Premier League December Review: Top Moments & Highlights

December, tis the season to be jolly, but not always. After a wealth of festive fixtures, last minute drama and changes in the dugout, it was a month to remember in the Premier League. Mo Salah! How cheeky is that? The star performers of the festive fixtures were Nuno Espírito Santo's Nottingham Forest, who went into the final weekend of the year with a chance to go second for the first time in 30 years, pulling four consecutive wins. A comfortable 2-0 victory at Everton to end 2024 means Forest end the year in third place in the Premier League table, just behind Arsenal. I'm very happy. You can see, of course. Especially happy because we compete very well, we perform very well. There are generations of Forest fans who have never seen the team performing so well, and they enter the new year dreaming of a fairytale ending to their remarkable campaign. Chris Woods! It's in! Nottingham Forest have a two-goal lead. Manchester City supporters are rather more used to sustained success, so their December struggles were the most surprising story of the month. Following defeat to Liverpool, they bounced back with victory over Forest, earning their first three points since beating bottom-side Southampton back in October. But taking the lead in the Manchester derby proved to be the tip of the iceberg as their day turned from a dream into a nightmare. Well, this is another collapse. I'm the manager, and I'm not good enough. It's as simple as that. To find a way to talk to them, to train with them, the way you have to play, the way you have to press, the way you have to build up. And I'm not good enough. I'm not doing well. A subsequent defeat at Aston Villa meant City had already lost nine games in all competitions this season, an unthinkable statistic with the reigning four-time champions so renowned for their metronomic consistency. A miracle stop from Stéphane Ortega couldn't prevent another loss at Aston Villa, but their injury list began to shorten towards the end of the month, which saw Pep Guardiola earn a 2-0 win at Leicester in his 500th game in charge. But conceding a 14-point gap to league leaders Liverpool could be too big to close, even at this stage of the season. In the grand scheme of things, sitting in sixth place at New Year could be much worse, as was the case on the west side of Manchester. Despite the win at City and putting four past Everton, the rest of Manchester United's month wasn't easy watching for fans as they had to adjust to a new way of playing under head coach Ruben Amerim, losing six matches in all competitions in December and conceding 18 goals, their most in a single month since March 1964. We showed some improvements in the first games, especially against City and Tottenham, even in Arsenal in the first moment, but we are losing that because of the lack of training and the lack of belief after so many losses. Tottenham Hotspur also had a month to forget, with their defence decimated by injuries and ending the month missing four of their first-choice back five and conceding 15 league goals in the calendar month, compared to just four in November. A chaotic 6-3 home defeat to Liverpool was their heaviest punishment, but Ange Costacoglu did oversee a 5-0 first-half demolition away at Southampton, which proved to be the breaking point for the club's relationship with manager Russell Martin. His replacement, Ivan Juric, has prioritised defensive stability. Narrow defeats to West Ham and Crystal Palace left them with just six points at the end of the year and with miracles to perform in order to ensure their survival. Another new face arrived in the Premier League in the form of Vitor Pereira as Wolves waved farewell to Gary O'Neill, following a stoppage-time winner from Ipswich. Jack Taylor netting in the 94th minute, before emotions ran high after the final whistle, with Ryan Ait Nouri being shown a red card. But they received the mythical new manager bounce, as Pereira's first game in charge saw them run out 3-0 winners away at Leicester, with starring roles by Gonzalo Guedes and Mateus Cunha. My job is to give them confidence and, like I said before, a tactical GPS, to know what to do in each moment of the game. A 2-0 win over Manchester United was all Wolves fans could have dreamed for, and Pereira provided more points as they ended the year with a 2-0 draw at Spurs to edge them clear of the relegation zone. Ait Nouri redeemed himself by assisting both goals for his new coach, and Wang He-Chan scored for the second consecutive game. Ruud van Nistelrooy was back at pitchside too, having previously been caretaker manager at Manchester United and now freshly installed at Leicester City. His first match was a 3-1 win against West Ham that got the King Power Stadium bouncing. But a draw with Brighton and four successive subsequent losses mean they end 2024 in the relegation zone alongside Kieran McKenna's Ipswich, who ended the year on a high as they stunned Chelsea with a hard-fought 2-0 victory, earning them their first home win in the Premier League since 2002. To get one over the line at home, to do it against a team like Chelsea, to do it on a night game, to do it the last game of 2024, it's a pretty special night. Wins over Wolves and Southampton eased the pressure on Julian Lopetegui's West Ham, who went unbeaten in four Premier League matches to move themselves to within five points to the European places before a humbling 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool. The Hammers had to contend with the loss of their focal point in attack for much of December as Mikael Antonio was involved in a car accident. A special celebration followed Thomas Socek's early second half opener against Wolves telling the news that the club's all-time leading scorer in the Premier League would need to undergo surgery. Crystal Palace's fortunes were also steadily improving under Oliver Glasner, with wins against Ipswich and a morale-boosting 3-1 victory away at heated rivals Brighton and Hove Albion. Palace lost just one game in December as Arsenal ran riot at Selhers Park but were otherwise solid and have not been beaten by a team in the bottom half of the table since Everton's 2-1 win at Goodison Park in late September. It was a good month for the Toffees off the pitch as they announced a takeover by the Friedkin Group, ending the club's long search for new ownership. Their on-field fortunes were looking up too as Sean Dicey's side scored crucial goals and fortified their defence which became one of the meanest in the league. Brentford, another team struggling with injuries, who despite a brilliant 4-2 win over Newcastle suffered defeats to Villa, Chelsea and Forest, the latter ending a season-long unbeaten run at the GTEC Community Stadium for Thomas Frank's side. With traditional Big Six sides Manchester United and Spurs struggling, others were maximising their opportunity to sneak into Europe. Fulham and Bournemouth are both firmly in contention with the Cottagers on fire during another strong month under Marco Silva as he held Arsenal at home before a standout performance from left-back Anthony Robinson in a 2-2 draw away at leaders Liverpool cemented their credentials as a top-half side. The icing on the cake was a 2-1 Boxing Day win over West London rivals Chelsea, with Silva bringing Harry Wilson and Rodrigo Muniz off the bench to turn the game around at Stamford Bridge. And leave the away fan delirious with delight. Bournemouth had a brilliant month too, undefeated and securing wins against Spurs, Ipswich and a second successive 3-0 away victory at Manchester United, all serving to further enhance Andoni Iraiola's reputation. I value the points. We have 28 points and these ones will not disappear, but they are not enough for anything. We have to add a lot of points still. Also in the chase are Aston Villa, whose away form has suffered from their Champions League exploits, and Newcastle, whose 3-0 victory over the Villains saw them leapfrog Unai Emery's side in the table. Fabian Schär's late equaliser against Liverpool in Matchweek 14 was a big boost as the Magpies ended the year with a 2-0 win at Old Trafford, their fourth consecutive victory without conceding a goal and Alexander Isak scoring for the sixth game in a row. We want to win every game, regardless of who we play. I always say we respect the opposition, but we don't fear anybody. But then actually stepping forward and delivering the performances under pressure in the environment isn't always easy. So I do think it's a big step forward today, but we need to do it again in two other grounds very similar to today's and Tottenham and Arsenal in our next two games. Brighton are also in contention as the league's youngest manager, Fabian Hertzler, continues to build his reputation. But despite some brilliant goals, it wasn't the strongest month for the South Coast side, who slipped to 10th place after drawing four games. But sitting pretty at the top of the table, it's safe to say Liverpool remain the benchmark under new manager Arne Slott. Luis Diaz scores for Liverpool! Despite draws against a resilient Newcastle and with 10 men against Fulham, Slott's side rounded off the year by seeing off Manchester City, Spurs, Leicester and West Ham and scoring 21 league goals in December. Their attack was spearheaded by an informed Cody Gakpo and the peerless Mohamed Salah, who scored and assisted for the eighth different Premier League game against West Ham. Already the most any player has done so in a single campaign, with half of the season still to play. We can only hope that he can bring these performances in. But I would like to add that if he scores, there's also a lead-up to him scoring. So there are also other players that bring him in these positions. But if you bring Mo in these positions, he's extraordinary. With City falling away, Arsenal, Forest and Chelsea emerged as their closest challengers. The Gunners' recovery from their autumn wobble was in full swing. Their brilliance from set-pieces this season made evident by two goals from corners as they dispatched Manchester United. But despite going undefeated since November, they were held to draws by both Fulham and Everton and suffered a huge setback when the Kaya Saka lasted just 24 minutes of his 250th Gunners' appearance before he was forced off with a hamstring tear. Wins against Crystal Palace, Ipswich and Brentford saw Mikael Arteta's team ending the year in second place, six points behind the leaders. Enzo Maresca's Chelsea lie fourth, having been as high as second before a 0-0 draw with Everton and defeats to Fulham and Ipswich. A convincing win against Villa and hitting four goals in a thrilling comeback victory over Spurs were highlights of a strong month for the Blues. Jadon Sancho's pinpoint strike and Cole Palmer's Panenka penalty signed to the confidence flowing through one of the league's squads. So at the halfway point of the season it remains all to play for and you can follow all the latest news on every club at PremierLeague.com and in the official Premier League app.