Liverpool avoided a big late scare with 10 men to hold on for a 2-1 victory over Brighton, stretching their lead to 11 points at the top of the Premier League.
Two Virgil van Dijk headers put Liverpool in control in the first half, first from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick in the18th minute and then from the full-back’s corner from the left six minutes later.
But the mood changed with 15 minutes remaining as Alisson was dismissed for a handball outside of the box, and from the resulting free-kick, Lewis Dunk halved the deficit, bizarrely catching sub Adrian out as he was organising his wall.
Liverpool were nowhere near their best throughout, but eventually held on, going into a chaotic December schedule with an 11-point lead over Man City. Leicester, also 11 points behind, make up their game in hand against Everton on Super Sunday.
At the Stamford Bridge, West Ham ended a 17-year wait for a Premier League victory on Chelsea home soil as Aaron Cresswell’s strike saw them beat the Blues 1-0 to ease the pressure on manager Manuel Pellegrini.
Cresswell scored the decisive goal three minutes into the second half, curling a low right-footed shot beyond Kepa Arrizabalaga, and the Hammers’ victory would have been more secure had Michail Antonio not had a second ruled out by VAR.
Tottenham’s resurgence under Jose Mourinho continued as Dele Alli scored twice in a thrilling 3-2 win over Bournemouth
Spurs were cruising with 20 minutes remaining when, following on from Alli’s double , Moussa Sissoko finished off a sweeping move to make it 3-0 in the 69th minute.
Callum Wilson was then denied a dramatic equaliser by a vital challenge from Jan Vertonghen as Tottenham held on to move up to fifth, while Bournemouth drop to 12th after a third straight league defeat.
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