Arsenal fight back to beat West Ham and move seven points clear at top

Arsenal recovered from a goal down to beat West Ham 3-1 on Boxing Day and extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to seven points.

Said Benrahma’s 27th-minute penalty gave David Moyes’ side a slender advantage at half-time, after the Gunners had a spot-kick disallowed by VAR on the stroke of the interval.

Mikel Arteta saw his team move up through the gears after the break with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli scoring with fine finishes at the start of the second period.

Eddie Nketiah sealed the victory in front of ex-boss Arsene Wenger by finishing off a slick move to fill the void of the injured Gabriel Jesus and earn Arsenal a 10th straight home win in the Premier League.

Miguel Almiron scored again to help Newcastle thump Leicester 3-0 and move up to second.

Almiron took his tally for the campaign to nine goals with a smart finish in the seventh minute to add to Chris Wood’s early penalty at the King Power Stadium.

Joelinton headed home a third midway through the first half and Eddie Howe’s side produced a professional display after the break to keep a fourth clean sheet in a row, win a sixth consecutive league match and move above Manchester City, who visit Leeds on Wednesday.

Harry Kane marked his return to action with a goal but Tottenham had to settle for a point at Brentford after another fightback to draw 2-2.

Kane suffered penalty heartbreak in Qatar a fortnight ago when he missed a spot-kick late on in England’s quarter-final defeat to France at the World Cup, but Antonio Conte started the Spurs forward from the off in west London.

Brentford dominated the opening exchanges with Vitaly Janelt tapping home and Ivan Toney doubled their advantage after half-time but Kane started the comeback with an excellent header before Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg levelled with a smart finish. Tottenham were denied a winner when Kane’s late header hit the crossbar.

Liverpool closed the gap on fourth-placed Spurs to five points with a 3-1 win at Aston Villa.

Mohamed Salah made the breakthrough after five minutes when he finished off an excellent team move and Virgil Van Dijk made it 2-0 at half-time with a left-footed finish.

Ollie Watkins reduced the deficit on the hour mark for Unai Emery’s men, but teenager Stefan Bajcetic netted late on to secure the points.

Rayan Ait-Nouri hit a 95th-minute winner at Everton to help Julen Lopetegui taste success in his first Premier League match in charge of Wolves.

Yerry Mina headed the hosts in front but Daniel Podence slotted home the leveller in the 22nd minute.

The spoils looked set to be shared at Goodison Park but Adama Traore broke forward on the counter-attack and found Ait-Nouri, who fired home to spark jubilant celebrations in the away end with Wolves able to move off the bottom of the table.

Aleksandar Mitrovic starred with a goal and two assists to help Fulham inflict Boxing Day pain on nine-man Crystal Palace.

Tyrick Mitchell and James Tomkins saw red for Patrick Vieira’s team either side of half time with Bobby Decordova-Reid’s 31st-minute header opening the scoring at Selhurst Park.

Mitrovic, after setting up Fulham’s first, teed up Tim Ream for a second and grabbed a deserved third himself with a close-range header 10 minutes from time.

Brighton bounced back from their shock Carabao Cup loss to Charlton with a 3-1 win at Southampton.

Adam Lallana came back to haunt his old club with the opener at St Mary’s after heading in Solly March’s cross with 14 minutes on the clock and Romain Perraud put through his own net with a miscued clearance later in the half.

March hit a superb long-range effort to wrap up the points and while James Ward-Prowse grabbed a late consolation, after he headed home the rebound of his saved penalty, Southampton are now bottom of the Premier League.