As a present from the Barclay's Premiership, we were treated to four games in a Super Sunday Christmas Cracker. The day started with a midday kick-off between QPR and Manchester United. United broke the deadlock after just 52 seconds when an Antonio Valencia cross found the head of Wayne Rooney. United remained in full control throughout the match with both Phil Jones and Johnny Evans being denied by the post. QPR's third choice keeper Radek Cerny pulled out some remarkable saves to keep the scoreline down whereas his opposite number, David De Gea, only made two saves all game. Michael Carrick scored his first goal in seventy games eleven minutes into the second half, with a run that started in his own half, to place United temporarily at the top of the table.
The same scoreline was witnessed at Villa Park as Aston Villa hosted Liverpool in the second instalment of the triple bill. Aston Villa's Achilles' heel has been set pieces this season and they were undone twice in four minutes. Craig Bellamy opened the scoring after eleven minutes when a corner was flicked on by Jonjo Shelvy to cause a goalmouth scramble. Four minutes later, another corner was curled in and Martin Skrtel peeled off Richard Dunne to head past Brad Guzan. In truth, Villa never troubled Pepe Reina and Liverpool were unlucky not have won by a higher margin as Luis Suarez hit the woodwork twice in the second half.
Tottenham faced Sunderland in the only game of the day that wasn't televised. The only goal of the match came just after the hour mark with Roman Pavlyuchenko making the most of a rare appearance, coming off the bench. The win sees Tottenham reclaim third spot from Chelsea.
The final match of the day saw Manchester City take on Arsenal. The game was quite stretched throughout with both Wojiech Sczcesny and Joe Hart making brilliant saves to deny the opposing attackers. The only goal of the game came eight minutes into the second half through David Silva. They managed to hold off Arsenal's threat but also missed guilt edged chances of their own to close out the match. The win does see City retain top spot with one more game to go before Christmas.
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