Erling Haaland continues to score more than one goal per game.
Manchester City added three more points and extended their streak to five straight victories.
That’s still not enough to stop Arsenal from being top of the Premier League on Christmas Day.
A 1-0 victory against Everton, secured by a Viktor Gyokeres penalty in the first half, means Arsenal – seeking their first English top-flight title since 2004 – will spend December 25 in first place for the fifth time since the Premier League was formed in 1992.
On none of the four previous occasions did Arsenal manage to win the title.
History is not the only thing the Gunners are fighting against.
City are the closest rival and are just two points in second place after sweeping West Ham 3-0.
Haaland scored in each half to take his total to 19 goals in 17 games this season – surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo on the Premier League’s top scorer list – and also assisted on Tijjani Reijnders’ goal.
City manager Pep Guardiola is still not completely satisfied and revealed his message in the dressing room to the team.
“I told the players, ‘Merry Christmas everyone, but it won’t be enough if we don’t improve,’” Guardiola said.
Liverpool beat Tottenham 2-1, who finished with nine men, but lost their record signing Alexander Isak to a left ankle injury suffered while scoring the first goal.
Chelsea came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Newcastle.
Haaland surpasses Cristiano
Haaland has 38 goals in 28 games for club and country in what is shaping up to be the most prolific season of his career. If injuries allow, the season will end with his participation in his first World Cup with Norway.
Haaland scored at the second attempt after a cross from Phil Foden to give City a lead in the fifth minute and took advantage of a West Ham defensive error to make it 3-0 in the 69th.
Additionally, Haaland slipped a short pass to Reijnders, who controlled and shot into the roof of the net in the 38th.
With his double he reached 104 goals in the Premier League, one more than Ronaldo – who had two spells at Manchester United – and with 122 fewer games.
Isaac injured
Isak just can’t catch a break with Liverpool.
The Swedish striker has struggled in his first few months as British football’s record signing, having joined Liverpool after training largely alone in pre-season. Then he was recently out with a groin injury.
He came on as a substitute against Tottenham and scored in the 11th minute, but as he converted his shot, his left ankle was injured by a challenge from Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven and he was helped off the field.
Tottenham were already down to 10 men at the time after Xavi Simons was red carded for a studs foul on Virgil van Dijk, and Hugo Ekitike doubled Liverpool’s lead with a header.
Richarlison reduced Spurs’ deficit to 83 and there was time for Cristian Romero to become the second local player to be sent off after kicking Ibrahima Konate.
Liverpool moved up to fifth place.
Woltemade week
What a difference a week made for Nick Woltemade.
Last weekend, he scored an own goal that condemned Newcastle to a derby defeat against fierce rivals Sunderland. Six days later, he scored twice in the first 20 minutes as his team quickly extended their lead over Chelsea.
But Chelsea recovered to draw 2-2 with João Pedro’s goal thanks to a rare assist from the goalkeeper.
Reece James started Chelsea’s comeback by curling a free kick that hit the post after the break.
Chelsea remain in fourth place with just one win in their last five league games. Newcastle, one of England’s representatives in the Champions League this season, are languishing in mid-table after one win in their last four games, and that was against second-bottom Burnley.
Still no win
Last-place Wolverhampton remains winless and with only two points after losing 2-0 at home to Brentford.
The latest defeat meant Wolves equaled Sheffield United’s record from the 2020-21 season of 17 games without a win since the start of a Premier League season and have lost a club record 10 consecutive league games.
Keane Lewis-Potter scored both Brentford goals in the second half.
Semenyo’s value
Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo is reportedly a target of some of the Premier League’s biggest teams, including Man City and Manchester United.
He underlined his worth on Saturday by scoring his team’s goal in a 1-1 draw with Burnley that ended their seven-game losing streak in their difficult return to the top flight. Armando Broja got Burnley’s equalizer in the 90th.
Sunderland and Leeds are doing much better since their promotion. A 0-0 draw at Brighton moved Sunderland into sixth place, while Leeds beat Crystal Palace 4-1 to move six points clear of the relegation zone.
Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
