Douglas Luiz’s late penalty on Saturday took Aston Villa joint top of the English Premier League with a 3-2 win over 10-man Burnley as Manchester City closed on the leaders by sweeping aside Sheffield United 2-0.
Elsewhere, Manchester United’s thrilling comeback to beat Villa on Boxing Day proved to be a false dawn for manager Erik ten Hag’s men as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest.
It looked like a festive season to forget for Villa after they dropped points at home for the first time this season to Sheffield United and blew a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 at Old Trafford.
Photo: AP
However, Luiz’s spot-kick, which crept in off the underside of the bar, sent Villa manager Unai Emery’s men level on points with Liverpool at the top of the table.
Leon Bailey’s opener for the home side was quickly canceled out by Zeki Amdouni for Burnley.
Moussa Diaby restored Villa’s lead before half-time and they had a one-man advantage for the final 35 minutes after Sander Berge was handed a second yellow card.
However, Villa’s high line is begging to be picked off by opponents, and Lyle Foster timed his run to blast past Emi Martinez 19 minutes from time.
Yet there was a final twist as Jhon Duran was upended inside the box and Luiz fired home.
“Everyone is so happy, we need to enjoy the moment,” Luiz said. “The last three games we don’t play so well. It is halfway through the season, the players are tired, we lost three or four important players to injury. It is difficult, but we need to keep going.”
Despite missing Erling Haaland for a seventh consecutive game due to a foot injury, City were never troubled by the bottom-of-the-table Blades.
Rodri ended Sheffield United’s resistance after just 14 minutes when the Spanish midfielder surged forward and fired low into the far corner.
Julian Alvarez again ably filled Haaland’s shoes as the Argentine tapped in his fourth goal in three games to make the points safe from Phil Foden’s cross just after the hour mark.
City move alongside Arsenal on 40 points, just two points behind Villa and Liverpool.
Manchester United, by contrast, are 11 points off the top after losing for the 21st time this year.
A second win in three games under manager Nuno Espirito Santo lifts Forest five points clear of the relegation zone.
Nicolas Dominguez swept the home side in front after a well-worked move on 64 minutes.
Marcus Rashford rolled home only his third goal of the season after Alejandro Garnacho pounced on an error from Forest goalkeeper Matt Turner to level with Manchester’s first away goal in four games.
However, the Red Devils were quickly cut open on the counterattack as Anthony Elanga teed up Morgan Gibbs-White to fire home the winner from outside the box.
Meanwhile, Chelsea snapped a run of four consecutive away defeats thanks to Cole Palmer’s double, but had to withstand a nervy finale to beat Luton Town 3-2, while any fears that Crystal Palace could be dragged into the relegation battle were eased by the Eagles’ first win in nine games as Brentford were beaten 3-1 at Selhurst Park.
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