reigning champions savoured a third successive league win and sixth in all competitions.
Luton scored a controversial 92nd-minute equaliser to deny Burnley a crucial win in a game of huge significance at the bottom of the Premier League.
Burnley looked set to claim a rare victory after a dogged defensive performance following Switzerland forward Zeki Amdouni’s 36th-minute deflected finish at a raucous Turf Moor.
But Carlton Morris headed the Hatters level in the closing moments.