Well that’s the last Saturday of Premier League football until after Christmas, and what a festive feast it was – goals, red cards, comebacks, and everything else we’ve come to expect from England’s top division.
There was a lot going on, so here’s your chance to catch up with all the action.
Results
Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea
Middlesbrough 3-0 Swansea City
Stoke City 2-2 Leicester City
Sunderland 1-0 Watford
West Ham 1-0 Hull City
West Brom 0-2 Manchester United
Outrageous comeback of the day
If any team was capable of coming back from 2-0 down with 10 men, it was 5000-1 Premier League champions Leicester City.
Having been reduced to 10 after Jamie Vardy’s red card for a two-footed challenge, the Foxes quickly found themselves 2-0 down as well after goals from Stoke City’s Bojan Krkic and player of the season Joe Allen.
But Leicester can always be counted on to spring a surprise, and that they very much did, as Leonardo Ulloa and Daniel Amartey levelled the scores to earn the unlikeliest of points.
The result keeps Leicester three points above the relegation zone – they were top at Christmas last year.
Unlucky team of the day
That accolade has to go to Hull City, who struck the post three times, conceded a contentious penalty, and lost 1-0 at West Ham.
All that means the Tigers will spend Christmas at the bottom of the Premier League table after a difficult opening half of the season.
And the situation was not lost on West Ham, who named their post as man of the match. A nice touch.
Statistic of the day
11 – Chelsea have now equalled their all-time top-flight club record run of 11 consecutive wins; also set in September 2009. Momentum.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 17, 2016
Chelsea are an unstoppable winning machine, of that there can be no doubt. Their 11th win in a row came against a resolute Crystal Palace side who, despite a decent performance, could not dent the Blues’ title charge.
Diego Costa’s header proved enough as Antonio Conte’s side extended their cushion to nine points, albeit temporarily, with Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool all still to play this weekend.
The Premier League record is 14 wins in a row, by Arsenal in 2002 – to equal that, Chelsea will have to win their next two fixtures before travelling to Tottenham.
Scared footballer of the day
Brilliant photo of Lingard celebrating with Zlatan. Pure fear! pic.twitter.com/YJF8RApvqm
— BigSport (@BigSportGB) December 17, 2016
A fine Manchester United performance saw them beat West Brom 2-0 at the Hawthorns, taking Jose Mourinho’s side three points from the top four.
And after their opening goal, expertly crafted by Jesse Lingard and finished off by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Lingard’s eyes widened in fear as his massive colleague came barrelling towards him to celebrate.
Ibrahimovic stopped short of his team-mate, however, and Lingard breathed a huge sigh of relief.
I’ll be home for Christmas…
A number of footballers earned themselves Boxing Day off, chief among them Diego Costa and N’Golo Kante, who each received their fifth booking of the season against Palace, and Jamie Vardy, whose straight red will presumably see him out for three games.
One man who some have joked can’t seem to catch a Christmas break, however, is Manchester United’s Marcos Rojo, who referees just will not punish for consistently dodgy challenges.
The man just wants Christmas off with his family. Absolutely heartless refereeing. pic.twitter.com/m6C8gFpmxn
— Andy Ha (@_AndyHa) December 15, 2016
The officials aren’t having any of it.
Fog of the day
And to finish, a pretty Premier League image from Selhurst Park in the early kick-off – can you believe this game began at 12.30pm?
The fog created something of a mysterious atmosphere at Palace’s ground, but didn’t prevent a truly gripping game from taking place.
Thibaut Courtois is out and going through his routine. Check out the fog still... https://t.co/f5YdGWGteb
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 17, 2016
This game was not to be mist. Apologies.
