David Moyes began his second spell as Everton manager with a defeat as Aston Villa ruined the Scot’s return to Goodison Park while Arsenal ignited their title charge with victory in the north London Derby.
Ollie Watkins scored the only goal of the game to leave the Toffees just a point above the relegation zone, while Arsenal went up to second and in-form Newcastle moved into the top four.
No instant impact for returning Moyes
There was no dream start to the 61-year-old Scot’s return to the Goodison Park dugout after a gap of almost 12 years as he was unable to make an immediate impact.
Even the emotion of the occasion could not help rectify many of the problems predecessor Sean Dyche had encountered as they failed to score in an 11th Premier League match of the season.
Everton were architects of their own downfall as Morgan Rogers picked off Jarrad Branthwaite’s loose pass on 51 minutes before feeding Watkins and the Villa striker slid home a clinical finish past England team-mate Jordan Pickford.
Gunners get back on track
Arsenal breathed fresh life into their Premier League title chase with a 2-1 comeback win against Tottenham in an electric north London derby.
Following consecutive home cup defeats to Newcastle and Manchester United, Arsenal fell behind at the Emirates after Son Heung-Min’s 25th-minute opener for Spurs.
But they were back on level terms with 40 minutes gone when Gabriel’s header from a corner rebounded off Dominic Solanke before Leandro Trossard put them ahead on the stroke of half-time.
The Gunners saw out the second half to move back into second place and within four points of leaders Liverpool.
In-form Isak has Magpies on cloud nine
Alexander Isak became the first Newcastle player to score in eight successive Premier League games as his double helped condemn Wolves to a 3-0 defeat at St James’ Park.
The 25-year-old Sweden international opened the scoring with a deflected 34th-minute effort and then helped himself to a second after the break to take his tally to 16 goals in as many games and 17 for the season before setting up Anthony Gordon for a third.
His efforts were instrumental in securing a club record-equalling ninth successive win in all competitions for the Magpies and eased them into the top four.
Trio set to replace Lineker
Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan have been announced as the three primary hosts for the BBC’s Match of the Day for next season.
Gary Lineker, who has worked as a presenter on the highlights program since 1999, is stepping down as host of the Saturday night show at the end of the season.
Cates has been a main presenter with Sky since 2017 and already works for the BBC as a radio presenter. Logan has presented Match of the Day in Lineker’s absence and has become one of the main presenters of the BBC’s Olympic Games coverage.
Chapman is the current regular host of the Sunday night highlights programme Match of the Day 2 and also presents a number of sports programmes on BBC Radio 5 Live.
What’s on today?
Our first home game of the year is up next 🔜👊#MUFC || #PL
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 14, 2025
Manchester United will bid to continue their upturn in form as they face bottom side Southampton at Old Trafford.
Following a run of four straight defeats, Ruben Amorim’s side seemed to have turned the tide with a 2-2 draw against Premier League leaders Liverpool at Anfield and a penalty shootout win away to Arsenal in the third round of the FA Cup.
The day’s other Premier League action sees Brighton travel to face Ipswich at Portman Road.
