3 things from New Year's Day's Premier League action: Goals, goals, more goals

If New Year's Day is any indication, high-scoring matches will consume the Premier League in 2015.

A total of 33 goals were scored across the 10 fixtures that marked the calendar year's first matchday, a record figure for Jan. 1, which is viewed as one of the biggest dates of the season.

In the day's most high-scoring fixture, Tottenham shook the league table to its core by putting five goals past Chelsea and removing Jose Mourinho's side from the perch on which they stood. Elsewhere, Frank Lampard rubbed salt in the wounds of New York City FC by coming off the bench to provide Manchester City with a win over Sunderland. And in a battle between two clubs looking to squeak into the Champions League, Southampton took advantage of a sloppy defensive performance from Arsenal.

theScore's Gianluca Nesci and Carlo Campo run down three things from New Year's Day's Premier League action:

Tottenham rock Chelsea like a Harry Kane

Carlo Campo: Five goals. Five. Bloody. Goals. Against Chelsea no less.

In a match that indicated Jose Mourinho's side are perhaps more fragile than previously thought, Tottenham delivered a phenomenal attacking performance and emerged with a 5-3 win that left Chelsea second in the league table on goal differential.

As is often the case, the result was largely owed to Harry Kane's goal-scoring exploits. After Diego Costa opened the scoring courtesy of his 14th goal of the season in the 10th minute, Kane - who will almost certainly receive a call from England manager Roy Hodgson in the near future - found an equalizer following an exceptional run in which he blew by Cesc Fabregas.

It was a sign of things to come for Tottenham, as Mauricio Pochettino's side added two more goals before the interval - the first from Danny Rose and the second from an Andros Townsend penalty - to take a shocking 3-1 lead into the interval.

But back to Kane. After Eden Hazard pulled a goal back for Chelsea in the 61st minute, the 21-year-old responded with his second goal of the match that saw him shoot the ball directly between John Terry's legs and past an outstretched Thibaut Courtois.

Just look at how Kane's turn takes out three defenders at once.

Because two goals clearly weren't enough for the youngster, Kane then assisted Nacer Chadli for Tottenham's fifth goal of the match, which was humourously also scored on a shot that found its way through Terry's legs.

Despite the sketchy performance from his side, Mourinho - who had never never before witnessed Chelsea concede four goals while at the club - was quick to point out that the "moment of the game" was when the visitors should have been awarded with a penalty that could have allowed them to go up 2-0 in the first half.

A penalty, however, likely wouldn't have changed the outcome of the fixture as Tottenham simply made the most of their opportunities from start to finish.

Nor would a penalty have done much to silence Tottenham's "powerful cocktail."

Lampard the hero as Manchester City go joint-top

Gianluca Nesci: It had to be him.

Less than 24 hours after it was announced - much to the dismay of MLS supporters and New York City FC fans - that Lampard would remain with Manchester City and forego the beginning of the 2015 MLS season, the Englishman stepped up and showed why Manuel Pellegrini was so intent on retaining his services for the rest of the EPL campaign.

Lampard scored the winner in Thursday's 3-2 victory over Southampton, coming on as a substitute in the 70th minute and needing roughly 180 seconds to secure all three points for the Citizens. It's been a common theme this season at the Etihad.

The marker was a memorable one for the Englishman:

City probably shouldn't have required the 36 year old's heroics, as they built up a 2-0 lead through brilliant goals from Yaya Toure and Stevan Jovetic. The Montenegrin's, in particular, was masterful:

(Courtesy: NBCSN)

But second-half goals from former City players Jack Rodwell and Adam Johnson (penalty) drew the Black Cats level and looked set to condemn Pellegrini's men to a second consecutive draw in which they had thrown away a two-goal lead.

Thank goodness for Lampard (sorry, New York).

"Frank is very happy to stay here and we need him here," said Pellegrini. Isn't that the truth?

The result, coupled with the incredible scenes at White Hart Lane mentioned above, put the Citizens joint-top with Chelsea on 46 points. The latter remain first in the league, but only based on alphabetical order. Welcome to 2015, where every minute detail matters.

Southampton drop Arsenal to take advantage in Champions League race

Carlo Campo: "Maybe it was a New Year's present from them."

Those were the words of Southampton manager Ronald Koeman following his side's 2-0 win over Arsenal, a match in which both goals were the result of poor defending and some decision-making from Wojciech Szczesny that indicated he may have partied a little too hard on New Year's Eve.

The first goal came in the 34th minute, when Szczesny inexplicably decided to bolt from his line, allowing Sadio Mane to score his third goal in as many matches with a curler that would have made David Beckham proud.

Note Arsene Wenger's priceless reaction.

Mane was subsequently forced to exit the pitch due to an injury that was apparently sustained during his goal celebration.

In the 56th minute, Southampton then doubled their lead as a result of - that's right - another bewildering decision from Szczesny, who poked the ball directly in Dusan Tadic's direction after Arsenal's backline, and most notably Mathieu Debuchy, failed to properly clear a dangerous cut-back from James Ward-Prowse. 

Wenger's New Year's resolution hopefully has something to do with improved defense.

The result could have been worse for Arsenal, too. Southampton were the better side for most of the match and Graziano Pelle hit the woodwork on two occasions.

Frustrations are obviously running high among Arsenal supporters, exemplified by an angry fan who ran onto the pitch at St. Mary's Stadium to confront Wenger in the match's final moments.

Southampton now sit fourth in the league table with 36 points, two ahead of fifth-placed Tottenham and three ahead of sixth-placed Arsenal.