01/01/2017 Match of the Day 2

We begin Match of the Day 2 in 2017 with Arsenal against Crystal Palace

and Watford versus Spurs, plus December's Goal

of the Month and the rest of the weekend's action.

Alongside Mark Lawrenson is the former England

It served that if you want to ensure good luck for the year ahead, you

must open your back door on New Year's Eve to banish the old and

invite a dark haired man through your front door to usher in the new.

Enter Sam Allardyce, back in the technical area with Crystal Palace.

Palace had English football's worst record in 2016 but after some

defensive disasters, their players say they are already more resilient.

At the Emirates, Auld Lang Syne seemed apt. This is Arsene Wenger's

21st New Year's Day as Arsenal manager but his 12th since he could

call himself a Premier League champion. How many years will pass

before the title returns to Arsenal? Your commentator is Jonathan Pearce.

Alexis Sanchez plays the 500th game of his career, looking for his 150th

goal. Arsenal will hope he did not bring an empty suitcase with them.

It is a New Year tradition to carry one to bring on new travel

adventures in Chile. He has reportedly been offered a ?500,000 a

week contract to leave. Mesut Ozil is missing. Monreal replaces Gibbs

and Elneny refreshes up midfielder with Coquelin on the bench.

Oxlade-Chamberlain is there, too. Delaney is suspended. Flamini makes

his first return to Arsenal. MacArthur is missing. Sam Allardyce

has never won elite game here as a manager. -- won a league game.

Arsenal now they can afford to drop points today. The teams below them

are pressurising. Here is Granit Xhaka. Can you shoot from the?

Monreal. Sanchez missed it but it is still alive. Back to Elneny and

headed up and over. Tompkins got his head to it. A lovely first-time

cross. Olivier Giroud should have scored. Arsenal have not lost at

home on New Year's Day since 1974 when eight Terry Gibbon goal won it

for Newcastle United. Lucas Perez is available on the right-hand side.

Lucas Perez takes you back. Sanchez runs into the penalty area. The

momentum slowed down. Giroud is in there. A lovely ball to Bellerin.

The clearance was hasty. Granit Xhaka. Sanchez with the effort.

Swerving wide. Looking for his 15th goal this season. A good start by

Arsenal. A fierce rivalry with Arsene Wenger. He once wrote that he

enjoyed bee sting Arsene Wenger more than anyone else when he was in

charge of Bolton. -- he enjoyed beating Arsene Wenger. This is where

Arsenal have been hitting the road blocks. A lovely ball. Lucas Perez.

It will be worth a shot. Sound goalkeeping. A number of goals this

season for the young man who came through the youth team ranks, Iwobi,

the nephew of JoJo Kocher, whose Sam Allardyce knew so well. Plates to

the feet of Sanchez. Olivier Giroud makes the running to the medal.

That's wonderful, that's unbelievable! Arsenal have a lead.

Olivier Giroud, what a goal. A brilliant counter by Arsenal. Six

goals in his last four starts. A brilliant touch. That started it all

off. A lovely pass to Sanchez. Watch the finish as it comes in. The

scorpion. He has watched Mkhitaryan. How many more will try it.

Sensational. Brilliant improvisation. It goes behind him

and he tries the impossible and it comes off. Wonderful stuff. 1-0.

Wilfried Zaha claiming he has been fouled. Bellerin, in between the

grass. Will it come to Sanchez? Ashley done. The goalkeeper denied

it. -- deftly done. Arsenal should have been two up at the break.

Sanchez danced his way into the shooting position but he could not

beat Hennessy. Palace were defensively all at sea. Arsenal

could put the game to bed before half-time but as it is the lead by

won goal but what a goal. It is all about Olivier Giroud. 1-0 at the

break. A long and miserable 12 months for Crystal Palace. Defending

against Monreal's cross. Punch and leaves it up to Benteke. --

Puncheon. The counterattack is on. Granit Xhaka is with Townsend. He

has not stopped the cross coming in. Benteke should have equalised. That

should have been equaliser. Always the likely winner. Why was he

isolated with the Arsenal full-back? He could not hit the target with the

header. That could prove costly. Iwobi, too strong for Tompkins.

Sanchez goes for goal. He hit it straight at Kelly. Granit Xhaka is

to it. Sanchez finds Monreal and incomes across. Iwobi. And it is in.

Arsenal have a second. 55 minutes on the clock and the game should be

secure. In the build-up to that girl, he may have been standing in

an offside position. Not active, not active. Monreal is onside and when

the cross comes in, it would not have counted anyway. He heads it

into the back of the net. Arsenal reacting quickest to the second

ball. And Iwobi crowns a fine performance with a goal that should

deliver them a vital win. He tries to keep a doubt, and it may go down

as an own goal in the future but for now, Iwobi will claim it.

It's a corner. A little sloppy, Arsenal. Puncheon will take it. Can

they get back into the game? Benteke. Blogged under pressure from

Wilfried Zaha. A good effort by Benteke, climbing so high. And

again, good save. He has been inactive so long. He gets up, and

Puncheon covers is grand. If they can get one, it could get very

jittery. Granit Xhaka got in there quickly. A lovely ball, that. It has

gone away to Sanchez. Olivier Giroud in the middle. Looking for him. An

instinctive save by Hennessy but he left it late. A scramble for the

second ball. Lovely weights on the cross. All the way through. He had

to work hard. They have to keep winning. Granit Xhaka was pushed.

Koscielny comes away with the ball. Ramsey with opportunities.

Oxlade-Chamberlain. Aaron Ramsey. That sort of encapsulated the game

for Arsenal. Countering our speed. But no end product. -- countering at

speed. Granit Xhaka with a great range of passes. Sanchez moving in.

He may well go for goal. Oxlade-Chamberlain. That was a good

start from Hennessy to prevent it being 3-0. A third goal would not

have flattered Arsenal. They have been the better side by far. A

stupendous goal by Olivier Giroud. The victory is Arsenal's and all

they can do is keep winning now I'm hoping the teams above them slip up.

Happy New Year. What a way to start. Is that the best goal you have ever

scored? I think so. It is not difficult to say that it was the

best one. I was a bit lucky. But it was the only thing I could do. The

ball was behind me and tried to hit it with the backheeled. I must say,

I have been spoiled over the years with great strikers. And you

remember all of them for their top-quality, but there are special

goals. This will be Giroud's goal for ever. When you come here you

have to take your chances at the right time in the right time was

Benteke's header after half-time. Everybody on the front line today

thought they could have done a little better with the possession

they had. But saying that, we did have a chance or two here and there.

If you take it makes them nervous. But we did not take them. You need

to keep this up before you hit Chelsea in February. That is all you

can do. At the moment everybody is expected to win things. You have to

focus on the process of playing well, and not to be obsessed too

much. Do you have confidence that things can turn around quickly?

Nothing turns around quickly. Not at this time of year. Mathematically,

it will take a while. If we're going to be really good, it will probably

be March before we pull away. If we struggle, we will go to the end. I

don't want Palace fans to get disappointed, that is just a

mathematical fact. Only one place to start and that is with Olivier

Giroud's goal, which Arsene Wenger says is in his top five at Arsenal.

And you admire it for where the movie started as much as for the

finish. It started with good possession for Palace. A sloppy pass

to give away, but Olivier Giroud's touch here, just to get it moving,

from here on in the fluidity of movement that Arsenal show, and the

forward running, Olivier Giroud really bus to get into the box, and

that is just improvisation at its best. He talks about being lucky,

and there was a little bit of luck involved, but what improvisation. He

watched it go on to his boot. If he had not seen it, it would have been

even more lucky. I have not seen him run so quick. There are so many

different elements. Also where the ball goes, of the bar on the net, it

adds a romanticism to it. Now it doesn't! Would you put it in the top

five Arsenal goals under Arsene Wenger? I don't see why not. His

desire to get there, once he does that lovely flick into midfield, to

spin and really show that desire to get into the box, it makes the goal

even more special. I think Bergkamp might be one and two in that list.

We heard from some dice dashes Allardyce, and you don't believe it

about going off the bar, but it makes it extra special, trust me!

Not that you are going on about it (!). He says it is going to take a

while to turn Palace around and they have to be patient. It might be

March April. You saw signs of what need to work on.

He has a definite style, how he wants to go about things and what he

thinks will keep them up this season. You can feed Benteke

signalling to lower the delivery. These are very hopeful balls that

are getting dropped into him, that he can't do a lot with. Here's a

great example of an area of key position where you can pass the ball

and keep it moving. Nobody drops into that space, or chose to receive

the ball. I think it's punchy and even has to lay it back and another

hopeful ball at the up the field from Hennessey, which nobody can do

anything with. If you're going to give possession away to Arsenal you

will find it tough. Here's one where a good ball does go up on the angle,

he gets a nice contact, cushions it into a decent area, but there's no

support. No one is getting up around the second ball. This one again,

there's options into space, balls over the top, but instead, Puncheon

decides to turn out. It's very deep. Is it a confidence thing?

Bettinelli. A new manager has come in and they know those changes to be

made but they've played away for so long they have and have possession

based game and some is going to change that and either make them a

bit one-dimensional just to get the results come or change it in another

way. There's a bit of that, with the confidence thing as well. It's a bit

get it out of our own half and then we can't mess it up. That last

example, which was 20 seconds ago, eventually leads to them conceding

the second goal as we saw. For sure. If you are not going to want

possession at Arsenal, possession will be scarce at Arsenal because

they are so good at keeping the ball. The moment you get a chance to

control the possession you have to grab it. It means Arsenal aren't

attacking you, so Palace gave the ball back so cheaply all afternoon

it made it easy for Arsenal. The job is hard enough when you go to those

places but if you start giving them ball it's even harder. You want to

applaud them for playing two wingers in Townsend and Zaha but as he said

in the interview, he had to tell Zaha in particular to try to keep

things simple, as if he was trying too hard. He was trying to do things

straightaway, mostly in his own half and when you are in here, simple,

what can I do? He gives it away. To be honest with you, everybody behind

him is thinking for goodness sake, do something about it. Townsend was

a bit the other side the same, under Sam you will have to work just as

hard going backwards as you do forward because that's what he's

demanding from you. Like Mark was saying, you've got to keep it, you

might not have many chances. Isn't the nature of a winger's role they

will try things? The nature of a winger's role is they will drive you

mad if you are manager. When you are about to drop them, they are

absolutely brilliant. They are all scatty. That's what it's about. This

is summing up Wilfried Zaha's day. It -- he could be a really good

player but its crossroads with Sam. This early on? Yes, insofar as he's

probably thinking I can get into play. Quite a few people, big-name

managers, have already tried and it's not happened. He's got

fantastic ability but the penny hasn't dropped yet. He brought a

couple of players off, Allardyce, Benteke being one of them, because

they have Swansea on Tuesday. He said I don't know who does the

fixtures but he really is sacking. Swansea have an extra 24 hours

honours. At this stage of the season, does that 24 hours make a

big difference when the games come thick and fast over the festive

period? Yes. It's an unfair advantage that a team at this time

of the season with the amount of matches you have, the recovery time

is so important. If you get an extra day's recovery in the legs, the

energy is a bit more and it can have a difference in a match. We are

partly responsible. TV companies are 100% responsible, we are not immune

to it, we don't do it for the Premier League. But... It's unfair,

over a short space of time. Should they look for uniformity in the

fixtures? Whatever that means, yes. An interesting start to the New

Year. Time now for goal of

December's Goal of the Month. We'll show you a very special extra

one in the result later, but for now you can choose

from these eight. COMMENTATOR:

Muniesa, he's played for Barcelona in his time. Arnautovic. He's in the

banlieue -- Burnley penalty area. Here he is, what a goal! His

first-ever Premier League goal. Boy, how the enjoyed that goal, and he

has every right to. He started the move, carried on his run, and what a

finish. They look for a Sanchez hat-trick.

Alexis Sanchez. The shimmy, the dinked, its magnificent, the

hat-trick for Alexis Sanchez. He's been outstanding. Arsenal have it

and the finish, sublime. Wilshere collects the Bournemouth

and now Fraser with the cross. I don't believe it! Bournemouth are

level. That's extraordinary. Steve Cook, what a finish from the central

defender. He hasn't scored many as good as that.

It's a good ball, great control by Hendrick. What a finish! That is

superb from Jeff Hendrick. This is one for the family album. What about

the control here? You go a very long way before you see a better goal

than this. A piece of magic. Zaha. Zaha goes on. Oh, what a

strike! That is wonderful from Wilfried Zaha. He danced through but

Zaha lashes at it and it's too ferocious for David Marshall. It's

into the net and an absolute rocket. Clasie, Ward-Prowse. Able to get the

shot away, what a shot that is. He thinks it out from under his feet,

the ball curling away from Victor Valdes. His first goal for the

Saints was a stunner. His second goal, equally impressive.

Last time they gave the ball away cheaply at cost them. That's a

brilliant, beautiful finish from Mark is Arian. You'll do well to see

a better goal than that this Boxing Day, when you can't do anything

else, try something special. He is special. A wonderful goal.

The run here from Hal Robson-Kanu. And a shot and a goal, that's

sensational. Hal Robson-Kanu, he's done some special things in 2016 but

that is right up there. To vote, head to the BBC Sport

website and click on the goal Or tweet the hashtag

on screen to @bbcmotd. Voting closes at 11:45pm

and we'll give the result Next it's the meeting

of Watford and Tottenham - a game that's previously produced

some special moments, COMMENTATOR:

What a beautiful piece of skill. What a magnificent goal by Glenn

Hoddle. An awkward bounce. It's a goal from

Paul Robinson. It's 30 years since Watford beat

Tottenham in the league, but in 2017 they've got a few Spurs

old boys aiming to change that. Cheeky flicks, goalkeepers' kicks

and outrageous chips, Watford will feel it about time they created a

few treasured memories from this fixture. It would be a good way for

them to ring in the new. But what a Mazzarri is struggling to put a team

out. No Britos, Herrera or Success and is an ego got injured in the

warm up meaning a recall for it at Halo. Cathcart comes in for a first

game since September and Doucoure makes his first Premier League

debut. Sissoko and Dembele dropped to the bench. Trippier, Zimmer,

Alderweireld and Alex Song coming. Implement weather. -- it's poor

weather at the start of the year. Trippier moving to Eriksen's

right-hand side. He is Danny Rose. Eriksen, deflected. They are

appealing for hand ball, Capoue is poleaxed. I think he's got away with

one here. Eriksen's shot, he's diving towards the ball with his

right arm stuck out in the air and he moves it towards the ball and

Spurs had a very strong case. Three straight wins, five wins in the last

six. Chelsea coming up next. Kane has turned away from Capoue. Harry

Kane into Dele Alli. Trippier to his right. Kane in the middle now. Well

blocked and needed to be by Holebas. Watford not out of the woods yet. A

lovely dummy. Rose hides his face in his shirt. It was a lovely dummy in

front of him here. He really got excited at the crucial moment. You

need all those clothes and more today. It's cold and wet. Kevin

Wimmer now for Tottenham. It's a really poor ball behind Dele Alli,

straight to Capoue. A strong challenge, won it back well. Dele

Alli's shot, smashed the post and bar. A terrific effort by Dele Alli.

A little look up and smash, right off the bar.

That's a good ball into Harry Kane, and that's the opening goal. Watford

guilty of falling asleep. Well, possibly convert collating

themselves on my good fortune not to fall behind to Dele Alli's

piledriver -- possibly congratulating themselves. Watford

took their eye off the ball here. Trippier, into Kane, into way too

much space and beating Gomes at his near post. Watford nil, Spurs one.

Watford cannot say it hasn't been coming. 24 seconds between the bar

being rattled and the net being rustled. Only six wins so far in 19

games come in the Watford manager, Walter Mazzarri.

Dele Alli to Trippier. Three white shirts in the box. Harry Kane again!

Two assists for Kieran Trippier, two goals for Harry Kane and very

probably no way back for Watford. This is so sharp. Trippier has a lot

of room to work in here. What about this? They scissor into Harry Kane,

who gets himself in front of Cathcart and volleys it into the

roof of the net. -- it fizzes into Harry Kane. It's a top-class goal.

Watford nil, Spurs two. The weather sums up the situation really. Pretty

miserable. That's a foul on Kevin Wimmer and

it's a free kick to Spurs. Watford appeared to be wholly ill-equipped

for the challenge of playing Tottenham Hotspur today. Eriksen's

Balling, it's a dangerous one and it could easily have been three. Son

Heung-min a whisker off the mark, fired in by Christian Eriksen. That

is so close to going in the corner. Directing the traffic, ritzy but it

oh, from his technical area. -- Mauricio Pochettino.

Kaboul away, Dele Alli onto it. 3-0 to Tottenham. Dele Alli puts the

game way out of Watford's reach. Spurs have been vastly superior in

every department and Younes Kaboul walks away shaking his head. He

won't want to see this again. March April. You saw signs of what

need to work on. Harry Kane putting it into the

danger area, UNESCO bewildered not deal with that. Poor clearance. Dele

Alli, much stronger than Cathcart. -- Eunice Kaboul did not deal with

it. And Spurs are going out a New Year's Day thrashing to Watford.

Still no smiles. No substitutions at that time. Watford have four

teenagers on their Ben Chu have never played in the first team. I

would imagine that Walter Mazzarri would feel it is inappropriate to

throw them into this maelstrom. Spurs' 4-0 victory at Stoke earlier

this season is jointly the biggest victory for anybody this season.

They won by the same score at West Brom. Only one goal away from

matching it. It could be four and it is. Less than a minute into the

second half, Dele Alli gets his second of the game. And it is 4-0.

An embarrassment is becoming a humiliation for Watford. Given away.

Unlike amateur he has. Harry Kane, now with two goals and two assists.

Dele Alli with two. Tottenham with four and Watford with utter

embarrassment beckoning. Troy Deeney on the Ighalo. Deeney

and Ighalo together at this time last season had scored 19. The tally

this season stands at five. Eriksson and rose again. Christian Eriksen

will fancy this one. The foul by Capoue. Harry Kane is over it as

well. Who is it to be? It is Harry Kane. Fingertips from Gomes. A good

effort. They will be taking on Chelsea in good heart, you would

imagine. Given away terribly. Eriksson, and a good first touch

from Son. A few opportunities today, without really troubling Gomes, Son.

Eriksson put it over the bar. At 4-0 down, it is not often you get the

feeling that they have got off lightly. Sinclair fouled by Eric

Dier. Two minutes of added time to play. Free kicks Watford. Saved by

Hugo Lloris on the line. As it crossed the line? Michael Oliver

says it has. Younes Kaboul does not look in the celebratory mood but it

appears to be his goal. Hugo Lloris is certainly not celebratory. His

clean sheet is gone. As it comes in, it crashes off a couple of heads.

Younes Kaboul hits at once, twice and in the end it was bundled over

the line for sure. But who actually got the decisive touch, it might be

Kaboul, or it could be Kabasele. And they have given it to Kaboul over

the PA system. It is for one. Watford with the very late, rather

strange consolation. In the ninety second minute. 491 and a half

minutes, Tottenham were superior in absolutely every department. It has

finished 4-1. Happy and pleased with the performance. I think we played

one of the best first half is so far. Very pleased and cause we use a

different formation today, but we kept the same philosophy of the

team. Always, we believe in the way that we play and we are looking

forward. Today is a difficult day. Everything went wrong, even before

the game started with the injury. TRANSLATION: He was an important

player to get injured. Five or six of our starting XI, the squad we

have got no, we even had four under 23 in the players we bought.

Unfortunately, this is the situation. Nice to get a rest for 30

minutes at the end of the game because you have a huge game coming

up but you and Harry Kane, I think he scored two and assisted your two.

Yes. He is a fantastic player. I was joking about not wanting to pass to

him any more but like I say, it is important that we got the win today.

When you are playing, with the players we have in this team, if you

get the chance, it is easy to pull it away. It is not often you concede

four and think you might have got off lightly. Very comfortable for

Spurs. It really was. A combination of Watford not being at the races

and some very creative play from Tottenham, that was the reason why

it was a comfortable win. It felt like a training match at times. Once

it got to 2-0, certainly. You have lots of injuries, OK, fine, you have

to get on with that. But doesn't stop you being organised and

determined and it should not stop you running and working hard. It is

a prerequisite of any professional footballer. It should also not give

you the will to not be embarrassed and they were embarrassing today.

Positively, let's talk about Dele Alli. I could talk about him for an

hour. He is a special talent. The great thing about him, he is just a

way of everything around him. He is always moving. He is very unselfish.

But his ability, in terms of his first touch, he opened himself up,

has a little luck, great shot. He comes over the crossbar and he is

always looking to score but if there is someone else in a better

position, he will play them in. Look at that, absolutely brilliant. If

that was Madrid or Barcelona, we would be raving about it. A great

first touch. What across into Trippier. And a great finish.

Basically it was two passes, to make the goal. He worked hard and he

understands the responsibility. It is not all about the glory and

scoring, it is everything else that is in the game. He sees things. He

has loads of vision. He could play in any position, arguably. He is as

good as anybody in that team. He gives moving, and he beat Cathcart,

slotting it into the far corner. There he goes, he get his hand up. I

have seen you. The first minute of the second half, and the team that

had not worked because that was four. Both of you made the point

when we were watching the game that he has not changed. Quite often with

young players, maybe when they go into their second season in the top

flight, they are either encouraged to change or they naturally change,

but he has stuck true to his game. You can get second season Blues.

With expectation heaped on your shoulders, not being able to deal

with the pressure. But he still looks like he is playing football in

the park with his friends. He plays with a smile on his face, with no

fear to try anything, like today. That is the thing. He has no fear.

The first year, you have no fear and then suddenly what you start

thinking about what you are doing, you are out of it. But for him it is

just, go out and play, what is the problem? Marx called Watford's

defending shambolic. Do you agree? Absolutely. I do not think you could

describe it in any other way. We touched on the changes early on, but

even if you do come into the team, there are certain basics. They are

quite tidy in the middle. You can see the distance between the

players, and he is too far away from Trippier, which is a sign of things

to come. As the afternoon gets on, similar positions. Should be

communication, changing the position. He leaves the run in a

dangerous situation, tipping the ball across the box. The first goal,

Holebas switches off. Harry Kane drops in this item. He has a look

but he does not drop into position. It is a clever ball. Trippier had a

great afternoon. Delivering balls, a lot of joy down that flank

especially. Just letting Dele Alli get right past them, Guedioura and

this ball from Trippier is fabulous. Kaboul is nowhere near getting

across. Holebas is in the middle for some reason. They are checking cane,

but they do not seem to make any contact or get his body in the way

to stop the goal. They have just not got tight enough come here. You

cannot say a lot about Kaboul there. Dele Alli is on the move. Cathcart

is on his heels. That was the theme all afternoon. Is that

communication? It is a combination of two things. They were not the

most organised and they have had personnel changes, but they had no

intensity, no desire to get on the ball. Kaboul passed that runner and

he knows that it should go, but it is just that energy to get out there

and take responsibility. One or two of them were going to the Africa cup

of Nations and that is on their minds. Some of them looked around

the dressing room and thought, we are going to get swatted with all of

these injuries and that is what happened. I would be worried about

Watford. Look at that. Absolutely, they looked and played like a bunch

of strangers. What stops you working hard? Nothing. They just didn't do

it. And to come out at half-time to change things and to go another goal

down after two minutes, it really highlights the attitude of the

players, not as good as the manager would like.

Onto our round-up of the weekend's action.

It's in this time! It's a goal for Chelsea by Gary Cahill! Chelsea

score from the corner. 34 minutes gone. Gary Cahill puts Chelsea on

their way to win number 13, maybe. Adam will take the free kick. Crouch

is coming in. And somehow or other it is Martins Indi who snatches the

equaliser. He is not the most likely goal-scorer for Stoke City. In fact,

his first goal for the club. On again to Moses. It is a nice turn by

Victor Moses. And a chance for Willian! The 13 in a row is back on,

thanks to a thumping shot by Willian putting Chelsea back in front. Adam

has chipped it forward for Peter Crouch. The first touch was good and

he has phoned Bojan -- he has phoned Bojan. Crouch again and Bojan again.

And now El Hadji Diouf. Stoke City have come back to 2-2. Peter Crouch

scores his 97th Premier League goal. Well, well, well. Here is Willian

again for Chelsea! It is 3-2! Two goals in a minute! Where were Stoke?

Still celebrating mentally. Diego Costa is there. It is a goal! Diego

Costa, 1-2. Sheer persistence. That surely has secured the 13

consecutive win for Chelsea, equalling Arsenal's record in one

season. Ibrahimovic! Manchester United lead.

Or do they? That has been ruled out. Ibrahimovic, his first touch of the

ball, I thought. We will see what he thinks. A little bit of space.

Leadbetter! Would you believe that. They have soaked up all the pressure

and grand Leadbetter has scored his 50th career league goal with 23

minutes to go on his first Vermeer league start of the season. -- Grant

Leadbitter. Anthony Martial! 1-1 with five minutes to go. That is

what they have resorted to. Clever from Ibrahimovic. A clinical finish.

It goes back to Juan Mata, and then the header from Paul Pogba. Just

when it mattered, two goals in just over a minute. Manchester United

have turned it around. No chance for Victor Valdes. The light for Jose

Mourinho. -- delight for Jose Mourinho. Everybody's excited, even

the managers, with Jurgen Klopp saying that he would 100% buy a

ticket if he was not sitting on the bench. Lala Anai. -- Adam Lallana.

Headed in brilliantly by Wijnaldum. It is just about Liverpool's first

attack of the night. A quality goal from Adam Lallana. Wijnaldum arrived

right on cue. Perfectly placed. That reaction says it all about what

it means for Liverpool this week. It is they who emerge as Chelsea's

chasers in chief. Arfield up towards Barnes. Gray is

onside. He scores! He had one attempt on target against

Middlesbrough on Boxing Day, and it was enough to win the match. Won by

Mane, on it goes to Gray. Looks as though was held. The referee says

play on. Gray makes it 2-0. Andrei Gray has surely sunk Sunderland and

all credit to him, he looks as though he had been impeded but he

had the determination to keep on going. Oh dear, oh dear, Pienaar is

standing on the ball. Here's Barnes. On towards Gray, who is onside. It's

a hat-trick. It sums up Sunderland, really. Pienaar stands on the ball,

Barnes help city between the two defenders, crochet and Djilobodji

don't seem to have any kind of understanding and Gray helps it

beyond Mannone. Barnes is onside. Arfield is played in. He goes down,

penalty. Sunderland arc capitulating before your very eyes. Burnley

haven't scored four goals in the Premier League this season. They

have now. 4-0 up. It's terrific play from Januzaj, meanwhile. The pastor

Defoe was exquisite. Defoe inevitably takes the first chance

that comes his way. There is the evidence as to how Sunderland are

going to escape the drop, if they are going to do it.

The top six are well clear of everybody else. You can thank

Leicester for that, winning the league, because everybody has

everything in order. Chelsea, with 49 points already, if you replicate

the second half with the first, 98 points, winning the league. Even

Liverpool, I know you will ask about them defensively, can they still win

the league, Corrie yes, because they can win so many games but you see

the strength of the Premier League. There are three leagues within one

league. Chelsea have Spurs away on Wednesday, Liverpool away this

month, Arsenal at home. It feels like a defining month. Arsenal is

February the 4th sire extending its slightly but a defining few weeks. A

big month and they have nothing to fear. They are so fresh, when you

look at them, compared to the other teams in European competitions. It

has to be a factor this season for Chelsea that they can field the same

11 and it gives the manager so much time to work with the players on the

training ground, they looked like they could go into any game with

great confidence. Liverpool defensively, there's a discussion of

the goalkeepers in recent weeks, it's been a distraction because bar

that Bournemouth game. They've been all right. They've defended well.

They've had the fewest shots faced against them which shows how they've

worked defensively of the unit, I'm assuming. It does, and they are

very, very attacking team in the league. With that there's going to

be a little bit of a deficiency, unless you have two centre-backs who

are world-class and can hold it all together. We worry about it, we

discuss it. I don't think Jurgen Klopp is particularly bothered. It's

just go and win the game. I love watching Liverpool out of the

session, they are exciting to watch without the ball. When they lose it

in the attacking half, they swarm it and win it back. The workrate and

energy they show is what makes them so good defensively. Away from the

top six, because it's not often sides in mid-table get a lot of

discussion, Burnley deserve a lot of credit for the way they thumped

Sunderland yesterday, if you see their home form that, they are 11th

in the table, 22 of their 23 points have come at Turf Moor. It brings

its own pressure, which you are now expected to win every single home

game. They played most of the top teams at home, so that should ensure

I think safety and the other team we should mention is West Brom, because

they have upset, not upset everybody, everyone at the start of

the season thought they would be top of the bottom six, but they've had a

very good season so far. The Premier League continues

tomorrow with another 5Live has commentary

on Middlesbrough against And also the tea-time

match between West Ham Final Score is on BBC Two

tomorrow, with news And you can watch them

all in Match Of The Day 2 Good 2 Bad still to come, after

the rest of this weekend's goals. COMMENTATOR:

Wilshere, eludes one challenge. Fraser pulls it across. Almost an

own goal. A phobia is there. That's got in the way of the cross. It

bounced off Fabianski Diame Benik Afobe it was left with the simple

chance of putting Bournemouth in front, and he took it -- Benik Afobe

a was left with a simple chance. Stanislas is onside, taken by

Bournemouth. Brian Fraser, terrific passing here from the Cherries.

Brian Fraser gets his second goal of the season. It's very much advantage

Bournemouth. Charlie Daniels through into the path of Josh King. King

bearing down on goal and gets a third goal for Bournemouth. It's

another defeat for Swansea City. Five minutes to half-time, the

header is in. Shane Long, the former West Bromwich Albion player and his

first goal of the season. Southampton in front as we approach

half-time. This might go all the way through

foreign immediate equaliser from Tadic. Southampton worked so hard to

take the lead, but it's lasted barely 90 seconds at St Mary's. 1-1.

The goal-scorer Phillips and the run from Hal Robson-Kanu. The shot and

the goal, it's sensational. Hal Robson-Kanu has done some special

things in 2016, but that is right up there. This first goal in the

Premier League for three and a half years, it's a net buster from the

Welshman. Can Rondon get on the edge of this? He's up against Van Dijk.

Rondon is brought down, the referee reaching to his pocket. It's a

yellow, followed by a red, and Southampton are down to ten men as

Virgil van Dijk is sent off. He'll get there ahead of Dimitri

Payet, good play by Albrighton. It bounces off the outside of the post.

That was from Slimani. This is much more like it from Leicester City.

Bring water really driving the engine room of this Leicester side

and again Albrighton, fantastic cross, brilliant goal. Wonderful,

wonderful header from Slimani. That is precisely what Leicester City

deserve on their performance in the opening 20 in it. -- 20 minutes.

Snodgrass with their first corner. Dawson and Davies all poised to make

a charge into the box. It will be scored by Dawson. The flick off them

near post by Davies, run-through for Michael Dawson, and it's just the

start that Mike Phelan wanted. The action in the first half will be

evident's third corner, ruck Mirallas to take. Everton have an

equaliser, what a calamitous way for Hull City to concede a goal, right

on the stroke of half-time. Maguire has taken a run-up but it does

suggest that it favours but left foot of Robert Snodgrass. It will be

the Scot and it's against the bar. Hooked wide by Diomande. We're

talking inches. Snodgrass for Hull and this time he finds the net. If

you don't succeed at first, try, try again and Robert Snodgrass comes up

with the goods are for Hull City. They are back in front. Fabulous

technique. Lukaku can get to it. Barkley does.

Everton are level. Baines took his time to pick the cross. Lukaku

couldn't get to it. Barkley unmarked coming in from the far side.

OK, here's how you voted for December's Goal of the Month.

Here are the percentages. Hendrick, 16%, Sanchez got 30%, the runner-up

for the goal against West Ham. You wait ages for a scorpion kick and a

couple come your way across the festive period, Mkhitaryan wins

December's Goal of the Month with 40%.

COMMENTATOR: Last time Sunderland gave the ball

away cheaply at cost them and there's Mkhitaryan. What a finish

that is. It has cost them a game big-time. That's a brilliant,

beautiful finish from Mkhitaryan. But no doubt about our favourite

goal - and what we will crown as joint Goal of the Month for

December. It was scored by five-year-old

Bradley Lowery for Bradley goes straight down the

middle. Bradley's Mum Gemma says

he has since enjoyed an "amazing" Christmas at home,

where he received more than 250,000 I was at that game and the other

person who was brilliant with him was Diego Costa, what a smile he has

got as well. The Chelsea players were great with him.

Bradley is continuing his chemotherapy treatment

and all at Match Of The Day wish him well.

This is how the Premier League table looks tonight.

Tottenham move into the top four for the first time since October.

Manchester City drop two places to fifth.

Crystal Palace's defeat leaves them one place and two points

He is 2 Good 2 Bad. At Old Trafford it felt like we were intruding as

this hoax goes on just a little bit too long. -- hug. Awkward. Slaven

Bilic knows he still got it. Is Dean Marney's shot going to go out for

throwing? Yes, it is. Watford fans not quite experiencing the joy of

the New Year this lunchtime. And keeping the rain off, Arsenal and

Crystal Palace with a Manchester City umbrella. The game has gone.

So we're at the exact half-way point of the Premier League season -

MUSIC COMMENTATOR:

Huge boos ringing out around the liberty.

What a beauty! It's his moment. Leicester edging ever nearer the

bottom three. Exceptional goal. Oh, it's

unbelievable! Absolutely astonishing. Reims bobbin oh, what a

finish.