Manchester United continued their dominance of the league with a fairly comfortable 2-1 win over Stoke City. Goals from Hernandez and Nani were enough to see of Stoke and find themselves in a great position going into the 2nd half of the season. United are now 2 points clear and 2 games ahead of nearest rivals City.
In the most anticipated game in midweek's fixtures, Manchester City travelled to Arsenal. With both clubs having major aspirations of winning the league, the game was expected to bring out the best in each other, however City had other ideas. City played for a draw and parked the bus. Arsenal tried to break down a stubborn City defence however had limited chances and in the end had to settle for a disappointing draw. Manchester City were criticised for their tactics in the media, however this is not a bad result for City considering the context of the league.
Chelsea and Spurs both had terrible results for clubs trying to keep up with the lead leaders. Chelsea are now 5th and outside the champions league places after a dreadful 1-0 loss away at an inspired Wolves. Spurs meanwhile also will be disappointed to drop points as they were defeated 2-1 away at Everton. A congested Christmas fixture list was blamed for the results.
In other midweek fixtures Aston Villa hit new lows as they slumped to the relegation zone for the first time since 2002. Villa lost at home 1-0 to a brilliant Sunderland side who are now 6th and just 2 points off Chelsea. Birmingham won 2-1 away at Blackpool in a relegation dogfight match, Fulham won easily against a poor West Brom outfit. Bolton and Wigan shared the spoils in a 1-1 local derby and Newcastle thumped West Ham 5-0 even without top striker Carroll.
Man Utd
44
Man City
42
Arsenal
40
Tottenham
36
Chelsea
35
Sunderland
33
Bolton
30
Newcastle
28
Blackburn
28
Stoke City
27
Everton
25
Liverpool
25
Blackpool
25
Fulham
22
Birmingham
22
WBA
22
Wolves
21
Aston Villa
21
Wigan Athletic
21
West Ham Utd
20
