Saturday's football: Andy Carroll stunner & top teams win big
- Published
West Ham's Andy Carroll scored one of the goals of this Premier League season on Saturday
Leaders Chelsea coped without striker Diego Costa to sweep aside champions Leicester on another eventful Saturday of Premier League action.
Wing-back Marcos Alonso was the unlikely two-goal hero for the Blues on a day when London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham both recorded handsome wins to stay in touch at the top.
Elsewhere, did England forward Andy Carroll score the goal of the season for West Ham as they strode to a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace? Less spectacular, but equally memorable, was Joey Barton's first for Burnley on his return to the club.
Hull - under new boss Marco Silva - recorded a 3-1 win over Bournemouth. They were the only team in the bottom four to win.
It was also a Saturday when Watford paid tribute to their former manager Graham Taylor, who died on Thursday at the age of 72.
Football Focus pays tribute to Graham Taylor
Saturday's Premier League match reports
Sunday's Premier League match previews
Manchester City will be looking to keep pace with the front-runners with victory at Everton in Sunday's first game. That is followed by the renewal of one of the fiercest rivalries when Manchester United host old foes Liverpool.
Zlatan is a joker - Pogba
The best of the rest
Daryl Murphy scored the second-half winner for Newcastle
Newcastle returned to the top of the Championship with a 2-1 victory at Brentford. There was also joy at the other end as bottom side Rotherham recorded only their fourth win of the campaign with a surprise 2-1 win over Norwich.
Walsall stunned League One leaders Sheffield United as they ended their six-game winning streak with a 4-1 victory. The Blades have a one-point lead over second-placed Scunthorpe.
And in League Two, Doncaster came from behind to beat Barnet 3-1 at the Hive and stay four points clear at the top.
With no top-flight fixtures north of the border - the Scottish Championship took centre-stage with Kris Commons scoring the only goal as Hibernian stretched their lead at the summit to six points. with a 1-0 win at Dumbarton.
A shock on first day of Afcon
Guinea-Bissau celebrate a memorable debut at the Africa Cup of Nations
There was a surprise in the opening match of the 31st Africa Cup of Nations as debutants and shock qualifiers Guinea-Bissau managed a 1-1 draw against Gabon.
Lawro's predictions: BBC pundit level with UFC star
We are not too sure how BBC Sport's Mark Lawrenson would cope with Michael Bisping in the cage, but he is level on points with the UFC champion after Saturday's matches.
They both predicted three correct results - find out which ones.
Saturday's key analysis
Ex-Chelsea striker Chris Sutton on Final Score
It's an absolutely massive win for Hull, especially after going 1-0 down - they showed huge character.
Marco Silva said they'd need a miracle and I still think they're going to struggle - but what a big win.
Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown on Final Score
It's textbook technique from Andy Carroll. There's a lot of instinct involved, but he knows what he's doing.
Is it better than Giroud's scorpion? There was an element of chance with Giroud but Carroll knows exactly what he's doing.
Former England defender Danny Mills on BBC Radio 5 live
Why shouldn't Diego Costa go to China? There is no loyalty from clubs in football.
He's already defected from Brazil, his native country, to play for Spain and has no real affinity with England and the Premier League. I'm sure he likes London but he doesn't have any real affinity here.
Our best videos from Saturday
Conte 'knows nothing about Costa bid from China'
Costa wants China move? Good luck to him!
- Published14 January 2017
- Published13 January 2017
- Published14 January 2017
- Published14 January 2017
