Boxing Day Bonanza: Gunners Flop, Reds Top

With the festivity of the Christmas looming large on the Barclays Premier League, God couldn't have bestowed his followers a better Christmas gift than the Boxing Day matches.

Almost all the games were an out-and-out thriller and they never failed us the fans to entertain, even if some of us were on the loosing side.

There were goals galore in this latest round of matches- an average of 3 goals scored per game and a total of 28 goals scored in total. But the highlight of the day was the slip up of the in form Gunners and the Red Devils peeping past them to the top of the league for the first time this season.

The day started though with an 8 goal thriller at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea salvaged themselves from a humiliation which they have shunned for the past 3 yrs. the Villan hero Shaun Maloney was doing all the damage to the Blues as Villa took a first half 2-1 lead. But Chelsea pulled one back when Knight saw red after hauling down Ballack in the penalty area.

The resilience of Chelsea was paid off as Shevchenko and Alex silenced the traveling fans with an astounding 3-2 lead. There were more drama to follow as Laursen equalized again at the expense of a red card for Ricardo Carvalho.

It really looked done and dusted for Chelsea when Ballack hammered a free kick in the 88th minute, but yet another sting in the tail was there for Grant's men as Barry slotted home a 91st minute penalty at the expense of an Ashley Cole sending off.

3 red cards, 8 goals, two penalties, there lots to talk about, but who knew that the floodgates of goals were wide opened from then.

Reigning champions Manchester United traveled to the Stadium of Light with a half second string squad as Giggs, Anderson, Tevez and Hargreaves were warming the bench. Roy Keane devised a young side to make the Christmas a nightmare for his former employers, but sometimes things really don't go according to the plans.

Rooney broke his goal scoring drought, so did Saha with a double, and the top scorer in the league Cristiano Ronaldo increased his tally to 12 goals with a sublime free kick. The Sunderland defence were caught napping in several occasions and the Reds could have scored more goals, only for Rooney unable to control his composure.

Arsenal had their work cut out against Portsmouth and anything less than a win was unexpected from the Red-hot Gunners. From a neutral perspective, the Gunners were off beat in most occasions. They were up against a composed and gritty Portsmouth defence and the frontmen lacked the incisive pass to Adebayor to convert into goals.

Portsmouth also had some decent chances, only for Benjani and Kanu to squander them horribly. Arsenal though never gave up till the end, and Rosicky produced the final scare of the game when his close range belter wheezed past David James.

The game was a stalemate and lifted United ahead of Arsenal to the top by a point.

In other games, Spurs thrashed Fulham with a 5-1 win, Benitez's men saved their blushes for another day as their skipper Gerrard won the match for them in the dying moments from a close range against rock bottom Derby County. Mcleish revolution continued as Birmingham cruised past Boro 3-0 and Sam Allardyce is closing on to the nadir of his managerial career as his side crumbled to a defeat at the JJB stadium.

Two more rounds to go to wrap up the jam-packed fixtures, but for the time being, it's time for the United faithful to celebrate their midseason culmination.