Chelsea tops Liverpool, Arsenal rises to top of PL

Chelsea’s Samuel Eto’o celebrates after scoring a goal against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in London, Sunday. Chelsea won, 2-1. [REUTERS/NEWS1]

Chelsea heaped more Christmas misery on Liverpool with a 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge and Olivier Giroud’s goal helped Arsenal win, 1-0, at Newcastle United to return to the top of the Premier League on Sunday.

Everton moved back into the top four with a 2-1 win over Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur beat Stoke City, 3-0, to get their first victory since appointing Tim Sherwood manager as the English game served up more drama in its congested festive schedule.

Chelsea fell behind after a quick goal from Martin Skrtel but rallied with first-half strikes from Eden Hazard and Samuel Eto’o to inflict a second defeat in four days on Liverpool after their loss at Manchester City.

Arsenal’s win came courtesy of France striker Giroud, who had not scored in any competition since Nov. 23, but got the faintest of touches to glance a Theo Walcott free kick into the net midway through the second half.

They now top the table with 42 points in 19 games, one clear of Manchester City with Chelsea a point further adrift in third.

Liverpool, on top on Christmas Day, dropped to fifth, a point behind Everton, which moved to fourth with 37 points thanks to a second-half winner from Romelu Lukaku.

A Roberto Soldado penalty and goals from Mousa Dembele and Aaron Lennon lifted Tottenham to seventh with 34 points. They took the lead 11 minutes before the break when Eto’o darted in front of his marker Skrtel to poke an Oscar cross past Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet into the net.

Chances were limited in the second half, with Liverpool’s best effort coming from Mamadou Sakho, who hit the woodwork with a looping header seconds before Eto’o forced an excellent save from Mignolet with a powerful near-post shot.

Reuters