Man of the match Harry Kane scored two and made another as Tottenham Hotspur romped to a 5-3 win over London rivals Chelsea at White Hart Lane on New Year’s Day.
The in-form England Under-21 striker levelled Diego Costa’s opener before Danny Rose scored and Three Lions wide man Andros Townsend converted from the penalty spot, after Kane was felled by Gary Cahill, to make it 3-1 to Spurs at half-time.
Kane extended his side’s lead with a classy finish early in the second half, his 17th goal of the season in all competitions.
Eden Hazard reduced the deficit after a mistake by Federico Fazio but Kane set up the impressive Nacer Chadli to seal the win with just over 10 minutes remaining. Former England captain John Terry netted a late consolation for the visitors.
Spurs are now fifth in the Premier League, two points behind fourth-placed Southampton, following the Saints’ 2-0 win over Arsenal.
Elsewhere, England midfielders Adam Johnson and Jack Rodwell both found the back of the net but it was not enough to prevent Sunderland from going down 3-2 to Manchester City.
In an end-to-end game at the Etihad, Johnson and Rodwell looked as though they had got their 2015 off to a perfect start when they found the net in the second half to peg City back from 2-0 up.
Rodwell’s goal was his second since joining Sunderland in the summer and it came after he lost his marker in the box and headed home.
Three minutes later Johnson got in on the act, with the winger calmly slotting a penalty into the bottom corner after Billy Jones had been brought down by Pablo Zabaleta.
However, Johnson and Rodwell’s strikes proved to be in vain as former England midfielder Frank Lampard secured the three points for Manchester City by nodding home Gael Clichy’s cross.
Lampard’s strike means he now stands alone in fourth place in the all-time Premier League goalscorers list with 176.
Lampard’s former England midfield partner Steven Gerrard was also getting in on the scoring on New Year’s Day, netting twice in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Leicester.
Gerrard struck two penalties in the first half, but a second-half fight back from Leicester denied the Reds a perfect start to the year.
And the run of Three Lions midfielders past and present scoring continued at St James’ Park, where Jack Colback found the net.
Colback, who was called into Roy Hodgson’s squad during the early months of the season, scored the second of Newcastle’s goals in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Burnley.
Steven Taylor opened the scoring for the Magpies and Under-21 striker Danny Ings was on the scoresheet for Burnley.
And Saido Berahino also found the net on New Year’s Day to earn West Brom a valuable point away at West Ham.
