
Results:
Everton 0 Arsenal 0
AFC Bournemouth 0 Burnley 1
Aston Villa 1 Southampton 3
Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Sheffield United 1
Newcastle United 1 Crystal Palace 0
Norwich City 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2
Manchester City 3 Leicester City 1
Round-up:
The first day of winter, and the second-shortest day of the year (usually it is the shortest day of the year, but due to the upcoming leap year the shortest day will be December 22nd), saw a total of seven Premier League matches take place, and the action began in Merseyside as Everton hosted Arsenal in a match which saw their caretaker managers take charge for a final time. In the end, neither side could take all three points, as the match ultimately ended goalless.
A promoted side who have been in fine form this season are undoubtedly Sheffield United, and they extended that positive form today as they recorded a slender 1-0 win away to Brighton & Hove Albion thanks to a first-half goal from Oli McBurnie to give the Blades a third consecutive league win. On the other hand, it is fair to say that Aston Villa, who were promoted together with Sheffield United, have struggled so far this season and suffered a fourth successive league defeat, this time at home to fellow strugglers Southampton, for whom Danny Ings has been a key player so far this season, and today was no exception as he bagged a brace in addition to a goal from Jack Stephens, whilst Jack Grealish scored what proved to be a scant consolation for the hosts. Despite playing over 30 games in all competitions already this season, Wolverhampton Wanderers have had a fine campaign so far, and continued that today as they came from behind to win 2-1 thanks to goals from Romain Saiss and Raul Jimenéz, after Norwich City, who were the superior team for the first hour of the match, had taken the lead in the first half thanks to Todd Cantwell. Meanwhile, Newcastle United have exceeded most people's expectations so far this season under manager Steve Bruce, and recorded a 1-0 win at home to Crystal Palace thanks to an 83rd minute goal from Miguel Almiron, who bagged his first goal since joining the club in January. Another team to score a late winner were Burnley, who did so thanks to an 89th minute header from Jay Rodriguez which gave them a 1-0 triumph away at AFC Bournemouth. League leaders Liverpool were scheduled to be in action today away at West Ham United, however, this game was postponed as Liverpool are in Qatar to contest the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup.
The action today came to a conclusion with what was arguably the clash of the weekend, as reigning champions Manchester City, currently sitting in third place, hosted Leicester City who are currently in second place. In a match were the hosts dominated, it was ironically Leicester who took the lead, and they did so thanks to a counter-attack which culminated in a brilliantly composed finish from striker Jamie Vardy. However, that lead lasted only 8 minutes, as the champions equalised on the half-hour mark thanks to a deflected shot from Algeria international Riyad Mahrez. Manchester City then were awarded a penalty in the 43rd minute after Leicester right-back Ricardo Pereira fouled Raheem Sterling in the box, and Ilkay Gundogan coolly converted the resulting spot-kick. The win was then eventually wrapped up in the 69th minute thanks to a tap-in from in-form striker Gabriel Jesus after a brilliant low cross from star midfielder Kevin de Bruyne.
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