Tottenham Hotspur recorded a comfortable home victory over AFC Bournemouth to ensure they will move into the New Year in fifth position and one point off their North London rivals, Arsenal.
Goals from Pape Matar Sarr, Heung-Min Son and Richarlison helped Tottenham on their way before Alex Scott's late consolation for the South coast side.
For Andoni Iraola's side, it ended their impressive seven game unbeaten run in which they had beaten the likes of Manchester United, Newcastle United and drawn to Aston Villa.
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Story of the match
Going into the game, Dejan Kulusevski was the only typical first team player expected not to appear in Ange Postecoglou's starting line-up, after he received his fifth yellow card in the last game versus Brighton - picking up a one-game ban.
The Lilywhites were able to open the scoring, just eight minutes in courtesy of Sarr, who received the ball from Giovani Lo Celso.
Once again, just 13 minutes in, Marcus Tavernier had a shot which fell just a foot away from the right hand post, landing comfortably in Guglielmo Vicario's hands.
Emerson Royal had Tottenham's second shot on goal which was comfortably saved by Bournemouth's goalkeeper, Neto, 17 minutes in.
25 minutes in, Richarlison was able to slip the ball into Son on the left wing approaching the 18 yard box, giving him the opportunity for an effort.
Going into the African Cup of Nations in January, Sarr's participation may be in doubt after he was substituted off just 31 minutes in after picking up an injury.
Sarr came off in exchange for Oliver Skipp much earlier than he would have anticipated and clearly in distress.
Just three minutes after Sarr was taken off, Luis Sinisterra for Bournemouth had a near post header on the left side.
36 minutes in, Dominic Solanke went down after a clash with Destiny Udogie, however Bournemouth's number nine was able to run the injury off and come back on.
Attempting a run, Tavernier was able to win a free kick just out of the 18 yard box, which he also took after Lo Celso caught him in a tackle.
Vicario was able to cover the goal, however the shot landed just past the left-hand post of Bournemouth's goal.
Bournemouth were able to create a chance for Justin Kluivert, who had a shot for the Cherries, drifting about a metre away from the right-hand post of Vicario's goal.
Three minutes into added time in the first half, Solanke was able to turn his body slightly and fire a shot at goal, in Bournemouth's most promising chance for an equaliser before the interval.
Once again, Kluivert had a shot just inside the 18 yard box, blocked by Pedro Porro for a corner on the right hand-side.
Udogie conceded a corner just before the half time whistle blew, which was overhit by Lewis Cook to land a goal kick.
Cook took a corner from the left-hand side of Vicario’s second-half goal, in which - took a shot a shot on target, pushed out for a save by the Spurs goalkeeper.
After a mistake by a Bournemouth defender 51 minutes in, Richarlison was left in on goal, however the striker drifted his shot just past the right hand side of Neto's goal.
56 minutes in, Lo Celso went down in the box, after Max Aarons was looked to get a touch on the Spurs midfielder, leading Tottenham to appeal for a penalty which was rejected by VAR.
Rodrigo Bentancur was substituted off soon after for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, after an earlier return than expected, following an injury inflicted by Matty Cash in Tottenham's game versus Aston Villa at the end of November.
Sinisterra went on a run, passing the ball to Solanke, who went in for a shot which landed wide of the mark.
Son had Spurs' second with 20 minutes to play, as the skipper whipped his shot into the bottom right of Neto's goal with his left foot.
Less than three minutes later, Skipp passed the goal into Son which he failed to receive after he fell down in the box, Richarlison then regained possession and shot, but it was pushed away by Neto.
79 minutes in, Richarlison scored a third for Spurs, crossed in by Brennan Johnson and tapped into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal.
Following this, Postecoglou substituted Lo Celso off for Bryan Gil and Royal off for Eric Dier as Tottenham looked to secure a clean sheet.
Just as Spurs thought a clean sheet was possible, 83 minutes in, substitute Alex Scott scored tapped home Tavernier's cross into the box.
This also mirrored the finish of the last two goals, scored by Son and Richarlison, with the ball landing in the right-hand bottom corner of Vicario's goal.
Drama continued to build as Hojbjerg got to the by-line with the ball and passed to Son, who missed his shot just a few feet away from the goal line, as the game approached a frantic stoppage time.
After coming on 82 minutes in, 20 year-old Alejo Veliz was seen coming off injured three minutes into the stoppage time after only scoring his first goal for the club in Tottenham's last game against Brighton.
Almost 100 minutes in, after only allocating eight extra minutes initially, Bournemouth scored a goal that was ruled out as offside by the linesman and referee.
The check by VAR took an extra minute to be completed and the whistle was blown at almost 102 minutes into the game.
This victory leaves Tottenham 5th in the Premier League table, one point off Man City and their rivals, Arsenal who just lost 2-1 to Fulham.
Bournemouth are left in 12th, three points behind joint-place Wolves and Chelsea.