Arsenal's second win during Christmas break

Arsenal approached the Christmas break in close proximity to the relegation zone, but in just four days they have significantly improved their position.

On Saturday they turned out to be stronger than Chelsea in the capital derby, and on Tuesday they beat the outsider Brighton with a minimum score.

At the same time, in the first half of the match on December 29, the guests did not act in the best way.

They practically did not threaten the goal of Robert Sanchez.

The hosts had the advantage and created several dangerous moments, but did not succeed in their implementation.

So, Alireza Jahanbaksh from the penalty area struck hard into the near corner, but Bernd Leno managed to fold and saved Arsenal.

In the second half of the meeting, the Gunners sharply added and transferred the game to someone else's half of the field.

Now they lacked good luck in the attack.

First, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struck Sanchez from the goalkeeper's line, and then Gabriel Martinelli missed a little in the far top corner. 

He helped the Londoners come out to replace Alexander Lacazetta, who opened the scoring earlier in the match against Chelsea.

Just 29 seconds after appearing on the field, the Frenchman scored a productive blow, following the transfer of Bukayo Sako from the right flank.

For the striker, this goal was the fifth anniversary of the Premier League this season.

Five unanswered goals from Leeds

Leeds also won their second win during the Christmas break.

On Tuesday, the Premier League newcomer managed to defeat the underdog West Bromwich 5-0, who had a sensational draw with Liverpool over the weekend.

In many ways, the course of the match was determined by the curious own goal of Romain Sawyers in the ninth minute.

The defender, without looking, gave the pass back to his goalkeeper Sam Johnston, but he was not ready for this, and the ball flew into the net. 

And at the end of the first half, Leeds finished off a demoralized opponent, scoring three goals in ten minutes.

At first, Egziyan Alioski scored a strong blow to the far corner from the penalty line.

Then Jack Harrison played a wall with a partner, tricked the opponent and delivered an accurate blow.

Finally, Rodrigo distinguished himself thanks to a ricochet. 

Rafael put an end to it already in the second half of the meeting.

The Brazilian moved from the right flank to the center and from the circle of the penalty area sent the ball along a beautiful trajectory to the far nine.

This is how Leeds won their biggest win since returning to the Premier League and moved up to 11th place.

Hard win for Manchester United

The beginning of the Christmas holidays turned out to be rich in unexpected results.

In recent days, not only Liverpool, but also Chelsea and Tottenham managed to lose points in matches with inferior opponents. 

They were almost accompanied by Manchester United.

Moreover, Wolverhampton, which in the previous round drew with Tottenham, was close to taking points away from the Mancunians.

A fair outcome of the reporting meeting would also be a draw.

The first half turned out to be absolutely equal and not too rich in dangerous moments.

"Manchester United" was remembered only by the blow of Bruno Fernandes from the goalkeeper's line to Ruya Patricio.

The opponent scored a couple of promising free throws, but David De Gea acted reliably at the last line. 

In the second half of the meeting, the situation did not change much.

The appearance of Anthony Martial on the field instead of the inconspicuous Mason Greenwood did not help either.

The game was going towards a natural and peaceful outcome.

However, in the 93rd minute, Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer's wards unexpectedly managed to snatch victory.

Fernandes made a long pass into someone else's penalty area, and Marcus Rashfod delivered an accurate shot. 

This winning goal was the third for the striker, scored after 90 minutes in the Premier League.

This is a record for MU.

In turn, the Portuguese scored 17th point for performance (10 goals + 7 assists) and by this indicator came second in the current season of the Premier League, behind only Harry Kane (19).

New outbreak of coronavirus in the nuclear submarine

Meanwhile, on Monday, due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Manchester City, the match between the Citizens and Everton was postponed.

And on Tuesday it became known about "a number of positive tests" at Sheffield United.

Despite this, the team arrived for the away game with Burnley and suffered their 14th Premier League defeat this season.

According to The Athletic, the meeting between Tottenham and Fulham on 30 December is also in question due to the outbreak of the disease in Fulham.

And the leadership of the Premier League reported that during the last testing of players and employees of clubs, which took place from 21 to 27 December, 18 positive tests were identified.

The situation was even worse in the lower leagues, where a number of matches were canceled or postponed on Tuesday. 

According to The Telegraph, the Premier League may go on a two-week hiatus in January due to the worsening epidemiological situation in England.

Allegedly, the clubs are already discussing such a possibility during informal negotiations. 

Worst start Barcelona in 17 years

The main sensation of the game day was recorded in Spain, where Barcelona at home in the absence of Lionel Messi could not beat Eibar, whose losing streak had already lasted four matches by the time of the meeting in Catalonia.

The hosts could have opened an account already in the eighth minute, but Martin Braithwaite did not convert the penalty.

The Dane shot from the “point” to the left corner and missed the target.

In the future, Ronald Koeman's charges created many dangerous moments, but they lacked luck.

And the goal of the same Braithwaite was canceled after watching the replay due to a slight offside position.

In the second half, when Usman Dembele entered the field, Barcelona finally pressed the opponent to the goal.

The Frenchman himself also missed a few good chances, in particular, did not realize a one-on-one exit. 

A couple of minutes later, "Eibar" unexpectedly punished the favorite for extravagance.

Ronald Araujo out of the blue allowed Kika to take the ball away.

The Spanish striker got close to the goalkeeper and delivered an accurate shot.

Only after that the owners managed to win back.

Dembele, after a cross from the left flank, nevertheless struck someone else's goal.

There were still more than 20 minutes left until the end of the match, but Barca failed to snatch the victory, although it created several dangerous moments. 

The team missed Messi.

According to statistics, after the Argentinean's debut, the Catalans won 73.7% of La Liga matches with him in the squad, while without him - only 55.9%.

In the current season, Examples in the asset blue-garnet only 25 points after 15 rounds.

For them, this is the worst result in 17 years.

Villarreal's first defeat in Example in three months

And Sevilla in the most important meeting for a place in the top three at home turned out to be stronger than Villarreal - 2: 0.

Thus, the guests interrupted the 12-match unbeaten run in Example.

The last time they lost in the tournament more than three months ago - Barcelona (0: 4). 

The fate of the reporting confrontation was largely decided by a penalty kick assigned to the goal of Villarreal already in the sixth minute.

After the hit by Marcos Akunya, the ball hit the defender's hand, and the referee, watching the replay, pointed to the "point".

The penalty kick was confidently converted by Lucas Ocampos. 

He also co-authored the second goal of Sevilla after the break.

The Argentinean took the ball away from an opponent in the center of the field and brought Youssef En-Nesiri face to face with Sergio Asenho with an excellent cutting pass.

The Moroccan used his chance and scored the fifth goal in the current season. Examples. 

Only after that, “Villarreal” created several dangerous moments, but Bono was reliable at the last line.

He helped Sevilla win their third victory in the last four league matches and equalize on points scored with Villarreal and Real Sociedad (26 each).

Together they tied for third place.

Seven goals in the confrontation between Levante and Betis

The most productive match of the playing day of Examples took place in Valencia, where Levante beat Betis - 4: 3.

By the 25th minute, the teams scored four goals.

In the opening of the meeting, the rivals once upset each other, and then Levante striker Jose Luis Morales scored a double in three minutes.

Now the Spaniard has six goals in the current draw of the national championship, and from the leading scorers Karim Benzema, Iago Aspas and Gerard Moreno, he lags behind only two accurate hits. 

And at the beginning of the second half, Roher Marty brought the score to a large one.

It seemed that Paco Lopez's team might not worry about the outcome of the confrontation.

However, in the 68th minute, Levante was let down by defender Robert Pierre.

He received a straight red card out of the blue and left the team in the minority. 

After that, "Betis" almost escaped defeat.

In the 78th minute, Sergio Canales converted a penalty, and in the 86th he scored a double and reduced the backlog of the guests to a minimum.

However, they did not have enough time to create a comeback. 

Thus, Levante won a second victory in the last three matches of Examples and moved away from the relegation zone.

And the Russian midfielder of the Valencians Edgar Sevikyan again spent the entire match in reserve.

In the current season Examples, he has only appeared on the field once.