Full Premier League video highlights and match reports from every Premier League contest, as Southampton claimed a rare win at Stamford Bridge and Aston Villa beat Norwich.
Conor Hourihane breathed fresh life into Aston Villa's survival hopes as his goal earned a crucial win over Norwich.
The substitute struck in the second half to seal a 1-0 victory and strike a huge blow to the Canaries' own hopes of staying up.
Villa had lost seven of their previous nine top-flight games and, while victory failed to lift them out of the Premier League relegation zone, they head to Watford on Saturday with renewed hope, now a point from safety.
Norwich slumped to the bottom of the Premier League after a 10th defeat in 14 games and were again left to rue missed chances.
Sam Byram hit the bar and headed wide, Douglas Luiz cleared Alex Tettey's drive off the line and Tom Heaton saved from Tom Trybull all before Hourihane's opener.
The Canaries were the better side for long spells but paid the price for their lack of cutting edge and, even with half the season left, appear on course for a swift return to the Sky Bet Championship.
A point would have done little to aid either sides' survival chances and, while Norwich were more composed, they failed to force Heaton into a serious first-half save.
Villa, though, created the best chance nine minutes before the break.
Norwich have leaked goals regularly this term and Anwar El Ghazi should have cashed in when Matt Targett's ball found him, but the unmarked midfielder steered wide from 12 yards.
The Canaries needed to find the end product to complement their build-up but were denied an opener four minutes into the second half by a sensational clearance from Luiz.
Marvelous Nakamba failed to clear and Tettey's drive beat Heaton but not Luiz who threw himself across goal to turn the ball over.
From the corner Heaton saved Trybull's header, with Villa under serious pressure.
It was the same old story for Norwich, who have failed to take their chances this season, when Villa grabbed the winner after 64 minutes.
Grealish held off Trybull's challenge to pick out Hourihane and the substitute, only on the pitch for eight minutes, swept his finish into the top corner from 16 yards.
Norwich, who have not won a point after falling behind this season, rarely looked like recovering, but Heaton had to save smartly from Onel Hernandez's late drive.
Mikel Arteta was forced to settle for a point from his first match as Arsenal head coach after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang salvaged a 1-1 draw at struggling Bournemouth.
The Spaniard received a swift reminder of the sizeable job facing him in north London when Dan Gosling's first-half opener threatened to ruin his managerial debut.
But the Gunners dominated possession at the Vitality Stadium and prevented a sixth Premier League defeat of a dismal season as captain Aubameyang slotted home a deserved 63rd-minute equaliser.
Despite some encouraging signs on the south coast for the former Manchester City assistant coach, his side were unable to force a winner and far tougher tests than facing out-of-form opponents ravaged by injury lie ahead.
Arteta did not sit down for the entirety of the contest as he animatedly encouraged his players and passed on instructions from the technical area.
The visitors enjoyed greater first-half possession but squandered a series of half chances and failed to hit the target before the break.
Recalled Frenchman Lacazette was twice snuffed out before he could unleash a shot, while Reiss Nelson and Aubameyang were each denied by last-ditch blocks at the end of the same move.
When the opening goal did arrive, Arsenal were guilty of contributing to their own downfall.
Left-back Bukayo Saka conceded possession deep inside Gunners territory, culminating in Jack Stacey being released on the right by Callum Wilson and producing a low cross for the onrushing Gosling to poke home his second goal in three games from inside the six-yard box.
The 35th-minute breakthrough was the Cherries' first attempt on target in three home matches and came after England striker Wilson - without a goal in 10 matches ahead of kick-off - earlier whistled a powerful volley over.
Arsenal's lengthy recent slump had left them languishing in the bottom half of the table at Christmas for the first time since 1983.
Arteta's half-time team talk almost became more difficult when Joshua King was narrowly unable to squeeze the ball beyond Bernd Leno at the end of a powerful surge down the left wing.
The former Gunners captain had swivelled to puff his cheeks at his backroom staff following Gosling's opener but resisted temptation to make changes at the break.
His patience was rewarded with 27 minutes remaining when the Gunners levelled with their first shot on target.
Nelson's attempt from the edge of the box was tame but it deflected perfectly into the path of captain Aubameyang, who slotted his 14th goal of the campaign into the bottom left corner.
On the balance of play, it was a well-deserved equaliser and would have been followed by a swift second had Lacazette been able to finish when through on goal.
Michael Obafemi and Nathan Redmond struck to deepen Chelsea's Stamford Bridge woes as Southampton claimed a fine Premier League win in west London.
Ralph Hasenhuttl's Saints battled their way to a fourth league victory in six matches, and their second win on the spin away from home.
The wretched home form of Frank Lampard's men took another turn for the worse, with the Blues sinking to a sixth loss in 15 Stamford Bridge matches in all competitions this term.
Chelsea also suffered consecutive home Premier League defeats for the first time since 2011, when the Stamford Bridge men endured successive losses to Arsenal and Liverpool.
Ryan Bertrand's booking for time wasting less than half an hour into the contest underscored Saints' entire strategy to scrap for the the ball.
Obafemi was put through on goal by his captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and seized on the space afforded by the tentative Fikayo Tomori to curl a smart finish past a helpless Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Callum Hudson-Odoi lost the ball cheaply to allow Hojbjerg the time to thread Obafemi into space.
The England hitman lashed goalwards, only to see the ball flash past the wrong side of the post.
Saints continued to threaten on the break however, with Redmond tormenting Antonio Rudiger before Tomori produced a desperate sliding clearance to thwart the lurking Che Adams.
Redmond should have doubled Saints' lead when played clean through, but the former Norwich and Birmingham man could only poke tamely at Kepa's legs.
Redmond did eventually prod home, when N'Golo Kante unwittingly sent the perfect ball into his path. The pacy forward diverted that loose pass beyond a stranded Kepa, and in doing so sealed a win to warm Saints hearts and put a chill into Chelsea chests.
Jordan Ayew produced a wonder goal in the 90th minute to earn Crystal Palace a 2-1 win over West Ham and pile the pressure back on Hammers manager Manuel Pellegrini.
Cheikhou Kouyate had haunted his old club with an equaliser after Robert Snodgrass' opener for the visitors, but Chilean Pellegrini looked set to watch his team make it two games without a defeat.
That was until Ayew spun away from two defenders and chipped over goalkeeper Roberto, much to the delight of boss Roy Hodgson.
For Pellegrini, it compounded another day to forget with his captain Mark Noble and team-mate Angelo Ogbonna almost coming to blows in the 53rd minute to highlight the problems at the east London club.
Palace went close in the 31st minute when Zaha controlled Luka Milivojevic's clearance, raced at Pablo Zabaleta and saw his cross come for Max Meyer. The midfielder found Ayew, yet the Ghanaian scuffed wide from close range when he should have scored.
Michail Antonio then had a couple of efforts but for the fifth consecutive game at Selhurst Park, it was goalless at the break.
Ayew was presented with another opportunity in the 53rd minute when Aaron Cresswell's back pass was short, but Roberto parried behind for a corner.
Before it could be taken, Hammers captain Noble and Ogbonna were involved in a heated discussion with the away skipper forced away from the defender by firstly Cresswell and then Antonio.
Four minutes later and it was long forgotten when Pellegrini's side attacked and Antonio found Snodgrass, who curled home for his third of the season.
Palace were searching for an equaliser while West Ham wanted a second to put the game to bed, but it was the hosts who levelled in the 68th minute.
James McArthur stood the ball up to the back post and Ayew's header dropped perfectly for Kouyate to volley in against his old club.
A winner was forthcoming on the stroke of full-time, however, when Ayew produced a moment of magic.
The forward turned away from two West Ham defenders before nonchalantly chipping over Roberto to send Palace up to eighth and leave the Hammers just above the bottom three.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin got Carlo Ancelotti's managerial reign off to a winning start as his diving header secured a 1-0 win over Burnley at Goodison Park.
The Toffees striker stretched Everton's unbeaten run to four Premier League games but Ancelotti will be aware that this was not a vintage performance from his new side.
Everton once again struggled to make the most of their dominance of possession, highlighting the need for Ancelotti's to bring in reinforcements up front, but prevailed from one predatory piece of finishing from the 22-year-old.
It will take a while for Ancelotti to implement his methods and his instructions for his first game asked more of the players than had previously been required under Silva or Ferguson.
His decision to start the match with two right-backs, Djibril Sidibe pushing into midfield to allow Seamus Coleman to return, had everything to do with the fluid way the Italian wanted his side to operate.
Out of possession they were a pretty recognisable 4-4-2 but in possession Coleman tucked into a back three and Sidibe and Lucas Digne were pushed on, allowing the recalled Bernard to move inside from where he took on the mantle of Everton's creator.
But their main failing in a first half where they enjoyed 75 per cent possession was a familiar one as they came up short in the final third.
Calvert-Lewin wasted two headers, Mason Holgate blasted straight at Nick Pope from close-range from Yerry Mina's knockdown of Gylfi Sigurdsson's free-kick while Sidibe's cross-shot was blocked by the goalkeeper's outstretched foot and, fortunately for Burnley, the rebound off Phil Bardsley bounced behind.
Robbie Brady headed wide at the other end but there was little quality on show and it appeared, with results from elsewhere going against them, Everton were destined to finish the day just two points above the relegation zone.
However, Calvert-Lewin's intervention, after Burnley lost possession in their left-back area, put the Toffees within five points of seventh-placed Wolves and gave Ancelotti a winning start.
Ben Foster produced one of the saves of the season as Watford's recent revival continued with a draw against Sheffield United.
The former England goalkeeper kept his team in the match with a superb stop from point-blank range to deny John Fleck just after the hour at Bramall Lane.
Lys Mousset traded passes with David McGoldrick before delivering a pin-point cross into the area for Fleck, who connected with the ball sweetly. It seemed a certain goal, but Foster somehow clawed the shot away from on his line to keep the score at 1-1.
It remained that way and the points were shared after Oliver Norwood's penalty cancelled out Gerard Deulofeu's opener for Watford, who climbed off the bottom of the Premier League table with the point in South Yorkshire.
The hosts saw a lot of the ball early on and Foster was twice called into action. A driving run into the penalty area from Jack O'Connell saw Oliver McBurnie prod his driven cross at the Watford goalkeeper.
It was against the run of play when Watford went ahead after 27 minutes. A long punt forward by Foster was flicked on by Chalobah behind the Blades defence, where Deulofeu had gambled by making a run between O'Connell and Chris Basham.
Deulofeu held his nerve when through on goal to calmly slide the ball between Dean Henderson and his near post.
The lead was short-lived, however, as the Blades were presented with the chance to equalise from the penalty spot after Will Hughes tripped George Baldock.
Norwood fired his spot-kick hard and low beyond Foster, who dived the right way.
The second half was a slow-burner but Foster's heroics after 64 minutes got most of Bramall Lane to its feet.
Enda Stevens was next to work Foster when his effort was helped wide by the Watford keeper 10 minutes later.
The Blades pushed for a winning goal, but they were met with an organised visiting defence and saw their three-match winning run halted.
Anthony Martial's brace bookended a thumping comeback triumph against Newcastle as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Manchester United got back to winning ways in style.
Few could have foreseen these teams being separated by goal difference over Christmas, yet Steve Bruce's side have confounded the doubters during a season in which his former side have gone from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Sunday's defeat at Watford was comfortably the most chastening to date, but Solskjaer's side bounced back from that - and Matty Longstaff's opener - to seal a 4-1 victory thanks to Martial goals either side of efforts from Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford.
This was one of the rare occasions when Man United were able to dominate possession and win - in fact, just the second time in 18 league matches - but there remains work to do, with the defence high among the priorities.
Longstaff scored the winner on a dream top-flight debut against Solskjaer's men in October and was able to open the scoring at Old Trafford, extending a club-record run without a Premier League clean sheet to a 14th match.
Yet that soft underbelly did not cost Man United this time as Martial struck a quickfire leveller, which 18-year-old Mason Greenwood added to emphatically before Rashford headed home a third as half-time approached.
An undercooked backpass from Sean Longstaff allowed Martial to add another early in a second period in which the France forward hit the post and half-time introduction Paul Pogba stepped up his return from an ankle injury.
Dele Alli continued to be the leading light of Jose Mourinho's reign at Tottenham as he scored the winner in a 2-1 victory over Brighton.
Alli produced a brilliant first-time finish to give Spurs another Boxing Day win after Harry Kane had earlier cancelled out Adam Webster's opener.
It was Alli's fifth goal in eight games under Mourinho and it will have provided some comfort to the Portuguese, who revealed before the match that his Christmas Day had been ruined by his dog dying.
The three points boost Spurs' top-four prospects and continue an incredible record on December 26 for both the club and Mourinho - on this date, they are unbeaten in 14 and eight encounters respectively.