Premier League report: Chelsea & Manchester United win big
Get the full picture from Saturday's Premier League action with reports from every match, including Southampton's revenge over Leicester and big wins for Manchester United and Chelsea.
Premier League results
- Crystal Palace 1-1 Arsenal - full report
- Chelsea 3-0 Burnley
- Everton 1-0 Brighton
- Leicester 1-2 Southampton
- Manchester United 4-0 Norwich
- Wolves 1-1 Newcastle
- Tottenham 0-1 Liverpool - full report
Tottenham 0-1 Liverpool
Liverpool passed a stern test in their quest for Premier League invincibility as they beat a plucky Tottenham side 1-0.
The Reds, marching towards a first league title since 1990, took another step closer to matching Arsenal's 2003/04 achievement thanks to Roberto Firmino's first-half strike.
It took their winning run to 12 matches and they are now undefeated in their last 38 games, going back to January 3, 2019 - a period in which they have won an astonishing 104 points.
That defeat to Manchester City proved pivotal in last season's title race but it will take a miracle for them to miss out again as they continue to sweep aside all before them with a 20th win from 21 games.
Chelsea 3-0 Burnley
Callum Hudson-Odoi slotted his first Premier League goal to put the seal on Chelsea's crucial 3-0 home win over Burnley.
Jorginho set the Blues rolling with a coolly-converted penalty, with Tammy Abraham heading his 13th league goal of the campaign from a stunning Reece James cross.
Hudson-Odoi then slid home the third to cement a vital victory for the Blues and raise hopes the England forward can now strike back to his very best.
It made it four unbeaten in all competitions for Chelsea, as they claimed their first home league win since December 1, while condemning Burnley to their fourth straight Premier League defeat.
Lampard had demanded extra fluidity from his Blues and, after a shaky start they delivered, with their growing confidence in possession pointing the way forward especially for the likes of the impressive James and Hudson-Odoi.
Jeff Hendrick thought he had headed Burnley into the lead, only for Ben Mee to be ruled offside from the free kick that he nodded back across goal.
The now near-obligatory Video Assistant Referee (VAR) check followed the flag, but Burnley were still denied a breakthrough.
Suitably reprieved, the Blues then happily ripped open the gift of Matthew Lowton's poor sliding challenge on Willian in the box to settle those nerves, with Jorginho converting the penalty in style.
The unflappable Italy midfielder wrong-footed Pope in side-footing a spot kick that Willian used all his wiles to earn.
As soon as Chelsea's Brazil winger spied Lowton naively sliding in he dipped his knee into the challenge and duly - and rightly - won the penalty.
Just when Burnley thought they could squeeze their hosts, James raced to the byline and whipped in a cross of the highest quality - with Abraham doing the rest.
The England hitman steadied himself and nodded into the net for a smart and deserved finish, albeit amid shambolic goalkeeping from Nick Pope who inexplicably lost sight of the ball.
Chelsea wasted little time extending their lead after the break, with Hudson-Odoi gaining full reward for racing onto Azpilicueta's cross despite Abraham powering towards a header at the near post.
Abraham missed the whipped cross entirely, but Hudson-Odoi had continued his run anyway - and profited fully by sliding home his first top-flight goal.
Everton 1-0 Brighton
A stunning Richarlison goal earned Everton their third win of the Carlo Ancelotti era, moving them to 28 points and leaving Brighton four above the drop zone.
The visitors had just one win in eight coming into the game but their approach in dropping off from the start and allowing Everton to carry the ball out from the back meant Toffees' nerves were barely tested in the opening 45 minutes.
As a result the hosts were afforded a comfortable start which saw them denied a penalty after just four minutes when Theo Walcott skipped past Lewis Dunk, only to receive a half-hearted brush from the defender.
While it was barely enough to bring down the winger, it did impact his footing to such an extent he could only shoot straight at Mat Ryan, but VAR reviewed the incident and decided there was no reason for referee David Coote to change his decision to play on.
To say that fired up the hosts would be something of an understatement, with their best efforts before the goal coming when Bernard cut back on to his right foot and drilled a shot into the chest of Dale Stephens and Richarlison forced Ryan into a low save after a counter-attack from Bernard, comfortably Everton's best player.
The Brazilian, unsurprisingly, grabbed the goal, but most of the credit must go to his compatriot who, having controlled Lucas Digne's driven pass, put his foot on the ball to send Alireza Jahanbakhsh the wrong way and give himself just enough time to place a shot back the other way inside the far post.
Brighton's Leandro Tossard beat Jordan Pickford but not the crossbar with a bending shot after the break, but Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin had chances to settle the game, with the latter shooting straight at Ryan twice and then bundling one in with his arm which was correctly ruled out by VAR.
Leicester 1-2 Southampton
Southampton avenged their 9-0 hammering by Leicester, with this superb 2-1 victory at the Kingpower Stadium, as Danny Ings shone again.
It was only back in October the Foxes recorded their huge victory at St Marys and the visiting fans would have feared another heavy defeat after falling behind on 14 minutes as Dennis Praet scored his first Foxes goal.
But Stuart Armstrong restored parity just five minutes later, with Ings continuing his excellent season by scoring the winner in the second half.
VAR played a major role in the game, ruling out three offside goals in total for Leicester, and a penalty decision for the visitors.
It was an enthralling encounter from start to finish, with Ings twice denied by Kasper Schmeichel in the sixth minute.
Quick thinking from Ayoze Perez, after he had been fouled by Ryan Bertrand, saw him swiftly spray a free-kick into space down the left for Jamie Vardy to run into.
A brilliant low cross from Vardy, celebrating his 33rd birthday, saw him deliver the ball exactly into the area where Praet demanded, allowing the Belgian to side-foot a first-time shot past Alex McCarthy from six yards.
If flashbacks of the October 25 hammering seeped into the minds of any of the Saints players, they were dispelled five minutes later when Armstrong equalised, somewhat fortuitously as his left-foot curler from just outside the area took a wicked deflection off the back of James Maddison to completely deceive Schmeichel.
Caglar Soyuncu felled Shane Long in the box, only for VAR to rule the penalty out for Long's shoulder being offside.
Minutes later VAR also ruled out a clever back-heeled strike from 58th-minute substitute Kelechi Iheanacho.
Nine minutes from time Ings scored the goal his efforts deserved, slipping the ball between the legs of the onrushing Schmeichel after being played in by Che Adams, who had only come on three minutes earlier.
More VAR drama followed in the 90th minute, with Jonny Evans' header meeting an inswinging Maddison free-kick also ruled out, to the frustration of all in the City camp.
Manchester United 4-0 Norwich
Marcus Rashford celebrated his 200th appearance for Manchester United with a brace as his side thrashes bottom club Norwich 4-0.
The England man opened the scoring just short of the half-an-mark, before converting a penalty early in the second period.
Anthony Martial added the third just two minutes later, with Manson Greenwood sealling an excellent day for the Old Trafford outfit.
The loss leaves the Canaries five points adrift at the foot of the table having played a game more than the sides immediately above them.
The hosts did take time to hit their stride, or indeed create any meaningful opportunities, but there was no doubting their superiority as Norwich struggled to break out of their own half.
All Norwich could do was defend and, although they looked comfortable early on, they invited too much pressure.
United finally broke through as Juan Mata cut inside from the right and lofted a delightful cross to the back post where Rashford volleyed past Tim Krul at close range.
Norwich finally began to threaten just before the break but United survived. First a fine last-ditch tackle inside the centre circle from Aaron Wan-Bissaka prevented an Idah breakaway and then David De Gea produced a fine low save to keep out a Todd Cantwell strike.
That was as good as it got for the visitors as United put the result beyond doubt with two more goals in the opening nine minutes of the second half.
Rashford tucked away his second of the afternoon from the penalty spot after Krul was adjudged to have brought down the flying Brandon Williams.
Martial then claimed United's third with a powerful header from another Mata cross.
Showing more of the composure that has emphasised his rise to prominence this season, Greenwood wrong-footed two Norwich defenders on the edge of the box before firing a low shot past Krul.
Wolves 1-1 Newcastle
Wolves and Newcastle played out a 1-1 draw, to help Steve Bruce's side halt a three match losing league run and dent Wolves' top five hopes.
In-form Miguel Almiron bagged his third goal of the season, all coming in the last six matches, to put the visitors ahead, after being played in by a combination of Willems and Gayle.
But Bruce was left frustrated just seven minutes later as his defenders fell asleep at a corner, allowing Leander Dendoncker to volley home.
It was a gritty display from the Magpies, six points clear of the bottom three, but their injury curse struck again after they lost Paul Dummett and Dwight Gayle and now have 12 players out.
The Magpies had started well enough and took the lead after just seven minutes.
A flowing move on the right saw Jetro Willems wriggle clear and Dwight Gayle teed up Almiron to fire high past Rui Patirico from 15 yards.
Newcastle lost Paul Dummett to injury, with Florian Lejeune replacing him, and the Magpies were still reorganising when Wolves levelled after 14 minutes.
Sean Longstaff shot over before Gayle limped off with a hamstring problem before half an hour was up.
The game limped along without much tempo until Martin Dubravka's stunning save 11 minutes before half-time.
The quiet Adama Traore finally found space and crossed for Jimenez, who stooped to head from two yards - only to be denied when Dubravka brilliantly stuck out a leg to turn the ball away.
And in the end the visitors relied on Dubravka after another splendid save with 12 minutes left.
Dendoncker's cross was missed by the Magpies defence and Dubravka clawed away Neto's far-post header.
Crystal Palace 1-1 Arsenal
Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring at Crystal Palace, but was later sent off as the hosts fought back to draw 1-1 at Selhurst Park.
New Gunners boss Mikel Arteta was on course for a third straight win when his skipper made the breakthrough in the first half, but a deflected effort by Jordan Ayew cancelled it out at the start of the second period.
When Aubameyang received a red card with 23 minutes left, the experienced Roy Hodgson would have fancied his chances of gaining three points against the youngest manager in the league and yet had to settle for a share of the spoils.
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