It was certainly a stunning weekend on Matchday 12 in the Premier League this past weekend with a number of surprise results, Ruben Amorim's debut as Manchester United manager, a stunning fifth defeat in a row for Manchester City as well as some contentious VAR decisions.
There was even a fire alarm at Stockley Park which meant that VAR was unavailable for a short time in the Ipswich Town v Manchester United game!
As we head into the very busy festive season, with many EPL teams still having commitments in European competition, the Carabao Cup as well as the Premier League, Matchday 12 could have been a pivotal one for many reasons.
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Let's now check out the results and current standings after Matchday 12 in the Premier League.
There is one game to be played on Matchday 12, Newcastle face West Ham United on Monday 25th November (kick off 8pm at St James' Park). However, the nine Matchday 12 games played on Saturday and Sunday had the following results:
Manchester City is facing a challenging period in the English Premier League. They have lost their fifth consecutive match across all competitions and their third straight in the league. This downturn in form has seen them fall behind in the title race, trailing Liverpool by eight points.
City's shocking 4-0 home defeat came at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur, who delivered a stunning victory at the Etihad Stadium. James Maddison scored twice to put Tottenham 2-0 up in the first half before further goals from Pedro Porro and substitute Brennan Johnson tied up a jaw-dropping 4-0 win for the visitors.
With injuries to key players, especially in midfield, compounding their loss of form, City manager Pep Guardiola faces his toughest time as Manchester City boss. They face critical games in the Champions League and Premier League this week.
First they face Feyenoord at the Etihad on Tuesday before travelling to Anfield to face league leaders Liverpool in what is now a must-win game for the Citizens who lie eight points adrift of Arne Slot's Reds.
Liverpool has taken full advantage of Manchester City's struggles. Arne Slot's team have extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table with a dramatic come-from-behind win over Southampton.
The match ended 3-2 in favor of Liverpool, with goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and two from Mohamed Salah. The Hungarian midfielder put the Reds in front in the first half before Southampton struck back to lead 2-1 early in the second half.
However, a brace from Mo Salah, including the game-winning penalty, saw the Reds claim another three points and extend their lead to eight points over Manchester City and keep the nine-point gap over Chelsea, Arsenal and Brighton.
Liverpool now join Manchester United as having the biggest lead at this stage of a Premier League season over their main rivals.
Salah's performance was instrumental in securing the victory, showcasing his world-class ability and importance to the team. However, the Egyptian king revealed that he had not yet received a contract offer from the club following the game, much to the dismay of Liverpool fans.
Salah has had 16 goal contributions in the EPL this season, 10 goals, six assists. Only Erling Haaland has scored more goals and no player has had more goal contributions than the Egyptian.
With Salah's current deal set to expire in June 2025, Liverpool fans will be hoping the club can agree a deal to keep the mercurial star at the club beyond next summer.
Ruben Amorim started his tenure as boss when Manchester United faced Ipswich Town in a match that ended in a 1-1 draw. The new United manager will likely feel he has plenty of work to do with his team after they could not improve on a dream start.
United fans were in dreamland when Marcus Rashford scored after just 80 seconds, capably assisted by Amad. However, Ipswich dominated possession and territory, equalizing through Omari Hutchinson before halftime.
In fact, it took two outstanding saves from Andre Onana to deny Liam Delap to give United a share of the points and the Cameroonian goalkeeper was certainly United's best player on the day.
Despite improvements in the second half, United lacked a decisive end product and only secured a draw due to the heroics of their goalkeeper.
Leicester City have parted ways with manager Steve Cooper just 24-hours after the Foxes went down to a 2-1 home defeat to Enzo Maresca's Chelsea on matchday 12 of the EPL.
That defeat left Leicester in 16th place in the table, and was a third defeat in four games for the team, who have won just one of their last five league games. That was enough for the Foxes board to pull the plug on the former Nottingham Forest manager who now finds himself unemployed.
Graham Potter, David Moyes and Ruud van Nistelrooy are three of the names that have been tipped to replace Cooper at the Foxes.
The win for Chelsea kept them third in the table, level on points with Arsenal and Brighton and now just a point behind Manchester City.
Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez scored the goals for Maresca's team against his former club in a game that the Londoners fully deserved to win.
Arsenal returned to winning ways on matchday 12 with a comfortable 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium. Mikel Arteta was able to name Martin Odegaard from the start and the Norwegian had a major influence on the game with his clever movement and probing passes.
With Declan Rice injured, Jorginho started alongside Odegaard and Mikel Merino in midfield and it didn't take long for the Gunners to take advantage with Bukayo Saka scoring after just 15 minutes.
Thomas Partey added a second early in the second half, while Ethan Nwaneri became Arsenal's second youngest top flight goalscorer netting the third. Only Cesc Fabregas was younger than the English striker when scoring for Arsenal.
It was a rare poor day for Nuno Santo's Forest, who failed to register a single shot on target in the game.
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