Arsenal Hold on to Top Spot with Slim Win at Everton as Festive PL Drama Unfolds

Arsenal guaranteed they would sit top of the Premier League table at Christmas after edging Everton 1-0 on Saturday, while Liverpool held their nerve to secure a 2-1 victory over nine-man Tottenham in a tense encounter.

Manchester City briefly climbed to the summit earlier in the day, inspired by an Erling Haaland brace in a comfortable 3-0 win over West Ham.

The Gunners restored their two-point lead at the top thanks to Viktor Gyokeres’ penalty but laboured through a hard-fought performance on Merseyside.

The match at the Hill Dickinson Stadium was dominated by penalty controversy. Arsenal felt they should have been awarded a spot-kick for a foul on Gyokeres moments before referee attention turned to a Jake O’Brien handball, which resulted in the decisive penalty that the Swede calmly converted.

After the break, Leandro Trossard and Martin Zubimendi both struck the woodwork for Arsenal, while Everton were left angered by two penalty appeals for challenges on Thierno Barry that went unawarded.

City, meanwhile, kept the pressure on Arsenal with a seventh straight win in all competitions, though manager Pep Guardiola was unimpressed despite the result.

“I want to be honest. I said to the players, ‘Merry Christmas everyone but it will not be enough if we don’t improve’,” Guardiola said.

West Ham were on the back foot early as Haaland opened the scoring after just five minutes. The Norwegian then turned provider before half-time, setting up Tijjani Reijnders for his first goal at the Etihad Stadium. Haaland completed his brace 21 minutes from time, taking his tally to 38 goals for club and country this season and briefly lifting City one point clear of Arsenal.

Liverpool Edge Spurs
Liverpool extended their unbeaten run to six matches, deepening the misery for Tottenham boss Thomas Frank. Spurs’ task became far harder when Xavi Simons was sent off for a dangerous challenge on Virgil van Dijk.

With Mohamed Salah absent at the Africa Cup of Nations, Alexander Isak again began on the bench, but Arne Slot introduced the £125 million signing at half-time. The Swede scored just his third goal since joining in September but was forced off with another injury setback.

Hugo Ekitike added a second with his fifth goal in three league games, though Liverpool were made to sweat late on after Richarlison pulled one back.

“The thing in football is you always remember the last few minutes and they were the worst minutes of our total game,” Slot admitted. “It became very chaotic and hectic.”

Tottenham’s fifth home defeat in nine league matches increased the pressure on Frank, compounded by captain Cristian Romero’s needless red card in stoppage time. Liverpool moved up to fifth, while Spurs remain down in 13th.

Elsewhere
Chelsea stay fourth on goal difference above Liverpool after a spirited second-half comeback rescued manager Enzo Maresca from renewed speculation about his future. Despite winning just once in their last five league matches, Chelsea recovered from a 2-0 deficit against Newcastle, with Reece James scoring a superb free-kick before Joao Pedro capitalised on a Malick Thiaw error to equalise.

Wolves’ miserable campaign continued as they slipped to a 2-0 home defeat against Brentford, remaining without a league win this season and edging closer to an unwanted Premier League record.

Burnley halted a seven-game losing run when Armando Broja’s 90th-minute strike earned a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth.

Leeds eased relegation fears by moving six points clear of the bottom three, thanks to Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s brace in a 4-1 win over Crystal Palace.

Sunderland climbed to sixth after playing out a goalless draw away at Brighton.

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