It’s been a month of dizzying highs and crashing lows in the Premier League, with the two worst games of the season so far balanced out by some of the best.
That’s hardly surprising given there were a whopping 60 games in December, with the festive schedule doing its bit to wear out players and rankings compilers alike.
Here we go then – a reminder: matches are scored out of 100 by reporters at the games, with, in classic Football Manager style, 60 as about average.
60. QPR 0 Crystal Palace 0 (28/12/14)
Score: 21
Dreadful game with no goals and almost no chances. Palace clearly weren’t inspired to new heights by caretaker boss Keith Millen after Neil Warnock’s sacking.
59. Hull 0 West Brom 0 (6/12/14)
Score: 28
An early penalty miss from Graham Dorrans summed up an entirely unspectacular encounter in which both sides had the look of those resigned to a long relegation struggle.
58. Crystal Palace 1 Stoke 1 (13/12/14)
Score: 32
James McArthur and Peter Crouch found the net but beyond that, nothing happened. Woefully short on quality and incident.
57. Aston Villa 0 Sunderland 0 (28/12/14)
Score: 39
Fabian Delph became the third Villa player to be sent off in four games, but that was about the only event of note as Sunderland drew for the 11th time this season.
56. Aston Villa 2 Leicester 1 (7/12/14)
Score: 40
Leonardo Ulloa ended his goal drought but that was as good as it got for Leicester. Alan Hutton scored the winner for Villa, but could have been sent off in a clash which saw the Foxes’ Paul Konchesky given a red card.
55. Leicester 0 Manchester City 1 (13/12/14)
Score: 42
On-loan midfielder Frank Lampard did the only thing worth talking about in this game, extending the conversation about his scheduled return to New York City.
54. Burnley 1 Southampton 0 (13/12/14)
Score: 48
Tom Heaton saved Dusan Tadic’s penalty on the hour mark and with 73 minutes gone Ashley Barnes scored the winner for Burnley. Southampton gave ample ammunition to those who had questioned their place in the top four.
53. Burnley 0 Liverpool 1 (26/12/14)
Score: 48
It was a win for Liverpool, but that’s about all that could be said for a lacklustre Reds side. They started Boxing Day in their lowest position since the 1992/3 season, and there was little to suggest they didn’t belong there.
52. Sunderland 1 West Ham 1 (13/12/14)
Score: 50
A poor game most memorable for Jozy Altidore somehow contriving to miss from three yards. Nice work, Jozy.
51. Tottenham 0 Manchester United 0 (28/12/14)
Score: 50
Manchester United dominated the first half, but found Hugo Lloris in unstoppable form, and playing two games in 48 hours caught up with them after the break.
50. Manchester City 1 Everton 0 (6/12/14)
Score: 51
Yay Toure secured the points for City, but that was secondary to the fact Sergio Aguero went off with a knee injury, causing City to try out a variety of strikerless formations over the following few weeks.
49. Crystal Palace 0 Aston Villa 1 (2/12/14)
Score: 53
Christian Benteke’s goal lit up an otherwise dismal affair, with the hosts wasting half-chance after half-chance and paying the price with galling defeat. Benteke’s calm finish proved enough to end Villa’s nine-match run without a win.
48. Burnley 1 Newcastle 1 (2/12/14)
Score: 53
An unremarkable, occasionally untidy, Turf Moor scuffle lit up by George Boyd’s 20-yard opener for the hosts and Yoann Gouffran’s clever flick that teed up Papiss Cisse’s equaliser.
47. Chelsea 2 Hull 0 (13/12/14)
Score: 54
Not the dazzling display Chelsea have produced on many occasions this season – perhaps because they were getting over losing to Newcastle the previous week. Still, they were good enough to beat Hull.
46. QPR 2 Burnley 0 (6/12/14)
Score: 54
Dreadful first half, good second half. Burnley really should have scored at least one, but Charlie Austin scored yet again for QPR, showing the value of an in-form striker.
45. Hull 0 Swansea 1 (20/12/14)
Score: 55
The only goal of the game was an accident – scored by Ki Sung-yueng as he attempted to turn away from Jonjo Shelvey’s shot – which just about sums it up.
44. West Brom 1 West Ham 2 (2/12/14)
Score: 55
West Ham’s excellent form continued, as did West Brom’s rotten run. Goals from Kevin Nolan and James Tomkins saw the Hammers come from behind to take the points.
43. Liverpool 0 Sunderland 0 (6/12/14)
Score: 56
Brendan Rodgers rested Steven Gerrard again. Liverpool did not win.
42. Chelsea 2 West Ham 0 (26/12/14)
Score: 58
West Ham didn’t play football from the 19th century, but they didn’t play particularly good football either. Chelsea weren’t at their best but were easily good enough with goals from John Terry and Diego Costa.
41. Everton 1 Hull 1 (3/12/14)
Score: 58
Sone Aluko scored to bring Hull’s run of defeats to an end. Everton should have taken the points after dominating the first half.
40. Everton 3 QPR 1 (15/12/14)
Score: 59
Ross Barkley’s spectacular opener was the highlight as QPR maintained their proud 0% away record this season.
39. West Brom 1 Aston Villa 0 (13/12/14)
Score: 60
Craig Gardner scored the only goal against his former club in this sort of derby – and very pleased he was about that, too. Villa had Kieran Richardson sent off.
38. Sunderland 1 Hull 3 (26/12/14)
Score: 60
A woefully out-of-form Hull side somehow conjured up three goals to claim the points at Sunderland who, even more amazingly, didn’t draw.
37. Hull 0 Leicester 1 (28/12/14)
Score: 61
Riyad Mahrez scored the only goal and the Foxes were at times passengers in a low-quality contest, but given their 13-game winless run this 1-0 victory would have tasted every bit as good as their previous success – a headline-grabbing 5-3 over Manchester United in September.
36. Everton 0 Stoke 1 (26/12/14)
Score: 62
Pretty scrappy stuff – a physical encounter settled, suitably enough, by a penalty. Bojan Krkic dispatched the spot-kick.
35. Tottenham 0 Crystal Palace 0 (6/12/14)
Score: 62
Lloris again saved Tottenham, who were poor – and their fans let them know about it.
34. Tottenham 2 Burnley 1 (20/12/14)
Score: 62
Erik Lamela’s vastly overdue first Premier League strike was the highlight of an otherwise humdrum affair at White Hart Lane. Harry Kane finished one chance but spurned two more, while Barnes’ 20-yard drive temporarily kept Burnley in the hunt.
33. Swansea 2 QPR 0 (2/12/14)
Score: 62
The excellent Rob Green was finally beaten by Ki in the 78th minute, and QPR were denied their first away point of the season.
32. West Ham 2 Leicester 0 (20/12/14)
Score: 62
The Christmas Carroll jokes were out in force as the big man (Carroll, not Santa) ensured the Hammers got their fourth win in five just before the big day.
31. Arsenal 1 Southampton 0 (3/12/14)
Score: 62
It was a match report many could have written before the game – Alexis Sanchez scored, Arsenal narrowly won.
30. Southampton 1 Manchester United 2 (8/12/14)
Score: 63
Old foes Ronald Koeman and Louis van Gaal – who reportedly don’t like each other one bit – faced off in the Premier League for the first time. It was Saints boss Koeman who was left kicking himself after his side dominated throughout but fell prey to two expert finishes from predatory Holland striker Robin van Persie.
29. Swansea 1 Aston Villa 0 (26/12/14)
Score: 64
Gylfi Sigurdsson scored a stunning free-kick and it looked like Swansea might run away with it, but Villa came back into it when Jefferson Montero had to go off with an injury. The Swans held on, though.
28. Aston Villa 1 Manchester United 1 (20/12/14)
Score: 65
Benteke’s beautiful opener was cancelled out by just Radamel Falcao’s second United goal. Villa clung on to a point even after Gabriel Agbonlahor saw red – a card which was later overturned.
27. Manchester City 3 Crystal Palace 0 (20/12/14)
Score: 65
Sterling work from David Silva, who scored twice to see off Palace. It was an eighth successive win for City – one short of their club record.
26. Leicester 1 Liverpool 3 (2/12/14)
Score: 65
Steven Gerrard pushed his claim for a new contract as he bailed Liverpool out against Leicester. Meanwhile, the hapless Simon Mignolet scored an own goal.
25. Arsenal 2 QPR 1 (26/12/14)
Score: 65
A decent game, but the last-minute drama that seemed to be on the cards never materialised. Once again it was Sanchez who did the business for Arsenal, who were forced to hold on after Olivier Giroud booked himself New Year off with a red card.
24. Newcastle 3 Everton 2 (28/12/14)
Score: 65
High on goals and late tension but relatively low on quality. Cisse scored his fourth in five games, before Alan Pardew performed a disappearing act, declining any post-match interviews as his name was linked with the vacant Crystal Palace job.
23. Chelsea 3 Tottenham 0 (3/12/14)
Score: 66
Spurs started well, but there was an inevitability about their failure to score and then they were bullied in defence by 36-year-old Didier Drogba.
22. Liverpool 4 Swansea 1 (29/12/14)
Score: 67
Liverpool fans – like the watching Gary Barlow – got something to cheer with a rare emphatic victory, and everyone else got something to laugh at when Lukasz Fabianski’s woeful attempted clearance bounced into the goal off Adam Lallana’s back.
21. Stoke 2 West Brom 0 (28/12/14)
Score: 68
Mame Biram Diouf scored twice, West Brom lost for the seventh time in nine games and everyone feared for Alan Irvine’s job – rightly, as it turned out. He was sacked the next day.
20. Newcastle 0 Sunderland 1 (21/12/14)
Score: 70
Adam Johnson’s goal meant Newcastle lost a fourth successive Tyne-Wear derby for the first time in their history, giving their fans another opportunity to lay into Alan Pardew.
19. Leicester 1 Tottenham 2 (26/12/14)
Score: 70
Tottenham claimed a 2-1 victory, meaning every Premier League game Spurs won in November and December – six of them – was by that scoreline. Kane and Christian Eriksen got the goals.
18. West Ham 1 Arsenal 2 (28/12/14)
Score: 71
A decent game with plenty of chances that could easily have ended up 2-2 – or 5-1 to Arsenal, for that matter. For once, it wasn’t Sanchez who did the business for the Gunners as Santi Cazorla and Danny Welbeck grabbed the goals.
17. Manchester United 3 Newcastle 1 (26/12/14)
Score: 74
Wayne Rooney had one of his best games of the season, scoring two goals and setting up another. Perhaps the United players were in festive mood after Van Gaal cancelled Christmas Day training.
16. Manchester United 2 Stoke 1 (2/12/14)
Score: 74
What looked like a routine win for United turned out to be anything but as David de Gea produced two brilliant saves in injury time to deny Diouf and Marko Arnautovic, before Ashley Young then sensationally cleared off the line from Diouf.
15. Manchester United 3 Liverpool 0 (14/12/14)
Score: 75
With both teams out of form, Gary Neville had predicted this match would resemble the “Dog & Duck versus the Red Lion” – and Liverpool provided plenty of entertainment with their pub-team defending. Rooney was among the United players who took advantage.
14. Stoke 0 Chelsea 2 (22/12/14)
Score: 75
Cesc Fabregas set up one and score another as Chelsea rolled on. They lost at Stoke last season, but that was never on the cards this time.
13. West Ham 3 Swansea 1 (7/12/14)
Score: 75
Carroll demonstrated why Liverpool once shelled out £35 million for him (well, he almost did anyway), with a powerful display and two goals in an entertaining game against Swansea.
12. Newcastle 2 Chelsea 1 (6/12/14)
Score: 75
Cisse came off the bench to score the winner for Newcastle as Chelsea slipped to their first Premier League defeat of the season. No surprise really – it was Chelsea’s third successive league defeat on Tyneside and left Jose Mourinho winless in the competition at St James’ Park.
11. Swansea 1 Tottenham 2 (14/12/14)
Score: 76
Tottenham claimed what was fast becoming their signature result, a 2-1 win with a late goal from Eriksen. It was tough on Swansea, who dominated large periods of an entertaining game.
10. West Brom 1 Manchester City 3 (26/12/14)
Score: 76
City proved an irresistible attacking force, despite having no strikers on the pitch. What’s more, the match ended in a blizzard – and everyone loves football in a blizzard.
9. Crystal Palace 1 Southampton 3 (26/12/14)
Score: 77
Southampton got back to their early-season form with an impressive performance, in what proved to be Warnock’s last match in charge of Palace. The fans well and truly turned on him – and he got the boot the next day. Merry Christmas, Neil.
8. Sunderland 1 Manchester City 4 (3/12/14)
Score: 79
Another masterclass from Aguero who swept aside Sunderland with two goals and one assist in a thoroughly dominant City performance at the Stadium of Light. Beautiful to watch – assuming you’re not a Sunderland fan.
7. Southampton 3 Everton 0 (20/12/14)
Score: 80
Southampton arrested their alarming slide with an impressive win over Everton. Bold and ruthless stuff from Saints, given they were coming off a five-match losing streak, rewarded with goals from Graziano Pelle and Maya Yoshida – as well as a Romelu Lukaku own goal.
6. QPR 3 West Brom 2 (20/12/14)
Score: 80
Austin’s incredible run of scoring form hit new heights with a hat-trick as QPR thrillingly came from behind to beat fellow strugglers West Brom. Those calls for an England call-up just got a little bit louder.
5. Arsenal 4 Newcastle 1 (13/12/14)
Score: 80
Proving that there are few better sights in the Premier League than Arsenal at their best, a brace apiece from Giroud and Cazorla saw the Gunners get their swagger back. Fans even sang Arsene Wenger’s name – in a good way, too.
4. Liverpool 2 Arsenal 2 (21/12/14)
Score: 81
Martin Skrtel scored a late equaliser to ensure Liverpool got something out of a game which was made entertaining as much by both sides’ defensive frailties as their attacking prowess.
3. Southampton 1 Chelsea 1 (28/12/14)
Score: 83
Eden Hazard was at his mesmerising best, but it wasn’t enough to secure three points for Chelsea against a stubborn Southampton side, who failed to hold on to a lead for the first time this season.
2. Manchester City 2 Burnley 2 (28/12/14)
Score: 84
Burnley staged the most unlikely of comebacks to snatch a point having been 2-0 down. Barnes scored the equaliser – and what a goal it was – as City’s strikerless formation proved insufficient.
1. Stoke 3 Arsenal 2 (6/12/14)
Score: 91
A fixture that often throws up something out of the ordinary – not always in a good way – produced one of the games of the season. Stoke raced into a 3-0 lead, and had a fourth disallowed – before Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey fired the Arsenal comeback. The sending-off of Calum Chambers blunted them a little, though, and Stoke held on.
Source: SNAPPA
