Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City v Everton - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - December 26, 2024 Manchester City's Erling Haaland reacts after missing from the penalty spot REUTERS/Phil Noble
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Premier League leaders Liverpool opened up a seven-point gap at the top as they came from a goal down to beat Leicester City 3-1 at Anfield after second-placed Chelsea lost at home to Fulham and Manchester City's woes continued on Thursday.
Arne Slot's Liverpool could not have asked for a better start to a flurry of festive fixtures as goals by Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah sealed the points.
The victory extended their unbeaten league run to 13 games and put Liverpool on 42 points from 17 games.
Chelsea had earlier surrendered a lead at home to Fulham to lose 2-1 -- Rodrigo Muniz scoring for the visitors in the 95th minute for their first victory at Stamford Bridge since 1979.
Enzo Maresca's Chelsea have 35 points from 18 games.
Reigning champions Manchester City could only draw 1-1 at home to Everton with Erling Haaland missing a penalty as Pep Guardiola's side slipped to seventh.
Nottingham Forest moved up to third with a 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur while Manchester United lost for the fourth time in five Premier League games, going down 2-0 at Wolverhampton Wanderers to sit in 14th place.
Liverpool suffered an early shock at a foggy Anfield in the last of the Boxing Day kickoffs with Jordan Ayew giving Leicester a lead in the sixth minute.
Leicester hung on until the stroke of halftime but just after Salah struck the crossbar, Gakpo curled an effort beyond Leicester goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk.
Liverpool put Leicester under siege straight from the break and took just four minutes into the second half Jones converted a pass by Alexis Mac Allister. Salah then grabbed his 16th league goal of the season with a trademark finish to wrap it up.
"We cannot deny we are in a good place, but still one of the strengths of the team is we approach each game as a new one," Gakpo said. "That keeps us humble."
CHELSEA DROP POINTS
Chelsea took the lead after Cole Palmer danced past two defenders and slid the ball through Issa Diop's legs.
But Fulham equalised in the 82nd minute when Harry Wilson headed home from close range before substitute Muniz clinched all three points for Fulham at the death.
It was Chelsea's first league loss since a 2-1 defeat on Oct. 20 by Liverpool.
Guardiola's City have now managed only one win in 13 games in all competitions as their crisis showed no sign of ending.
Bernardo Silva put them ahead in the 14th minute but Iliman Ndiaye levelled before Haaland missed a penalty.
"Incredible how (City players) run and fight and do everything. Some games have not been good, but today, the case was it was well played," Guardiola said.
"But football is about winning, football is about you score goals and you don't concede. The last month, month and a half, we are not able to do it."
FOREST'S MARCH UP TABLE CONTINUES
Forest continued their unlikely challenge for a top-four spot as Anthony Elanga's first-half goal secured a win over Spurs to put them third.
Elanga completed a superb Forest counter-attack in the 28th minute to settle a contest that Tottenham ended with 10 men after former Forest player Djed Spence was sent off. Tottenham's fourth defeat in five Premier League games left them in 11th.
"The belief is here but the belief doesn't hide the reality. The reality says we haven't achieved nothing yet," Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo, whose team have 34 points, said.
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim left Marcus Rashford out of his fourth successive squad and his side were undermined at Wolves as captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off just after halftime for a second yellow card.
Matheus Cunha then scored direct from a corner and then teed up Hwang Hee-chan in stoppage time to seal United's fate.
Wolves marked manager Vitor Pereira's first home game in charge by moving out of the relegation zone.
NEWCASTLE CRUSH VILLA
Anthony Gordon, Alexander Isak and Joelinton scored in Newcastle's rout of 10-man Villa, climbing to fifth in the table with their third straight league win while Villa slip to ninth.
Gordon curled Newcastle ahead early on and Villa striker Jhon Duran was red-carded in the 32nd minute after a stamp on Fabian Schar following a tackle.
Newcastle doubled their lead in the 59th minute when Jacob Murphy squared the ball to Isak for a tap-in and Joelinton completed the rout in stoppage time.
Jarrod Bowen scored the only goal as West Ham United beat bottom club Southampton 1-0 to move his side up to 13th in the table.
An uninspired Bournemouth slipped to sixth after being held to goalless draw by Crystal Palace.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing and Martyn Herman; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
