Saturday Premier League wrap: the things you may have missed
Your round-up of Saturday's Premier League games, as Leicester held on for a point at Stamford Bridge and Watford against Southampton was settled by a glaring mistake from the officials. VAR anyone?
Tottenham 4 - 0 Everton
Spurs started fast at Wembley, passing with an intensity which immediately put Everton on the back-foot. Little surprise then, that Heung Min-Son opened the scoring inside half-an-hour, having been found by a Serge Aurier cross. The visitors carried a threat, having a Wayne Rooney header ruled-out for a marginal - but correct - offside, but seemed to struggle with the size of the Wembley pitch. Those problems deepened three minutes into the second-half, with Son evading Jonjoe Kenny high on the left side, driving into the box, and crossing for Kane to double the lead. Kane would add a second ten minutes later, converting Eric Dier's fine pass, before Christian Eriksen completed the rout after a fine four-player move.
Goals: Son 26', Kane 48', 59', Eriksen 81'
Chelsea 0 - 0 Leicester City
Leicester had 12 first-half shots against Chelsea - the most of any visiting team in a Premier League match at Stamford Bridge since 2003-04.
Messy. Really, Leicester should have taken a lead into the dressing-room at half-time. Chelsea looked blunt going forward and, more than once, chaotic at the back. Two yellow cards in five minutes for Ben Chilwell altered the balance of the game, with Chelsea gradually improving in the second-half and exerting presssure of their own, but Leicester held on for a deserved point.
Goals: None
Crystal Palace 1 - 0 Burnley
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Quietly, Burnley have run out of steam. By contrast, Palace are proving very difficult to beat, only losing to Tottenham and Arsenal since the beginning of November. They started well here, too, with Bakary Sakho finishing a determined run with a strong finish. Burnley were well under par, but Palace were good value for a win which takes them into mid-table.
Goals: Sako 21'
Huddersfield 1 - 4 West Ham
Mark Noble has now scored (35) or assisted (27) 62 Premier League goals for West Ham - only Paolo Di Canio (78) has had a hand in more for the club.
Not an opening goal which David Wagner will choose to remember, as his side were in charitable mood earlier on. Joe Lolley coughed up possession deep in his own half, West Ham robbed him of the ball, and Mark Noble gave the visitors the lead just twenty minutes in. Lolley went from villain to hero, though, equalising with style five minutes before half-time. Nevertheless, Mario Arnautovic would restore West Ham's lead directly from the second-half kick-off, beating Tommy Smith before smashing home. Ten minutes later, Manuel Lanzini added a third - followed by a fourth five minutes after - to seal the points for resurgent West Ham
Goals: Lolley 40' - Noble 25', Aranutovic 46', Lanzini 56', 61'
Newcastle 1 - 1 Swansea
Not an afternoon likely to improve the mood on Tyneside. Newcastle were the better side for long periods and certainly had the better chances, but Carlos Carvalhal's team scored with the first opportunity of note - Jordan Ayew scoring at the second attempt from close range. Swansea's season being what it is, though, that lead was short-lived; substitute Joselu equalising with practically his first touch.
Goals: - Ayew 60'
Watford 2 -2 Southampton
Andre Gray has scored his first goal for Watford at Vicarage Road, in what is his 12th appearance in all competitions there for the Hornets.
Given where in the table Southampton started the day, their start to this game was a gift: good work from Shane Long ended with James Ward-Prowse cutting in a finish from a deflected cross. It got worse for Watford, enduring an awful slump themselves, before half-time - Ward-Prowse scoring again, finishing a slick move between Long (again) and Dusan Tadic. Opinions were clearly aired in the home dressing-room during the break and Watford re-emerged much improved: Andre Gray pulled a goal back with an opportunist finish and, in stoppage time, Abdoulaye Doucoure scored a hugely controversial equaliser which had more than a suggestion of handball to it.
Goals: Gray 56', Doucoure 90' - Ward-Prowse 21', 45'
West Brom 2 - 0 Brighton
All four of West Brom's Premier League goals at the Hawthorns under Alan Pardew have come from set pieces (three from corners and one from the penalty spot).
An excellent start for West Brom, who were hunting their first win in 20 games: Jonny Evans headed in a corner to give Alan Pardew's side the lead after just four minutes. Pardew's players were unlucky not to have a penalty later in the first-half, when Glenn Murray appeared to block Matt Phillips's shot with a raised arm. Craig Dawson doubled the lead in the second-half, again from a set-piece, and West Brom are up and running under new management.
Goals: Evans 4', Dawson 56'
Seb Stafford-Bloor is a football writer at Tifo Football and member of the Football Writers' Association. He was formerly a regularly columnist for the FourFourTwo website, covering all aspects of the game, including tactical analysis, reaction pieces, longer-term trends and critiquing the increasingly shady business of football's financial side and authorities' decision-making.