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In the late kick-off on Boxing Day, title contenders Arsenal squandered the glorious chance to go top of the table, after being thrashed 4-0 by Southampton at St Mary’s. With most people expecting Leicester to slip sooner than later this campaign, the two prime title contenders are Arsenal and Manchester City. And having won the match against the Citizens last week, the Arsene Wenger’s men were high on confidence.
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Arsenal visited a Southampton side without a win in 5 league games and the Gunners started on the front foot, creating several half-chances. In the 19th minute, Ryan Bertrand’s cross was poorly cleared away by Per Mertesacker and debutant right-back’s outrageous outside-of-the-boot shot curled past Cech from 30 yards, to give the hosts the lead. Both sides created further chances but the finishing was incredibly poor on Arsenal’s part, as Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud missed open headers.
10 minutes into the second half, Shane Long played the ball on the right to Sadio Mane, who slipped in a low cross through Mertesacker’s legs and Long finished easily with only Cech to beat. The Arsenal players surrounded Jonathon Moss after the goal was given, as later replays showed that Long had clearly felled Laurent Koscielny during his run into the box. With a two-goal cushion the Saints defended deep, as Arsenal struggled to break through the disciplined defence. In the 69th minute, Ryan Bertrand’s teasing cross from a corner routine, was headed home in emphatic fashion by Jose Fonte past the stunned Petr Cech. Shane Long struck the post late on but got his second goal in the 90th minute when Dusan Tadic slipped a ball between the two centre-backs and the Irish striker sent his shot through the legs of Cech to compound Wenger’s misery. It seems the Gunners cracked under all the pressure of being serious title favorites and simply ran out of steam after a run of impressive performances.
It was an upset of sorts, as Liverpool beat league leaders Leicester thanks to a Christian Benteke strike at the hour mark. The surprise table toppers were on an unbeaten run, demolishing all teams in their path, primarily thanks to the exploits of Jamie Vardy and Riyadh Mahrez, who have scored 28 goals between themselves. Liverpool, on the other hand, were left licking their wounds after an embarrassing defeat 3-0 defeat at Watford.
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Divock Origi was chosen by Jurgen Klopp to lead the line ahead of bumper signing Christian Benteke but the big Belgian came on for his countryman in the 38th minute, when the latter limped off with an injury. Origi failed to impress during his time on the pitch and although he create good positions for himself, his unwillingness to pass to a teammate and take shots from difficult angles didn’t do him any favors. Jamie Vardy, who played through illness, failed to seriously threaten Simon Mignolet, although his partner-in-crime Mahrez came close with a shot from the edge of the box. Despite creating several chances, both sides were wasteful in front of goal and the first half ended goalless.
Leicester who have relied heavily on Vardy and Mahrez for goals this season, were finding it difficult to get into their groove and although the criminally underrated defensive midfielder N’Golo Kante controlled the game in the middle of the park, meaningful chances were few and far between. The home side finally got their goal in the 63rd minute, when Roberto Firmino played niftily played a one-two with Emre Can and sent in a ball to Benteke, who slipped past his marker and slid in to send his first-time shot past the outstretched arms of Kasper Schmeichel. Comeback kings Leicester fought hard for an equalizing goal but their star men Vardy and Mahrez, failed to hit top gear and were brought off by manager Claudio Ranieri.
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Nathan Dyer forced Mignolet into a point-blank save, while Robert Huth missed his header. In the final minute of stoppage time, ‘keeper Schmeichel rushed into the opposition box in hopes of creating a nuisance of himself but Christian Fuchs long throw-in and subsequent cross was cleared away by Liverpool. Lucas won the ball in his own half and Firmino slipped in a ball through the heart of the pitch for Benteke, who had three teammates by his side and although the goalscorer had only defender Wes Morgan to beat, he somehow had his shot blocked and Leicester’s subsequent break through saw Andy King send his header over the bar, as Liverpool survived a late scare. Leicester, amazingly, were bottom of the table at this stage last year and although they are still at the top of the table this season, thanks to Arsenal’s defeat at Southampton, if the Foxes want to stay on top, they can’t afford to put in another drab performance.
Tottenham recorded an impressive win over Norwich, as Harry Kane scored twice against the struggling Canaries. Norwich started brightly and had Tottenham on the backfoot but things went downhill after Harry Kane was felled by ‘keeper Declan Rudd in the penalty box. Kane, who won the penalty, stepped up to take the spot-kick, calmly slotted it past Rudd to make it 1-0. Rudd was forced into action again, pulling off brilliant saves to deny Toby Alderweireld and Delle Alli but had to pick the ball from the back of his net in the 42nd minute, when Alli slipped the ball to Kane on the right and the Englishman finished clinically from a tight angle to double his side’s lead. Substitute Tom Carroll joined the Spurs party, with a thumping left-footed shot in the 80th minute and the game ended 3-0, as Mauricio Pochettino will be pleased with his side’s performance.
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West Ham ended their run of three consecutive goalless draws against Aston Villa, but the Hammers returned to London again with a point, after Jordan Ayew cancelled out Aaron Cresswell’s opener. Ki Sung-Yeung’s scrappy opener was enough for Swansea to win all three points against West Brom, while Crystal Palace and Bournemouth battled it out in a goalless draw.
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