Chelsea 2-0 West Ham:

Chelsea retained their place at the top of the Premier League with a
comfortable 2-0 win over West Ham .
John Terry and Diego Costa grabbed the goals in an impressive display as the
fourth-placed visitors were brushed aside at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues entered the game desperate to ensure they
remained at the summit ahead of Manchester City's trip to
West Brom later in the day, although West Ham - a far cry
from the team Jose Mourinho famously claimed played "19th
Century football" in a 0-0 draw last term - were expected to
pose a significant threat.
That did not materialise in the opening period as Mourinho's
men dominated, entering the break 1-0 ahead as Terry scored
in back-to-back matches for the first time in a decade.
And even an added urgency could not spark a turnaround for
West Ham after the restart, Costa firing home his 13th goal in
15 Premier League outings since moving to Chelsea.
Sam Allardyce's team never really threatened to get back into
the game from there, although Morgan Amalfitano struck the
post as they pressed late on.
Chelsea got off to a fast start and should have taken the lead in
just the fifth minute. Oscar - brought in as the only change to
Mourinho's XI - spurned a golden opportunity, blazing a volley
over from six yards after Carl Jenkinson had failed to clear
Willian's cross.
Gary Cahill was next to threaten when rising high in the area to
head over from centre-back partner Terry's clever chipped
pass.
Set-pieces were proving especially threatening, epitomised by
Cahill forcing a superb save from Adrian after West Ham had
failed to clear Cesc Fabregas' corner.
The visitors offered little, with the exception of the odd flash of
pace from Enner Valencia, and they were again indebted to
Adrian when the goalkeeper punched away Oscar's powerful
strike.
The opening goal finally arrived in the 31st minute, as Terry
tapped home after Costa had flicked on Fabregas' corner.
Chelsea threatened three more times before the interval,
Nemanja Matic seeing a 20-yard effort tipped around the post
before Costa twice missed the target with good opportunities.
West Ham showed significantly more purpose at the start of
the second period, although the hosts almost added a second
when Adrian pushed away Eden Hazard's powerful curler.

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Arsenal 2-1 QPR

A superb display from Alexis Sanchez helped Arsenal to a 2-1 Premier League
triumph over QPR, despite Olivier Giroud's needless red card.
Alexis scored a first-half opener and, after Giroud had been sent-off following
a moment of madness, then set up Tomas Rosicky for a second as Arsenal
took the points at the Emirates Stadium.
The game went to script in the early exchanges, as the hosts completely
dominated possession amid some dogged defending from struggling QPR.
The opening goal came eight minutes before half-time when Alexis, who had
missed an early penalty, headed home.
Arsenal were hampered after the restart by Giroud's ill-disciplined sending off
after 53 minutes - the striker shown a straight red card for pushing his head
into the face of Nedum Onuoha.
However, Rosicky - making his first Premier League start of the campaign as
one of two changes for Arsenal - grabbed a second goal, only for Charlie
Austin to give the visitors late hope when hammering home from the penalty
spot.
A leveller was not forthcoming, though, as Rangers' unhappy run of not picking
up a single point on the road this term continued.
It appeared they would be chasing the game as early as the eighth minute
when former Arsenal man Armand Traore clumsily brought down Alexis in the
area.
However, the Chilean's penalty was as poor as the challenge that earned it,
his weak effort easily saved by Rob Green.

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Everton 0-1 Stoke City

Bojan Krkic 's first-half penalty was enough to seal a 1-0 triumph for Stoke
City over Everton in a full-blooded Premier League clash at Goodison Park.
The former Barcelona forward gave Mark Hughes' side the lead 38 minutes
into a stop-start first half with a calmly taken penalty, though Everton missed
a host of gilt-edged opportunities to level before the break.
Stoke, who were lucky not to have boyhood Evertonian Jonathan Walters sent
off in the first half, were content to play on the counter in the second period,
with Roberto Martinez's side ultimately proving toothless in attack.
Everton were unbeaten in five Premier League home games prior to this rain-
swept clash, but despite a fast-paced start they were sluggish in possession
throughout.
Stoke shot-stopper Asmir Begovic did well to save a number of efforts during
a subdued second half, with Leighton Baines the only Everton player able to
make any headway on the Bosnian's goal.
Everton started brightly in a frenetic opening period and they could have been
awarded a penalty inside the first minute when Kevin Mirallas was bundled
over by Bojan, but referee Lee Mason waved away the appeals.
Both teams struggled to find their rhythm from there, with Ryan Shawcross
and John Stones receiving lengthy spells of treatment for bangs to the head
and ankle respectively, although Stoke could have taken the lead had Mame
Biram Diouf's effort not been blocked by Phil Jagielka.
Everton burst into life at the other end just after the half-hour mark, when
Mirallas' corner landed at the feet of Gareth Barry at the back post, only for
the midfielder to somehow shank his effort wide when it seemed easier to
score.
The home fans were appealing for a red card 10 minutes prior to the interval
when Walters tugged down Baines as the England full-back bore down on
goal, but Mason was lenient and chose to only book the Republic of Ireland
striker.

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Sunderland 1-3 Hull City

Hull City climbed out of the relegation zone with a 3-1 win at Sunderland , their
first success in 11 Premier League games.
Steve Bruce's men travelled to his former club looking for their first win since
October, having scored just twice in their last nine outings.
The misery looked set to continue when Adam Johnson, who scored a last-
gasp winner as Sunderland beat Newcastle United last time out, capitalised on
a defensive error to give the hosts the lead after just 29 seconds.
However, Gaston Ramirez equalised in the 32nd minute with his maiden goal
for Hull - the Yorkshire club's first in the league since December 3 - and
James Chester headed home shortly after half-time.
Substitute Nikica Jelavic then added a third in stoppage time to wrap up a
valuable win and lift Hull up to 17th.
The triumph - Hull's fourth in a row against Sunderland - also eases the
pressure on Northumberland-born Bruce, who occupied the Stadium of
Light hotseat between 2009 and 2011.

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Burnley 0-1 Liverpool

Raheem Sterling netted the winner as Liverpool claimed a hard-fought 1-0
Premier League victory at Burnley on Boxing Day.
The England forward scored twice in the League Cup quarter-final victory over
Bournemouth last week, and he was on target again as the visitors ended a
three-match winless sequence in the top flight.
Burnley dominated the first half at Turf Moor and struck the post through
Danny Ings, but they were unable to make their superiority count as Liverpool
reached the interval unscathed.
Sterling's crucial strike came shortly after the hour mark as he coolly rounded
Tom Heaton and slotted home, despite the best efforts of two defenders
attempting to scramble back.
Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, who had been dropped "indefinitely" by
manager Brendan Rodgers ahead of the clash with Manchester United a
fortnight ago, was called into the fray early in the first half after his
understudy Brad Jones suffered an injury.
Mignolet continued to look nervy, but was able to keep the home side at bay as
Burnley's four-match unbeaten run at home came to an end.
Neither side made any changes from their previous outings, but Sam Vokes
returned to the Burnley bench for the first time since suffering a serious knee
injury in March.

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Swansea 1–0 Aston Villa

Swansea City beat Aston Villa 1-0 in the Premier League on Friday to claim
their first Boxing Day victory since 2007.
The Welsh club had not won their first post-Christmas fixture since a 4-1
triumph over Cheltenham Town in League One seven years ago, but welcomed
a Villa side who had emerged triumphant in just three Boxing Day fixtures in
the Premier League era.
Swansea were dominant in the first half at the Liberty Stadium and opened the
scoring with a well-struck Gylfi Sigurdsson free-kick after 13 minutes.
The home side continued to look the more likely to score after going ahead,
although the introduction of Andreas Weimann at the break gave Villa more of
an attacking edge.
Despite an improved second-half display from Villa, which included injury-
time chances for Christian Benteke and Gabriel Agbonlahor, Garry Monk's
men were able to hold firm for the three points and a first Boxing Day win in
the Premier League.
Top scorer Wilfried Bony returned to the Swansea starting XI as one of four
changes from the 1-0 win at Hull City last weekend, while Paul Lambert
brought in Alan Hutton and Tom Cleverley following suspension.
Matches between these sides have become a staple of the festive calendar
since Swansea's promotion to the Premier League in 2011, but the hosts did
not appear to be in a charitable mood early on as Jefferson Montero headed
over from Nathan Dyer's cross in the opening minutes.

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Leicester City 1-2 Tottenham: Eriksen & Kane completes the day for Spurs

A stellar performance from Hugo Lloris kept the Foxes largely at bay with the
pressure now really mounting on Nigel Pearson following yet another defeat.
Tottenham closed to within two points of the Premier League's top four with a
2-1 victory over strugglers Leicester City on Boxing Day.
Christian Eriksen's 70th-minute free-kick secured all three points for Mauricio
Pochettino's side, after they had soaked up pressure from their hosts.
Harry Kane gave Tottenham a superb start with his third league goal in as
many games in the second minute, but the visitors were unable to pull further
clear prior to the interval.
Rock-bottom Leicester, who had manager Nigel Pearson serving a one-
match touchline ban for abusing a fan, levelled three minutes after the break
through Leonardo Ulloa.
Chances continued to come for Pearson's men thereafter, but they were
punished for their wastefulness when Eriksen caught Ben Hamer off-guard
from a set-piece.

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Crystal Palace 1-3 Southampton:

Southampton returned to the top four of the Premier League with a
comfortable 3-1 win at struggling Crystal Palace.
Sadio Mane marked his return to the Southampton starting-XI with a superb
performance at Selhurst Park on Boxing Day, as he opened the scoring with
an excellent early goal before turning provider for Ryan Bertrand to double the
visitors' lead early in the second-half.
Defender Toby Alderweireld, on loan from Atletico Madrid, then opened his
Premier League account with a towering header shortly after to seal all three
points for Ronald Koeman's men, despite a late Scott Dann consolation for the
hosts.
Southampton showed some of the swagger and quality that they produced
early in the season, which saw them rise as high as second in the table before
a slump of a draw and four losses from five games.
However, they got back on track with a 3-0 win over Everton in their previous
match and can now look forward to Sunday's visit of table-topping Chelsea
with a degree of confidence.
Meanwhile, Palace have won just one of their last 12 Premier League fixtures
and have fallen into the relegation zone courtesy of Hull City's win at
Sunderland.
Out-of-form Palace looked set for another difficult afternoon right from the off
as Koeman's team began on the front foot.

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West Brom 1-3 Manchester City

Manchester City made the most of a sluggish showing from West Brom as the
Premier League champions eased to a 3-1 win at The Hawthorns.
Despite being without captain Vincent Kompany, Sergio Aguero and Edin
Dzeko through injury, Manuel Pellegrini's side took advantage of a dismal
opening period from the hosts to keep pace with leaders Chelsea.
The visitors were handed an early gift courtesy of Ben Foster, as the West
Brom goalkeeper dropped a looping Jesus Navas cross eight minutes in.
Midfielder Fernando took full advantage to cleverly register his first goal for
the club, with ex-City defender Joleon Lescott also aiding his former
employers' cause soon afterwards.
David Silva went down under Lescott's challenge inside the area and, when
Yaya Toure subsequently doubled City's advantage from the penalty spot, they
were well on course for a ninth consecutive win in all competitions.
Despite rarely getting out of first gear, the champions were three to the good
11 minutes before the interval when Silva calmly steered a strike past Foster.
An improved defensive effort from West Brom kept the score respectable after
the break, and they finally got on the scoresheet themselves when Brown
Ideye turned the ball home after a scramble late on, but it proved too little, too
late for Alan Irvine's men.

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Manchester United 3-1 Newcastle

Wayne Rooney put in a vintage performance as Manchester United beat
Newcastle 3-1 at Old Trafford to make it seven wins from eight Premier
League games.
Having been held to a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa last Saturday, Louis van Gaal's
side will have been eager to get back to winning ways in the Boxing Day clash.
And United had little difficulty in doing so, cruising to a comfortable victory
despite the continued absence of winger Angel Di Maria, whose return to the
first team was delayed after picking up an injury in training.
England captain Rooney was the architect of a routine triumph that solidified
United's position in third, with a double taking the 29-year-old's league tally
against Newcastle to 12.
He opened the scoring in the 23rd minute via a close-range finish at the end
of a wonderful United move, before adding a second in very similar fashion
nine minutes before half-time.
The points were made safe eight minutes into the second half as the skipper
set up Robin van Persie to head home a third, although Newcastle did net an
87th-minute consolation thanks to Papiss Cisse's penalty.
The game sprung into life in the 12th minute following a quiet start as both
teams spurned chances.
First Ayoze Perez failed to connect with a volley from Adam Armstrong's
cross after the 17-year-old - brought into the Newcastle side as one of two
changes by Alan Pardew - did well to keep the ball in play.
Radamel Falcao was unable to get any purchase on a delivery from the left
with the goal seemingly at his mercy, and the hosts were fortunate not to
concede a penalty when Juan Mata looked to have tripped Yoan Gouffran as
the Frenchman chased a long ball over the defence.
David de Gea pulled off a fine diving save to his right to keep out Daryl
Janmaat's fierce drive from long range, and Newcastle were made to pay for
not taking advantage of their early pressure by a clinical move from Van
Gaal's men.
Mata was heavily involved again as he lifted a clever ball over the top to
Falcao, who stretched to sweep a low cross into the path of Rooney to slot
past a helpless Jak Alnwick.
Newcastle continued to show the ambition to get forward, although United's
superior quality was evident throughout.
And it was defensive carelessness that led to Rooney's second, the former
Everton man latching on to Mata's clever pass and confidently finding the
bottom left corner after Gouffran had given the ball away.
Rooney turned creator eight minutes into the second half when his expertly
lofted pass was nodded into the bottom corner by Van Persie to effectively
end the game as a contest.
With a busy period of fixtures to negotiate, United understandably took their
foot off the gas in the closing exchanges. Still, Rooney went close to
completing his hat-trick by curling a free-kick narrowly over the crossbar.
The third goal did not arrive for Rooney as Newcastle instead restored some
pride through Cisse's confident spot-kick into the top-right corner following
Phil Jones' foul on Jack Colback.
Yet that strike came too late for a comeback and proved to be little more than
a footnote in a result that should give United plenty of hope going into a tricky
trip to Tottenham on Sunday.

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Agent:I believe Ronaldo will finish his career at Real Madrid

The Portuguese's agent, Jorge Mendes, claims the
forward will not leave the Santiago Bernabeu, while
he also lauded the prospects of Barcelona star
Neymar.
Cristiano Ronaldo's agent has claimed that the two-
time Ballon d'Or-winning forward will finish his
playing career at Real Madrid .
The Portuguese was consistently linked with a
return to Manchester United last year before putting
pen to paper on a new deal which runs until June
2018, when he would have spent nine years at the
Santiago Bernabeu.
Ronaldo, who will be 33 years old in the summer of
2018, claimed last month that he would like to stay
with the current European champions for longer
than his existing deal if they will have him.
And his agent, Jorge Mendes, is convinced that the
Portugal international, 29, will be a Real Madrid
player until the day he hangs up his boots.
"I got to know him when he was 15 years old, from
then until now we've spoken together on most
days," he told Globo Esporte. "When I'm in Madrid
we always meet up. Our relationship is more like a
friendship.
"I believe that Cristiano will finish his career at Real
Madrid. He's happy at the club and is still keen to
achieve more success in Madrid."
He also suggested the club should consider retiring
his No. 7 shirt upon Ronaldo's departure.
"Will the club retire his shirt number when he
finishes at Madrid? With every respect to the likes of
Raul and Di Stefano, no player can compare to
Cristiano Ronaldo," Mendes said. "He's the best
player in history, and I'd suggest the best
sportsperson of all-time - we'll never see the likes
of Cristiano again. It will be completely impossible."
When asked if overtaking Barcelona forward Lionel
Messi's tally of four Ballons d'Or, Mendes
responded: "If he stays fit, I'm sure he'll remain the
best for some time."
Neymar mused over Christmas that he might never
reach the level of Messi and Ronaldo, but Mendes
thinks he's destined to be among football's greatest
soon - even if he lamented it would not be while
playing in the same team as his star Portuguese
client.
"He's not quite Cristiano, but he is fantastically
talented," the agent continued. "I'm confident that
he'll be amongst the best in the world in a few
years. He has been unlucky that he has not ended
up playing alongside Cristiano."

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Funny football video

A must watch video

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Podolski set for inter move in January

Inter, now managed
by former Manchester City Roberto
Mancini, want to get the deal done
quickly to enable Podolski to
acclimatise himself with his new
surroundings and teammates and be
ready to play.
The 2010 Champions League winners
have seen a dramatic downfall in
fortunes in the last 3-4 seasons and
currently lie 11th in the table. Despite
not being able to participate in
Europe 's most elite club competition
in the Italian capital, Podolski may see
this as an opportunity to play regular
first-team football and get himself
back in the reckoning with the German
national squad.

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Southampton 3-0 Everton

Southampton ended their poor run of Premier League form by overcoming a
lacklustre Everton side 3-0 at St Mary's Stadium on Saturday.
A Romelu Lukaku own-goal combined with second-half goals from Graziano Pelle
and Maya Yoshida ensured that Ronald Koeman's men secured their first victory in
five league outings.
Much had been made of Southampton's injury woes before kick-off, with a run of
five consecutive defeats in all competitions culminating in the League Cup exit at
League One side Sheffield United in midweek, but the hosts were clinical against
Everton.
Everton were beaten 2-0 in the corresponding fixture last
season thanks to two own-goals and that trend continued
when Lukaku put through his own net in the 38th minute.
Pelle missed a gilt-edged chance to double the advantage
soon after, but the out-of-sorts forward made amends 20
minutes into the second half when he prodded in his
second goal in his last nine league appearances.
Roberto Martinez's men showed no real conviction as they
attempted to pull one back and Yoshida's 82nd-minute
header condemned Everton to their sixth Premier League
loss of the campaign.

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QPR 3-2 West Brom: Austin scores hat- trick in comeback win

Charlie Austin struck his first Premier League hat
trick as QPR came from behind to beat West
Brom 3-2 at Loftus Road on Saturday.
Austin - the top English scorer in the division -
headed home the winning goal in the 87th minut
to complete a stunning comeback for Harry
Redknapp's side - who move out of the bottom
three.
Joleon Lescott and Silvestre Varela each struck
their first goals for Albion as the visitors raced
into a dominant lead inside the opening 20
minutes.
Austin pulled one back before the break with an
emphatic penalty, and he levelled the scores with
a neat finish early in the second half.
And with time running out, Austin made no
mistake from Joey Barton's corner to take his
tally for the season to 11 - bettered only by Dieg
Costa and Sergio Aguero.
Victory moves QPR out of the relegation zone at
the expense of Burnley - who lost 2-1 at
Tottenham - and level on 17 points with 14th-
placed Albion.

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