Chelsea went three points clear at the top of the Premier League after coming from behind to beat Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium.
A Gary Cahill own goal had given the hosts a deserved lead just before half-time, but second half strikes from Diego Costa, Willian, and Eden Hazard secured an impressive win for Antonio Conte’s men.
City unravelled as the second period progressed, and saw striker Sergio Aguero and midfielder Fernandinho sent off late on as the two sets of players clashed over Aguero’s awful tackle on the outstanding David Luiz.
Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal are now up to second after Alexis Sanchez inspired the Gunners to a 5-1 win at West Ham on Saturday evening. The Chilean netted a hat-trick and, alongside goals from Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, helped to secure an excellent win for Wenger’s side at the London Stadium.
Liverpool missed the chance to leapfrog the Gunners after they threw away a 3-1 lead to lose 4-3 at Bournemouth on Sunday.
Goals from Sadio Mane, Divock Origi, and Emre Can looked to have secured the points for Jurgen Klopp’s side, but Ryan Fraser, Steve Cook, and Nathan Ake built upon Callum Wilson’s opener to record one of the biggest wins in the club’s history, and move them into the top half of the table.
Elsewhere, Tottenham got back to winning ways with a 5-0 thrashing of bottom-of-the-table Swansea, while Manchester United stayed sixth despite only drawing 1-1 at Everton.
Tony Pulis’ West Brom had overtaken the Red Devils courtesy of a 3-1 victory over Watford, while Stoke moved into the top half after dispatching Burnley 2-0 at the bet365 Stadium.
Alan Pardew picked up a much-needed 3-0 win over Southampton on Saturday, while champions Leicester lost again on the road, this time at David Moyes’ Sunderland.
Unsurprisingly, many football fans took to Twitter over the course of the weekend to express their views on the games, and it was Chelsea’s win at City that got many talking, with the performance of Diego Costa highly-regarded by many…
Chelsea were superb on the counter attack and punished Man City for not taking their chances. Diego Costa was immense what a player
— Ashley Elliott (@Ashley5Elliott) December 4, 2016
Costa's performance in Manchester proves he is talismanic for Chelsea and has everything needed to help fire them towards the title #CFC
— Sixty Eight Whisky (@ShemKipkora) December 3, 2016
https://twitter.com/bigtalk1984/status/805177478352343040
Rather than Costa, surely Q's must now be over Aguero's discipline? Will now miss another 4 games, can't be the best when not playing? #CFC
— Breathe Chelsea ⭐️⭐️ (@BreatheChels) December 4, 2016
https://twitter.com/Stepoversam/status/805142838761689088
https://twitter.com/_Wardle/status/805404593895120900
Bad day for #mcfc, very bad discipline by players and manager. #chelsea should have had player sent off. Poor refereeing as well
— Gary Slatter (@garyslatter45) December 4, 2016
While several fans highlighted Sanchez’s sensational display at West Ham, but some Hammers fans are seriously concerned about their side’s performance, and indeed what the future holds for manager Slaven Bilic…
https://twitter.com/stevechapman91/status/805403087523483649
Please pay @Alexis_Sanchez whatever he wants @Arsenal the guy is an absolute baller ❤️ #AFC
— Ben (@BenjiThomson) December 4, 2016
Sanchez proving he can lead us, we now need to address the gap he has left, a winger who can take players on at pace. #afc #arsenal
— Adam may (@AdamMay80) December 4, 2016
Seriously.. We are literally the laughing stock of not just the prem but the whole of football. Feel sorry for Bilić #Whufc #Irons
— Liam Solomon (@_LiamSolomon_) December 4, 2016
Board have to consider a change of manager the summer transfer activity was a shambles and #Bilic seems unable to coach the defence #WHUFC
— Peter Green (@Greeno1967) December 4, 2016
The result of the weekend goes to Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth, and many Cherries fans were understandably thrilled at the win, while some Liverpool supporters were unimpressed as their side threw away a two-goal lead at the Vitality Stadium…
Love it, absolutely love it! #afcb
— Lee Rowlands (@leerowlands81) December 4, 2016
https://twitter.com/JaeDavies23/status/805535548752412672
300th game in charge, couldn't have written a better script to summarise Eddie + JT's time in management.. I love my club. #afcb 🍒⚽️
— Harry Brown (@HarryAFCB) December 4, 2016
What an absolute shambles, that centre defence and keeper is laughable #LFC
— Richard Watson (@RichardWatson44) December 4, 2016
It's no coincidence that we've looked slot more solid with Matip. But this is laughable. Cmon Reds sort it out. #LFC
— Tom Blount (@t_blount) December 4, 2016