Reading 2-5 Arsenal: After their Capital One Cup goalfest, the Premiership fixture proved to be just as entertaining. Lukas Podolski opened the scoring on 14-minutes. Santi Cazorla hit two goals in two minutes shortly after the half hour mark to make it 3-0 before half-time. The Spaniard secured his hat-trick on the hour mark to guarantee the points. Adam Le Fondre managed to pull one back on 66-minutes before Jimmy Kebe made it 4-2 five minutes later. The final goal of the game came from Theo Walcott ten minutes from time. The win sees Arsenal move up to fifth and two points behind Tottenham while Reading remain bottom of the table and six points from safety.
West Brom 0-0 West Ham: There may have been a goalless draw played out at The Hawthornes, but it is bewildering as to how. Both teams looked threatening in attack but somehow couldn't break the deadlock down. West Brom came closest by hitting the woodwork in the second half but they still make it four games without a win.
Tottenham 1-0 Swansea: Spurs go fourth after this close fought victory over Swansea. Both teams had chances to win the game, but the winner came 15-minutes from time when Jan Verthonghen half-volleyed home from a free-kick for his first, officially, Premier League goal. Swansea still sit in the top half despite this defeat.
Newcastle 1-3 Manchester City: City recover from their derby defeat with a comfortable victory over Newcastle. This latest defeat for the Magpies sees their second defeat on the bounce and have now only won once in their last eight games. The deadlock was broken on ten minutes when Samir Nasri played the ball across to Sergio Aguero when the Frenchman was one-on-one with Tim Krul, the Argentine was only too happy to roll the ball into the empty net for his eighth of the season. City doubled their lead six minutes from half-time when a Javi Garcia header from a corner was air-kicked by Davide Santon and went into the net off of his standing leg. Newcastle were able to pull a goal back six minutes into the second half when Fabricio Coloccini hooked the ball back into the box from a corner for Demba Ba to head his 11th goal of the season. The points were wrapped up 12-minutes from time when a Pablo Zabaleta pull back was slid home by Yaya Toure. The lack of points sees Newcastle only two points ahead of the relegation zone with City remaining six points behind Manchester United.
Liverpool 1-3 Aston Villa: Villa move up to 14th and three points clear of the relegation zone and are now five Premiership games unbeaten. The youngest ever Villa side took the lead just before the half hour mark when Christian Benteke surprised Pepe Reina with a long shot that went in off the near post. Villa made it 2-0 five minutes before half-time when a Benteke back heel across the box was fired home by Andres Weimann. The game was all but over six minutes into the second half when Benteke ran into the box before rifling the ball into the top corner. Liverpool's consolation came three minutes before the end when the ball flicked off Steven Gerrard's shoulder from a Glen Johnson shot.
QPR 2-1 Fulham: QPR and Harry Redknapp win their first game of the season and promptly move off the bottom. QPR took the lead seven minutes into the second half when Adel Taarabt's shot was horribly deflected. The Moroccan then made it 2-0 by poking the ball into the bottom corner from outside the box on 68-minutes. Mladen Petric saw his shot loop over Rob Green from a deflection two minutes from the end, but QPR held on for the win. Rangers are now just five points from safety with Fulham five points clear of the relegation zone.
Manchester United 3-1 Sunderland: United remain six points clear at the top and have guaranteed that they'll be top over Christmas. This defeat for Sunderland means they sit a solitary point ahead of the relegation zone. United took the lead on 16-minutes when a failed clearance from an Ashley Young cross was fired into the top corner by Robin Van Persie. It was 2-0 three minutes later courtesy of a neat finish from Tom Cleverley following a one-two with Michael Carrick. The points were sealed just before the hour mark when a Van Persie low cross was stabbed home by Wayne Rooney. Another plus point for United was the return of Nemanja Vidic although he could nothing about Sunderland's goal in 72-minutes; the United defence stopped when they thought the ball was going out. But Stephane Sessegnon kept it in and crossed the ball for substitute Frazier Campbell headed home against his former club for his first goal since February.
Norwich 2-1 Wigan: Norwich are now unbeaten in ten in the league as Wigan remain in the relegation zone on goal difference. Anthony Pilkington fired Norwich ahead on the quarter of an hour mark. Wigan were level six minutes into the second half with Shane Maloney firing the ball home from the edge of the box. But Norwich would have their win on 64-minutes when the smallest man on the pitch, Wes Hoolahan, headed a Pilkington cross home.
Stoke 1-1 Everton: It's a game that won't be remembered for the football played as Marouane Fellaini was hell bent on grabbing the headlines, but for all the wrong reasons. Ryan Shawcross broke the deadlock, but he headed into his own net from a Steven Pienaar cross nine minutes before half-time. Stoke levelled seven minutes into the second half when Kenwyne Jones' header somewhat bamboozled Tim Howard at the near post. The controversy came after when Fellaini looked to see where the referee was before head-butting Shawcross during a corner. The following corner saw the Belgian then poke an elbow into the defender's neck, a move that Asmir Begovic took offence too but his protests to the referee only saw the goalkeeper booked for dissent. A third corner saw Fellaini go a step further and almost land a punch on Shawcross before conceding a free-kick for a foul, although neither official saw the attempted punch. But he should definitely be getting banned for his actions.
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