English Premier League: Top 10 Plays of the Day

Liverpool limped, Arsenal awoke and Man City manned up.

Fergie turned 25, Chelsea passed a gut check and Newcastle kept on dreaming on.

So then—a little bit of the old, a bit of the new and more than a few fireworks no matter who's your side. Really, it wasn't a bad way to commemorate a 17th-century plot to blow up Parliament.

Around the same time fireworks started to explode over London on Saturday for Guy Fawkes Night, Manchester City, the country's newest rabble-rousers, the high-priced lords of English football, looked vulnerable. A goal from unheralded Heidar Helguson put QPR on equal terms, 2-2 heading into the final 20 minutes. London quaked.

Not for long, though. City had their own firepower. It came packaged in the form of Yaya Toure, a beast of a man who could scare the stink off a skunk from 20 paces. A goal was demanded. Manliness was delivered. A headed goal from a burly defensive midfielder settled the matter.

Across town, Arsenal found itself back in a familiar place, winning by a lot of goals while playing suitably sexy football. It had been awhile, though, maybe even so long that the locals had wondered if the revolution had passed them by.

It hadn't, mind you, and though several doubted, Arsene Wenger showed he still has the formula to make the magical happen.

And up in Manchester, while the noisy neighbors were away on business, the old guard honored their old lord a day short of his 25th year in charge. United won, too, a fitting result on a fittingly festive day.

The celebration won't last, though, because even though United managed to keep pace with little brother for another week, it's getting harder.

And it's starting to look like the new kid in town is about to blow it all up.

Newcastle's Ryan Taylor used one touch to tee himself up.

He needed only one more to uncork a nasty, dipping shot off the underside of the bar and into Everton's net.

The stunning strike gave Newcastle a 2-0 lead in the 29th minute against Everton. It held up as the match-winner in a 2-1 decision.

But it did more than that. Taylor's wonder goal extended Newcastle's unbeaten start to 11 games and temporarily put the high-flying Magpies in second place.

Coming into the weekend, this looked like a trap game Newcastle had to win if they really want to compete for a spot in the Top 4.

Heading out of the weekend, it feels more like a match they weren't ever going to lose. And that Top 4 place is looking more and more realistic by the day.

Chelsea were at it again.

Following two weeks of disappointment, Andre Villas-Boas' high-priced stars were huffing and puffing their way to a scoreless stalemate against Blackburn Rovers.

But then, golden oldie Frank Lampard stooped as low as he could to score the game's only goal in the 51st minute.

Lampard was basically lying on the ground as he headed home Branislav Ivanovic's outrageously gorgeous outside-of-the-foot cross. But from the floor of the dour Ewood Park pitch, Lampard lifted Chelsea back to self respect.

And that's not meant as hyperbole.

The past two weeks saw Chelsea lose at QPR and at home to Arsenal. They also included the John Terry distraction.

Now, as Chelsea try to pick up the pieces, they at least have a hard-fought victory on which to build.

Frank Lampard got the goal and the headlines.

Petr Cech secured the points.

The heroics came in the 56th minute, when the banged-up keeper made a double stop to keep out pesky Blackburn.

A Ramires foul handed Blackburn an opportunity to level with a free kick just outside the Chelsea box. Morten Gamst Pedersen blasted a shot past the wall only to have it saved by Cech.

The rebound fell to Grant Hanley. But he too was denied by Cech, the keeper this time using his legs to stop a close-range effort.

Either shot could have been the equalizer, and Hanley's perhaps should have been. Instead, Cech's top-class goalkeeping preserved Chelsea's lead in a tough road assignment and the Blues kept their first clean sheet since opening day.

And it all happened after Cech earned a few more battle scars from a first-half challenge with Pedersen. As keepers go, Cech is among the best and toughest.

Perhaps his teammates can take his cue.

Six more inches and Ivanovic might have saved Kean.

Late in the second half of Chelsea's win over Blackburn, Ivanovic headed a Blackburn cross onto the underside of his own bar.

It very nearly went in.

It very nearly became the equalizer.

And it very nearly saved Steve Kean's job for another week.

But it didn't. And Kean will surely be gone before the weekend is out.

The win over Arsenal staved off the inevitable for a few more weeks. But after seven defeats and only one win in 11 matches, inevitable is the only word one can think of to describe Kean's sacking.

A two-goal afternoon against Norwich City won't justify £24 million. Nor does it hurt.

Bent's first leveled the score six minutes after Villa went behind to Anthony Pilkington's 24th-minute opener.

His second, in the 62nd minute, put Villa up 3-1. It was a good thing, too, because Villa's defense predictably sprung another leak 14 minutes later to set up a tense finish.

The score held up, though, and while Villa's defensive record won't inspire anyone and their overall record is the definition of average, they're still in the top half of the table.

And with Spurs, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea all looming before New Year's Day, Bent's goals will serve as a welcome sight.

When Mikel Arteta scored to put Arsenal ahead of West Brom by three goals, something immediately felt different.

For perhaps the first time all season, Arsenal felt like a safe bet. And they looked comfortable.

They earned all three points with a solid performance, and what's more, they killed off a match.

It's been a while, huh? As in, it feels like three shades of Arsene Wenger's hair ago.

The question now, of course, is this whether that experience will be just like riding a bike for the first time in years.

Will the ability to win—and win convincingly—quickly return to the realm of second nature?

Or will this prove to be an aberration?

Call us crazy, but we're thinking more of the same is on the way.

Manchester United celebrated 25 years of Sir Alex Ferguson on Saturday.

If not for a Wes Brown own goal (and doesn't he look more and more weird every day?), the celebration might have felt a little more muted.

United won the game 1-0, but the only goal came from the opposition. Brown, now with Sunderland, rose highest to score for United.

He also confirmed, again, how right Ferguson was to ship him off a few years back.

Distressingly for Sunderland, the goal came in first-half stoppage time. That meant the hard work of the previous 45 minutes was nullified in one ginger second.

For United, it was another "meh" performance but three valuable points.

Liverpool took 25 shoots and hit the target five times.

They took 11 corners.

None of them found the back of the net in an ugly scoreless draw at home to Swansea City.

What's worse is that the Swans might have had the bigger reason to feel aggrieved. In the 67th minute, referee Phil Down waived away the visitors' penalty appeals after Daniel Agger fouled Leon Britton.

About 23 minutes later, he blew the whistle on Liverpool. Seriously. It's going to be another season without a title for England's formerly dominant club.

And what a shame, too. Wasn't this supposed to be the season Liverpool broke through? Or at least wasn't it supposed to be the season Liverpool had a chance to break through?

But for every good result, like the 2-0 win at the Emirates, there's been a scoreless Swansea draw.

Today's disappointment served as the latest reminder that the Reds just aren't ready.

Yes, it happened last weekend, but its consequences showed today.

Gerrard came down with a weird ankle infection last weekend. It kept him out of today's match and spawned conspiracy theories from crazed fans.

Well, they have to vent somehow.

They might not be able to prove their theories, but what they can prove is that without Gerrard, Liverpool aren't the same team.

It showed yet again Saturday.

For a minute there, it looked like QPR might just do it.

Headed goals from Jay Bothroyd and Heidar Helguson (really, another for Bothroyd) put the London club on even terms with their fellow spenders. But then the bigger spenders got their money's worth.

Who would have guessed it, though, right? With all those superstar players available, all those transfer fees sitting on the substitutes' bench, who scores the winning goal?

Yaya Toure, the guy who plays every match—that's who. Now, he's no starving artist or anything. We're sure his paycheck is suitably ridiculous.

But with that said, he does fit the mold of committed footballer better than most of his privileged, pricey teammates. And if we have to watch City beat everybody this season, it might as well be someone like Yaya Toure getting some of the glory.

It was a fittingly manly strike for the imposing Ivorian. His 6-3 frame towered seemingly 50 feet in the air to power the winning header into the QPR net.

QPR gave it a good shot. At 2-2 it seemed like anything could happen. And over the course of the season, they've shown they can play with England's top teams.

None, however, are better than City, and in a way, Saturday showed that. They didn't play their best game, and QPR played the role of spirited, plucky and pesky hosts to perfection.

But it didn't matter. City just have too much of everything.

Sigh. Surely this is your title-winning team, right?