Manchester City stumbled to the most unexpected defeat of the Premier League season on Saturday before neighbours Manchester United began their brave new world under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a glorious reminder of long-forgotten attacking swagger.
Manchester United's struggle to achieve a top-four finish continued on Tuesday as Zlatan Ibrahimovic came to their rescue with an added time penalty to salvage a 1-1 draw against Everton in their Premier League clash at Old Trafford.
Manchester United spurned a chance to move into the Premier League's top four after striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic missed a penalty in a 1-1 draw against 10-man Bournemouth on Saturday.
Premier League clubs Watford and Hull City, and Championship side Leeds United paid the penalty for fielding weakened teams when they were all knocked out of the FA Cup in the fourth round on Sunday -- but holders Manchester United won comfortably.
Manchester City soared above the fog swirling round the Etihad Stadium to demolish Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 and leave the rest of the Premier League peering into the distance in search of Pep Guardiola's record-breaking team on Saturday.
The win moved Spurs up to third but unbeaten Manchester City still looked in a class of their own at the top as Leroy Sane scored twice in a 4-0 stroll over West Ham United.
Christian Benteke headed home from close range as Liverpool grabbed a stoppage-time leveller to snatch a point against Chelsea in a 1-1 draw on Wednesday after Eden Hazard's dazzling opener for the visitors.
The Argentine scores a hat-trick to become the highest foreign goal scorer in the Premier League on Sunday. Also, in bagging a 12th Premier League hat-trick he surpassed the 11 of Alan Shearer with whom he had shared the record.
Images from the English Premier League matches played across England on Tuesday
Manchester City suffered their first home Premier League loss in eight months as a shock 3-2 defeat by Crystal Palace on Saturday left Pep Guardiola's champions trailing leaders Liverpool by four points.
Watford climbed into the top four of the Premier League after Tom Cleverley's 92nd-minute goal gave them a 2-1 victory over Arsenal at Vicarage Road on Saturday.
Arsenal manager Unai Emery was pleased with his team's first away clean sheet of the season.
Goals from Victor Moses and Daniel Sturridge eased Liverpool through a tricky FA Cup fourth round tie at Championship (second division) Bournemouth on Saturday although they had to work hard for a 2-0 victory.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Tuesday
Premier League leaders Manchester City won their derby with United 3-1, while Liverpool kept pace with a home win over Fulham.
Jamie Vardy equalled the English Premier League record by scoring for a 10th successive match as his Leicester City side went top after winning 3-0 at Newcastle United while champions Chelsea ended their slump with a 1-0 win over Norwich City on Saturday.
Bitter rivals Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho had wildly contrasting afternoons on Saturday as Arsenal went top of the Premier League and champions Chelsea lost again with their manager being sent off.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Liverpool's dream run was demolished in the most unlikely fashion by strugglers Watford on Saturday in what must be considered the most extraordinary reverse of the entire Premier League season. On the evening when the European champions were expected to complete the best sequence in the history of English football's top-flight with a 19th straight league victory, they were instead hammered 3-0 by the team lying one from bottom. Images from the EPL matches played on Saturday.
IMAGES from the English Premier League match played on Saturday
Eric Choupo-Moting scored his third Ligue 1 goal of the season on Sunday but the Paris St Germain forward's incredible miss later in the game was the moment that will be remembered from his performance in Sunday's 2-2 draw against Racing Strasbourg.
As the countdown to 2018 starts, it's time to rewind those moments in sport that stood out this year.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
First-half goals by Danny Welbeck and Alex Iwobi earned Arsenal a first win in four league games to revive their Premier League title hopes in the early kickoff at Goodison Park on Saturday.
The former Chelsea goalkeeper had to wait for 11 games to reach the landmark and produced an inspired performance that included a second-half penalty save from Watford striker Troy Deeney to help Arsenal seal the win.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Tuesday
Santi Cazorla scored a 94th-minute penalty as sub-par Arsenal beat Southampton on Saturday with Laurent Koscielny's overhead kick having earlier cancelled out Petr Cech's own goal.
Images from the English Premier League matches played at Old Trafford on Saturday
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
David de Gea's late own goal earned Sunderland a 2-1 win over Manchester United on Saturday and a vital three points in their bid for Premier League survival.
Manchester United stretched their unbeaten run to 11 games in all competitions after Daley Blind, in-form striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and substitute Henrik Mkhitaryan gave them a 3-1 home win over Sunderland on Monday. Left back Blind fired United ahead with a crisp 39th-minute shot after Ibrahimovic teed him up perfectly. The towering Swede doubled the lead with a clinical 82nd-minute finish for his 17th goal of the season. Fit-again Mkhitaryan put the icing on the cake with a spectacular backheel effort after a sharp Ibrahimovic cross from the right, although television replays suggested the Armenian was marginally offside. Striker Fabio Borini gave Sunderland fans something to cheer with a dipping late volley.
Chelsea came from behind to secure a 3-1 win at Manchester City and forge further clear at the top of the Premier League as a dramatic top-of-the-table clash ended in a mass brawl and two City players being sent off on Saturday.
La Liga champions Real Madrid beat Getafe 3-1 on Saturday with a goal from Gareth Bale and two strikes from Cristiano Ronaldo to go 12 points behind leaders Barcelona and warm up for next week's Champions League game at Paris St Germain.