FourFourTwo's Gregg Davies uses Stats Zone to analyse the day's Premier League action...
Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea
The weekend's action opened with a 'game of two halves' as Spurs bossed the first 45 minutes before their rivals took charge of the second, aided by the half-time introduction of Juan Mata.
Andre Villas-Boas' men had made the brighter start and it was no surprise when they took a deserved 19th-minute lead through Gylfi Sigurdsson, capping more incisive link-up play with team-mates Christian Eriksen and Roberto Soldado.
The trio had combined to similar affect in Tottenham's previous home game - a 2-0 victory over Norwich City.
Spurs should have gone into the interval two goals to the good after Kyle Walker and Andros Townsend teed up Paulinho to crash the ball against Petr Cech's near post, and Villas-Boas was left to rue that miss.
"Had that gone in it would have put us in a very good position. I think we deserved that for the first half that we played," he said.
Despite being the game's top passer John Obi Mikel was hauled off in place of Mata at half-time, but the move paid dividends. Both the Spaniard and the Blues asserted themselves on proceedings, culminating in John Terry glancing home Mata's free-kick. Chelsea continually attempted to exploit Spurs' high defensive line, but only succeeded in being caught offside on no fewer than 10 occasions.
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An utterly-dominant City eventually made the breakthrough in first half stoppage time through Yaya Toure but they somehow contrived to concede three second half goals, just as they did at Cardiff.
Manuel Pellegrini's men fashioned 21 attempts at Brad Guzan's goal and enjoyed 66% of the possession, yet the simplistic manner of Andreas Weimann's match-winning goal will make this defeat tough to take.
"It's unbelievable that we didn't win this match. We threw away all that we did," said Pellegrini.
A landmark day for the Bluebirds, as Jordon Mutch's stoppage-time stunner sealed a first top flight away win since November 1961, which also happened to be at Craven Cottage.
Chilean enforcer Gary Medel was once again the standout performer. The former Sevilla man comfortably topped the passing charts and made the most ball recoveries and tackles.
Martin Jol's tactical decision to bring Bryan Ruiz on for Alex Kacaniklic was an inspired one as the ex-Twente man curled in a beauty within four minutes of his arrival. But it was not enough to prevent the Cottagers from suffering a sixth defeat in their last seven home outings. "We are close but not close enough," said Jol.
Sam Allardyce was left incensed after defeat at the KC Stadium, having seen his side dominate for long periods only to go down to Robbie Brady's hotly-disputed spot-kick after 12 minutes.
The Hammers enjoyed almost 60% of the possession and fired in 18 attempts at goal, yet ultimately could not beat Allan McGregor with any of their 6 on target.
West Ham dominated the passing statistics, with the top five players all wearing claret and blue, but it was the defensive dexterity of Curtis Davies and ex-Iron Abdoulaye Faye that helped the Tigers record a fourth 1-0 win of the campaign. The pair made 21 successful clearances as the Hammers huffed and puffed to no avail.
Steve Clarke's side were good value for their win, and should be credited for pushing on for a winner when many a side would settle for a point at Old Trafford.
United predictably enjoyed more of the ball (Michael Carrick attempted 101 passes in the match, 92 successful) but the visitors carved out almost as many goalscoring opportunites (12).
Marseille loanee Morgan Amalfitano will hog the headlines, scoring a stunning individual opener before setting up Saido Berahino to bag the winner, but Youssuf Mulumbu made a game high 11 ball recoveries and Victor Anichebe enjoyed a storming match against his old Everton boss.
A comfortable success for the Saints in the end, their first at home in the league this season, although it took two quick-fire goals after the break to relieve the tension at St Mary's.
Palace had stood toe-to-toe with Mauricio Pochettino's men in the first half, matching them in terms of possession and chances, but there was no way back after Dani Osvaldo's neat finish and Rickie Lambert's even neater free-kick within four minutes of the restart.
Victor Wanyama's 15 ball recoveries formed the base for the Saints to launch attacks, while at the back Jose Fonte's 10 successful clearances out of 10 helped keep the Londoners at bay.
Arsene Wenger's men made sure it was a fantastic day for themselves, capitalising on slip-ups from rivals, by extending their club record of consecutive away wins in all competitions to 12 at the Liberty Stadium.
After a soporific first half, the contest was settled inside a five-minute spell after half-time, as the in-form Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil took the game by the scruff of the neck. Ramsey set up Serge Gnabry to score his first Gunners goal before the Welshman walloped in his eighth goal in nine games.
The Swans enjoyed 61% of the possession in the first half but, as Michael Cox noted, their crossing was woeful and they were dominated in the air with Ashley Williams absent through injury.
"When you play against players of this level and you are defending so deep, one or two quality passes and they create a chance like they did," said Laudrup.
Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.
