A summary of Thursday's action in the Premier League.
Liverpool came back after conceding early to beat Leicester City 3-1 at Anfield on Thursday and open a seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League.
Struggling Leicester took a shock sixth minute lead through Jordan Ayew but lived a charmed life until Cody Gakpo equalised on the stroke of half-time.
Liverpool then put Leicester under siege straight from the break and took just four minutes into the second half to go ahead through Curtis Jones before Mohamed Salah made sure of the points with a superb 82nd-minute finish.
The victory extended their unbeaten league run to 13 games and advanced Liverpool to 42 points at the top of the standings.
They also have a game in hand over second-placed Chelsea, who are on 35, as well as third-placed Nottingham Forest on 34.
On a misty night in Liverpool, Leicester silenced the Anfield crowd with their early goal, as Stephy Mavididi’s run down the left culminated in a square cross into the penalty area that found Ayew, who used his strength to see off the challenge of Andy Robertson and then turn to slot home.
Robertson came close to atoning when his header hit the upright in the 25th minute and a curling left-footed shot from Salah struck the crossbar in the 45th minute.
Seconds later Gakpo cut in from the left and struck a superb curling effort beyond Leicester goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk for a deserved equaliser.
Jones’s goal came after Liverpool moved the ball around in tight spaces before Alexis Mac Allister’s square pass was steered in by the Englishman.
There was a lengthy VAR check before the goal was confirmed and a similarly long wait for a check when Gakpo found the net again in the 67th minute. That was eventually ruled off-side.
Salah’s strike was another classy finish as he marked his 100th home Premier League goal with a characteristic cut inside off the right flank, followed by an expertly placed finish across the face of the goal.
Leicester dropped into the relegation zone before kickoff after Wolverhampton Wanderers went above them earlier on Boxing Day after their 2-0 home win over Manchester United.
Leicester remained on 14 points after a third successive league loss, two points above second from bottom Ipswich Town.
Liverpool are away at West Ham United next on Sunday while Leicester host champions Manchester City the same day.
Haaland misses penalty; Manchester City's suffering continues
Bernardo Silva scored an early goal but struggling Manchester City could only muster a single point in a 1-1 Premier League draw with Everton to kick off a full slate of Boxing Day games on Thursday.
City's slump has seen them win just once in their last 13 matches across all competitions and they provisionally sit sixth in the table with 28 points, 11 below leaders Liverpool who have two games in hand.
Everton are 15th, five points above the drop zone.
Silva scored in the 14th minute when Jeremy Doku played a ball in behind the Toffees' defence and Silva slid in to fire into the far corner from a tight angle. But Iliman Ndiaye drew Everton level in the 36th when he took a touch to settle the ball, then unleashed a shot from the centre of the box to the top right corner.
City fans thought they had victory locked up when Erling Haaland stepped up to the penalty spot in the second half after Seamus Coleman's tackle on Savinho, but goalkeeper Jordan Pickford dived correctly to safe the shot. Haaland headed home the rebound, but it was chalked off for off-side.
Fernandes sent off as Manchester Utd lose at Wolves
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off as his side slid to a 2-0 loss at Wolverhampton Wanderers -- a fourth defeat in their last five Premier League games.
Fernandes earned a second yellow card two minutes after the interval and with Boxing Day fog swirling at Molineux, United's gloom deepened as Matheus Cunha scored direct from a corner.
It was an embarrassing moment for United goalkeeper Andre Onana and one that summed up the current malaise at the club as they languish in the bottom half of the table.
Wolves held on through a nervy eight added minutes against the 10 men and Hwang Hee-chan made absolutely sure with virtually the last kick after a counter-attack to make it a joyous first home game in charge for new manager Vitor Pereira who began his reign with an away win at Leicester City.
Victory lifted Wolves out of the bottom three into 17th place with 15 points from 18 games while Ruben Amorim's United ended the day in 14th place with 22 points.
A scrappy game was illuminated by Cunha who was the best player on the pitch, scoring a strange opener and then providing the assist for Hwang to spark home celebrations.
For United manager Amorim it was further proof of the size of the job he has inherited after replacing Erik ten Hag.
He now has the unwanted record of the least number of games for a Manchester United manager to lose four Premier League matches -- his seven comfortably fewer than Ten Hag's 13.
In stark contrast, Pereira is the first manager to win his opening two Premier League games in charge of Wolves.
Much of the focus will be on Fernandes, though. Already having been booked in the first half, the Portuguese needlessly caught Nelson Semedo to earn a red card and leave his already-toothless side at the mercy of Wolves.
The home side thought they had taken the lead soon afterwards when Jorgen Strand Larsen headed home Semedo's cross but the goal was ruled out for offside.
But Wolves went ahead in the strangest of circumstances as Matheus Cunha swung in a wickedly curling corner and Onana was nowhere as the ball nestled into the net.
United's lacklustre display was summed up by striker Rasmus Hojlund failing to have a touch inside the Wolves area before being substituted midway through the second half.
"It's so tough to win games in this league with 11 men. With 10 men, it's more difficult," Amorim said. "We have to focus on that. The sending off was really hard for us."
Fulham stun Chelsea with comeback win at Stamford Bridge
Fulham came from behind to beat neighbours Chelsea 2-1 after a 95th minute goal from substitute Rodrigo Muniz gave the visitors all three point in the Premier League on Thursday.
It was Fulham's first win at Stamford Bridge since 1979 and put a dent in second-placed Chelsea's title hopes as the hosts stay on 35 points, four points off the pace having played two games more than leaders Liverpool who host Leicester City later.
Chelsea took the lead after 16 minutes when Cole Palmer danced past two defenders and slid the ball through Issa Diop's legs into the bottom corner to score a classy goal.
But Fulham's second-half energy and determination paid off in the 82nd minute when Harry Wilson headed home from close range for the club's first goal at Stamford Bridge since 2011.
Muniz clinched all three points when he swept home a pass from Sasa Lukic in the dying moments of the match to take Fulham up to eighth with 28 points from 18 games. It was Chelsea's first league loss since a 2-1 defeat on October 20 at Liverpool.
Elanga on target as Forest beat Spurs to go third
Nottingham Forest continued their challenge for a Premier League top-four spot as Anthony Elanga's first-half goal secured a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur to put them third on Thursday.
Elanga completed a superb Forest counter-attack in the 28th minute to settle a contest that Tottenham ended with 10 men after former Forest player Djed Spence was sent off.
The result moved Forest provisionally up to third with 34 points, while Tottenham's fourth defeat in five Premier League games left them in 11th with 23 points after 18 games.
Tottenham had edged the opening exchanges with former Forest winger Brennan Johnson going close for the visitors but the hosts struck in devastating fashion.
When Tottenham lost possession on the edge of the Forest area, the ball was played to Morgan Gibbs-White who split the visiting defence with a superb pass and Elanga beat goalkeeper Fraser Forster with a deft finish.
It was enough for Forest to win a third successive top-flight game for the first time since 1995 and was especially sweet for manager Nuno Espirito Santo who was sacked by Tottenham three years ago.
Forest now have more points than they managed in the whole of last season when they flirted with relegation.
Tottenham are now 11 points behind Forest and pressure is sure to mount on manager Ange Postecoglou.
His side had chances before the break with Matz Sels twice denying Johnson and Son Heung-min hitting the side-netting with a free kick shortly before the interval.
Tottenham were toothless after the break though and their frustration was summed up when Spence was shown a second yellow card deep in stoppage time.
Newcastle crush 10-man Villa
Newcastle United beat Aston Villa 3-0 in the Premier League on Thursday with goals from Anthony Gordon, Alexander Isak and Joelinton while Jhon Duran was sent off for the visitors who crashed to a fifth straight away defeat.
Victory in the last home game of the year moved Newcastle up to fifth on 29 points while Villa fell to ninth, a point behind Eddie Howe's side.
Newcastle are in a purple patch with four straight wins in all competitions and their third in the league in their quest to return to the top four and the Champions League.
Newcastle got off to a flier in the second minute when they won the ball back in midfield before Joelinton found Gordon on the left, where the English winger curled a shot past the dive of Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez and into the top corner.
As Villa looked for an equaliser, the game got increasingly physical with fouls all across the pitch leading to a stop-start contest and the visitors did test Martin Dubravka in Newcastle's goal.
But Villa shot themselves in the foot when Jhon Duran was sent off in the 32nd minute for a straight red card after he stamped on Fabian Schar following a tackle.
Jhon Duran, who has scored 12 goals in all competitions for Villa this season, first stamped Schar's leg and then his back before falling over. As he walked off the pitch, the livid Colombian kicked a water bottle before going down the tunnel.
Newcastle continued to probe Villa's defence and doubled their lead in the 59th minute when Bruno Guimaraes slipped a ball through for Jacob Murphy and he squared the ball to Isak for a tap-in -- his 24th goal of the calendar year.
Minutes later, Newcastle nearly made it 3-0 but Martinez came to the rescue once again when he saved a shot from Joelinton while Murphy pounced on the rebound and saw his shot come off the crossbar.
Emery made a triple substitution but it made no difference and Joelinton completed the rout in stoppage time when he nicked the ball in midfield, made an unimpeded run and fired an emphatic strike from the edge of the box into the top corner.
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