Manchester United dropped two points needlessly again, coming back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Burnley at Old Trafford. Burnley took a shock lead through Ashley Barnes after shoddy United defending of a freekick, and doubled it soon after when Steven Defour placed a beautiful freekick into the top corner of David de Gea’s net. Old Trafford was shocked into silence by half-time, and Jose made two changes at the break itself to try and turn things around. One of those substitutes, Jesse Lingard, halved the deficit for the Red Devils with a back-heeled finish. United laid siege to Burnley’s goal, but couldn’t find an opening till the 2nd minute of stoppage time, when it was Lingard again who placed a smart finish into the corner to draw United level. That was all that could be managed, and following this latest draw, City could go 15 points clear at the top with a win over Newcastle.
Harry Kane beat Alan Shearer’s record of 36 Premier League goals in a calendar year, as well as becoming the leading goalscorer in Europe in 2017, smashing a hattrick for the second successive game, as Tottenham beat Southampton 5-2 at Wembley. Dele Alli and Son Heung-Min got the other goals for Spurs, while Sofiane Boufal and Dusan Tadic grabbed the two goals for the Saints. West Brom and Everton played out a goalless draw, keeping Sam Allardyce’s unbeaten run going, while Chelsea ran out 2-0 winners over Brighton at Stamford Bridge. It was the Spanish show in west London, as Alvaro Morata opened the scoring with a bullet header from Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross; the sixth time Azpi has assisted Morata this season; while another Spaniard, Marcos Alonso headed in Cesc Fabregas’ corner to seal the points for Chelsea. Liverpool hammered Swansea 5-0 at Anfield; Roberto Firmino grabbing a brace, with Philippe Coutinho scoring a scorcher into the top corner, Trent Alexander-Arnold scoring his first league goal and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain rounding up the win.
Ramadan Sobhi scored for the second league game in succession, as Stoke held Huddersfield to a 1-1 draw at the John Smith’s Stadium. Tom Ince scored his first Premier League goal to ensure the Terriers had a share of the spoils. Watford ended a six-match winless streak with a 2-1 victory over Leicester City at home. Riyad Mahrez had opened the scoring, heading in at the back post, but Molla Wague equalized just before half-time, and an own goal by Kasper Schmeichel gave all three points to the Hornets. There was high drama at the Vitality Stadium, where Bournemouth scored a stoppage-time equalizer to draw 3-3 with West Ham. James Collins had given the Hammers the lead, but Dan Gosling and then Nathan Ake scored as the Cherries took the lead. Marko Arnautovic then took things in his own hands, scoring two late goals to have seemingly given the Hammers the win, only for Callum Wilson to snatch a draw at the death. Newcastle host Manchester City on Wednesday night, while Arsenal travel to Crystal Palace on Friday night, in the two remaining fixtures for the round.
Another disappointing result for United; two points dropped to add to the two dropped at Leicester. City are surely out of sight now, and United need to be careful to not allow the chasing pack to overtake them.