You may or may not have seen the scorelines, but which team had 11 different nationalities? Who was the goalscoring birthday boy? Which drop-dodgers’ home record is second only to Chelsea’s? Who’s averaging 5.1 goals per game? And when did a Guardiola team ever concede four in the league?
Leicester City 4-2 Manchester City
Quite the night at the King Power as Leicester left behind their league worries to deepen Pep Guardiola’s frown-lines. The Man City boss’s back three conceded twice in the first five minutes, first to a drought-quenching Jamie Vardy then to local hero Andy King. The game-chasing visitors were then picked off on the break by a Foxes side looking considerably more like title-winners than their collapsing opponents. Riyad Mahrez’s superb cushioned pass sent Vardy through for his second and Islam Slimani helped the sharp-faced striker complete his first Foxes hat-trick; Alex Kolarov’s late free-kick and Nolito’s injury-time tap-in simply made the scoreline slightly less horrific for Guardiola.
4 – This is the third time a team managed by Pep Guardiola have conceded 4 in a league game (Atlético in 2009 & Wolfsburg in 2015). Upset.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 10, 2016
Arsenal 3-1 Stoke City
Argy-bargy at the Arsenal as their traditional bêtes noires threatened to upset them – not for the first time. Stoke had lost their last 14 at Arsenal but took the lead through birthday boy Charlie Adam’s penalty after Xhaka elbowed Joe Allen in the area and the face. The visiting fans chirped “One-nil to the rugby team” but only until Theo Walcott’s leveller just before the break. Mesut Ozil’s clever header (yes, header) gave them a lead doubled by Alex Iwobi, while Adam left his mark with an alleged stamp on Alexis Sanchez.
5 – Charlie Adam is the 5th player to score a PL goal on his birthday this season (after Koscielny, Ozil, Nolito & Benteke). Party.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 10, 2016
Burnley 3-2 Bournemouth
This action-packed edition of the Eddie Howe Derby might have stolen the headlines had all the other games not gone goal-berserk too. Jeff Hendrick’s superlative mid-air control-flick-volley 25-yarder will be in the Goal of the Season shake-up, unlike Stephen Ward’s first goal in 40 Premier League games. Benik Afobe’s goal bothered Burnley, but George Boyd redoubled the lead before Charlie Daniels’ injury-time wallop kept the fans in their seats to the whistle. Burnley have now collected 16 home points – second only to Chelsea; pity they’ve only gathered one point away from Turf Moor.
14 - Burnley have scored as many home Premier League goals (14) this season as they managed in their last PL season in 2014/15. Glut.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 10, 2016
Hull City 3-3 Crystal Palace
Alan Pardew’s 300th game as a top-flight manager went to recent form (Palace’s last seven league games have averaged 5.1 goals) with Hull edging ahead after Robert Snodgrass converted a penalty he’d won so controversially that he later apologised. Palace came from behind through a penalty karmically conceded by Snodgrass and calmly converted by Christian Benteke (his fifth goal in five games) followed by a Wilfried Zaha walloper – but within a minute Pardew subbed the booked James McArthur for Yohan Cabaye, and the Frenchman watched on as Hull equalised within another minute and went in front six minutes later. Frazier Campbell’s late leveller saved a point and quite possibly Pardew’s job.
3 - Hull have scored as many goals today as they did in their previous six Premier League games combined (3). Unleashed.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 10, 2016
Swansea City 3-0 Sunderland
Sunderland reverted to form as Swansea found theirs to clamber out of the relegation zone, past the Black Cats who bounced back to the bottom. David Moyes’ visitors had won three of their last four league games but were sodden and hopeless in the South Walian rain. Key man Gylfi Sigurdsson put the Swans ahead from the spot then found Fernando Llorente, who later embellished the scoreline with his fifth of the season, all of which have come at the Liberty.
8 - Gylfi Sigurdsson has been directly involved in eight goals in his last eight PL games for Swansea (4 goals, 4 assists). Iceman.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 10, 2016
Watford 3-2 Everton
Watford-Everton might be shortened to “WatEver” but this lunchtime smorgasbord was far from indifferent. The Toffees belied their recent strife to go in front through Romelu Lukaku, but the Hornets – whose starting line-up featured 11 different nationalities – came back strongly with Stefano Okaka’s sublime back-flick, followed by two from set-pieces (Sebastian Prodl and Okaka again) as Everton’s defence dissolved. Ever-dependable Lukaku halved the arrears but Watford’s well-gelled globetrotters held on.
11 - Watford have had 11 different goalscorers in the Premier League this season, the most alongside Liverpool. Spread.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 10, 2016
