Chelsea maintained top spot on the Barclays Premier League table thanks to a 2-0 home win over West Ham United on Boxing Day.
The Blues recorded their 14th victory of the campaign to stay three points clear of second-placed Manchester City thanks to goals from John Terry and Diego Costa either side of the break.
Captain Terry netted his second goal in as many matches when he slotted home Costa's knockdown header in the 32nd minute before the Spanish striker grabbed his 13th of the season in the 61st minute when finishing across goal with his left foot after a dazzling run.
Reigning champions City kept up pace with Chelsea by putting in a commanding performance at West Bromwich Albion to win 3-1.
First-half goals from Fernando (first for the club), Yaya Toure (penalty) and David Silva gave Manuel Pellegrini's side the advantage before a first Premier League goal for record signing Brown Ideye pulled one back for the Baggies late.
Manchester United stayed third on the table, 10 points behind Chelsea, by defeating Newcastle United 3-1 at Old Trafford.
Wayne Rooney scored twice in the first half to take his season tally to eight before Robin van Persie added a third from a lovely Rooney pass to put the Red Devils comfortably clear.
The Magpies were able to net a consolation goal at the death when substitute Papiss Cisse converted from the penalty spot in the 87th minute but the damage had already been done.
Steve Bruce's Hull City came from a goal down to beat his former club Sunderland 3-1 at the Stadium of Light following Adam Johnson's first-minute opener.
Gaston Ramirez drew the Tigers level in the 32nd minute before James Chester gave the visitors the lead prior to an injury-time third from second-half sub Nikica Jelavic.
Southampton climbed back up to fourth on the table with their second win on the trot, beating Crystal Palace 3-1 at Selhurst Park.
Sadio Mane, Ryan Bertrand and Toby Alderweireld (first goal for the club) were all on target before Scott Dann pulled one back late for the Eagles who dropped into the bottom three as a result of the defeat.
Tottenham produced their third victory in a row when Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen scored either side of Leonardo Ulloa's leveler to give them a 2-1 result at Leicester City which saw Spurs remain seventh.
Liverpool climbed to ninth thanks to a 1-0 victory over Burnley at Turf Moor which came courtesy of a neat finish from Raheem Sterling just after the hour-mark, Gylfi Sigurdsson scored a lovely curling free-kick to give Swansea City a 1-0 home win over Aston Villa while Bojan Krkic's 38th-minute gave Stoke City a 1-0 triumph over Everton at Goodison Park.
And in the late game, Alexis Sanchez atoned for an early penalty miss to head ten-man Arsenal into the lead with his 10th league goal of the season as they beat QPR 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium.
The Chile international netted his 10th Premier League goal of the campaign with a 37th-minute header after seeing his ninth-minute penalty saved by R's keeper Rob Green.
Sanchez then went on a dazzling run before supplying Tomas Rosicky with the Gunners' second goal in the 65th minute after Olivier Giroud had been sent off for clashing with Nedum Onuoha.
Charlie Austin then converted from the penalty spot with just over 10 minutes remaining to give the home side some nerves but in the end Arsenal did the job to notch up Arsene Wenger's 400th Barclays Premier League victory.
2014/15 Barclays Premier League - season scores
Chelsea: 2 (John Terry 31', Diego Costa 62') West Ham United: 0 Stamford Bridge, London - 41,589
Burnley: 0 Liverpool: 1 (Raheem Sterling 62') Turf Moor, Burnley - 21,335
Crystal Palace: 1 (Scott Dann 86') Southampton: 3 (Sadio Mane 17', Ryan Bertrand 48', Toby Alderweireld 53') Selhurst Park, London - 24,565
Everton: 0 Stoke City: 1 (Bojan Krkic (p) 38') Goodison Park, Liverpool - 39,166
Leicester City: 1 (Leonardo Ulloa 48') Tottenham: 2 (Harry Kane 1', Christian Eriksen 71') King Power Stadium, Leicester - 31,870
Manchester United: 3 (Wayne Rooney 23'/36', Robin van Persie 53') Newcastle United: 1 (Papiss Cisse (p) 87') Old Trafford, Manchester - 75,318
Sunderland: 1 (Adam Johnson 1') Hull City: 3 (Gaston Ramirez 32', James Chester 51', Nikica Jelavic 90+6') Stadium of Light, Sunderland - 44,817
Swansea City: 1 (Gylfi Sigurdsson 13') Aston Villa: 0 Liberty Stadium, Swansea - 20,683
West Bromwich Albion: 1 (Brown Ideye 87') Manchester City: 3 (Fernando 8', Yaya Toure (p) 13', David Silva 34') The Hawthorns, West Bromwich - 26,040
Arsenal: 2 (Alexis Sanchez 37', Tomas Rosicky 65', red card: Olivier Giroud 53') QPR: 1 (Charlie Austin (p) 79') Emirates Stadium, London - 59,947
