IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Wednesday.
Southampton completed a rejuvenating holiday schedule with a superb Danny Ings goal earning them a 1-0 win over stuttering Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday.
Ings fooled former Southampton defender Toby Alderweireld with a great piece of skill to fire the hosts in front in the 17th minute and a laboured Tottenham rarely threatened.
A hamstring injury to Harry Kane that forced the England striker off in the second half ensured it was a miserable start to the new year for Tottenham, whose manager Jose Mourinho was booked for an altercation with the home coaching staff. Kane was injured scoring a goal that was disallowed for offside, the decision confirmed by VAR.
Southampton have collected 10 points from 12 in their last four games to climb out of the relegation zone and up to the relative safety of 12th with 25 points. Tottenham remain in sixth place, six points behind Chelsea who occupy fourth spot.
Brighton & Hove Albion forward Alireza Jahanbakhsh scored with a brilliant bicycle kick in the second half to cancel out Chelsea defender Cesar Azpilicueta's opener in an entertaining 1-1 draw in the Premier League on Wednesday.
The result at the Amex Stadium helped Brighton end a run of nine straight league defeats by Chelsea stretching back to 1983 while Frank Lampard's side missed the chance to seal back-to-back league wins for the first time since November.
Left back Azpilicueta celebrated his 100th start as Chelsea captain with the opening goal, guiding the ball home from close range in the 10th minute after Tammy Abraham's shot was blocked near the goal line by Brighton's Aaron Mooy following a corner.
Substitute Jahanbakhsh then produced an early contender for goal of the year in the 84th minute, with a superb overhead kick that flew into the bottom left corner giving Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga no chance.
"It is an amazing feeling. When I was about to go on, I had a feeling I could have an impact on the game," Jahanbakhsh, who scored his first Brighton goal in last week's 2-0 victory over Bournemouth, told the BBC.
"When I saw the ball, I just tried to hit it as hard as I could and the bicycle kick was the only option. I'm going to watch it a couple more times.
"I'm very glad to help the team win points. I couldn't start the year any better... we did a great job."
Spaniard Arrizabalaga had earlier kept out substitute Aaron Connolly's strike from close range and came to Chelsea's rescue again after the equaliser when he saved Neal Maupay's first-time shot from Martin Montoya's cross.
Chelsea also had opportunities to take all three points with their best chance falling to substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi, but his curled effort from distance narrowly missed the target in the 88th minute.
Lampard said he was frustrated by Chelsea's inability to kill off the game in the opening period.
"In the first half, the game was there to be won. We weren't ruthless enough. We got the goal and we had the possession. But we just didn't kill the game off," Lampard said.
"We allowed them to stay in the game. In the end it was a wonder goal but we were lucky not to lose. The tactics matched up for both teams but they were better than us. We have to take that on the chin."
Struggling Aston Villa picked up their second away win of the Premier League season, securing three vital points in a 2-1 win at Burnley on New Year’s Day, their first league win at Turf Moor since 1936.
Villa thought they had taken an 11th minute lead through a diving header from Jack Grealish but a VAR review found that Wesley’s heel was marginally offside during the move and the goal was over-turned.
It was Wesley who did open the scoring though in the 23rd — the impressive Grealish finding him in the box and the Brazilian swivelled and fired past Nick Pope to give Villa a deserved lead.
Burnley were unusually sloppy in defence and lacking their usual spirit of work-rate and it was no shock when Grealish doubled Villa’s lead four minutes before the break, finishing off a lovely passing move with a confident curling finish.
Sean Dyche made a double substitution at the break with Jay Rodriguez and Johann Berg Gudmundsson introduced and that had the desired effect with the Clarets much more positive.
Rodriguez and Chris Wood both missed good chances before Wood finally found the target with a back post header from an Ashley Westwood cross in the 80th minute but Burnley were unable to force an equaliser.
Villa’s former Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton injured himself attempting to keep out the goal and was carried off the pitch on a stretcher.
