London, Nov 29 (IANS): Chelsea's lead at the top of the Premier League was reduced to one point over Manchester City and two over Liverpool after their two pursuers won their matches this weekend, while Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw by Manchester United.
In what is likely to be the last game before Ralf Ragnick is confirmed as interim coach, United adopted a cautious approach on Sunday night with Cristiano Ronaldo on the subs' bench and didn't get near the Chelsea penalty area for over 20 minutes.
Jadon Sancho scored his first Premier League goal in the 50th minute after an error from Jorginho, but the Chelsea midfielder made amends in the 69th minute from the penalty spot after Aaron Wan Bissaka had fouled Thiago Silva and Chelsea nearly took all three points when Silva blazed over when unmarked at the far post in the 97th minute.
The game between Burnley and Tottenham was called off due to heavy snow, while nearby Manchester City's 2-1 win at home game against West Ham was also delayed at halftime to allow ground staff to clear heavy snow from the pitch after a first-half snowfall had covered the lines, Xinhua reports. Ilkay Gundogan opened the scoring from close range in the 33rd minute and Fernandinho, who had just come on as a substitute, secured the win in the last minute of normal time, although Manuel Lanzini then netted a stunning late consolation for the visitors.
Claudio Ranieri has a disappointing return to the King Power Stadium as Watford coach, five years after leading Leicester City to the Premier League title, when his former side beat his current team 4-2.
Jamie Vardy scored twice while James Maddison and Amedola Lookman also got on the scoresheet for Leicester, while Josh King and Emmanuel Bonaventura scored for Watford.
Brentford striker Ivan Tomey got his revenge on Rafael Benitez, who released him when the duo were at Newcastle United when he scored from the penalty spot to end Brentford's five-game run without a win as they defeated Everton 1-0.
The defeat piles the pressure on Benitez ahead of the Merseyside derby at home to Liverpool on December 1.
Liverpool moved to within two points of Chelsea at the top of the Premier League with a 4-0 win at home to Southampton. Diogo Jota's 97th-second goal following an Andrew Robertson cross put them in the lead, before the Portuguese doubled his tally in the 32nd minute and Thiago Alcantara's left foot shot five minutes later ended the game as a contest, with only Virgil van Djik's 52nd-minute strike to add to the scores in the second half.
Steven Gerrard continued his winning start to life in the Premier League as Aston Villa won 2-1 away to Crystal Palace thanks to goals from Matt Targett in the 15th minute and John McGinn's first time shot five minutes from time.
Second half goals from Bakary Saka and Gabriel Martinelli saw Arsenal ease past bottom of the table Newcastle, who remain winless after 13 games.
Norwich City stretched their unbeaten run to three games with a 0-0 draw at home to Wolves, but will be disappointed to not have taken a third consecutive win after Wolves keeper Jose Sa denied both Teemu Pukki and Lukas Rupp with late saves.