The big midday section of Boxing Day games is in the books, and it certainly wasn’t light on entertainment. There were goals and red cards flying around everywhere, and it’s a shame that most people could only watch one or two of these games at once.
Boxing Day scores: Title contenders win, fringe Champions League contenders do not
It was a good day for Chelsea and Arsenal, but not so much for Spurs and Everton.
Tony Pulis strikes again. He's got Palace out of the drop zone, and he has Dwight Gayle to thank. The young attacker stunned Villa with a stoppage time winner.
This loss has Cardiff just a point off the drop, and it’s looking unlikely that the pressure on Malky Mackay is going to be relieved anytime soon. This one was all but over quickly, with Jay Rodriguez scoring a brace inside of 20 minutes. Rickie Lambert added a third before the half-hour mark and the Saints coasted from there.
Chelsea 1-0 Swansea / Full match report
Everton 0-1 Sunderland
Tim Howard was sent off in the 23rd minute, with Ki Sung-Yeung converting the resulting penalty. Sunderland hung on from there, with Vito Mannone making some crucial late stops to preserve their win, including a brilliant save on a free kick by Ross Barkley.
Newcastle 5-1 Stoke City
The Potters went down to nine men in this game, and it was actually quite a good one before they did. Oussama Assaidi scored early to put Stoke up, but red cards for Glenn Whelan and Marc Wilson late in the second half changed the game considerably. Loic Remy missed the penalty that resulted from Wilson's red, but scored later in the first half to tie things up going into halftime. The second half was, understandably, a complete rout.
Norwich City 1-2 Fulham
Gary Hooper put Norwich ahead after just 13 minutes, but Fulham pulled off a magnificent comeback. Patjim Kasami equalized 20 minutes after that, but the winner didn’t come until the dying minutes, when Scott Parker hit an absolute stunner from outside the box to win it for the visitors.
West Ham 1-3 Arsenal / Full match report
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