( CNN ) -- Arsenal may top the English Premier League table going into 2014 , but Jose Mourinho leads the way when it comes to post-match performances . After a hard-fought 2-1 win that kept his Chelsea team in touch with Arsenal and Manchester City ahead of the EPL 's New Year 's Day program , Mourinho sought to deflect any possible criticism of his players with a blustering counter-attack . When questioned about key incidents in Sunday 's match , which continued the tense clashes between the two teams in recent years , the Portuguese manager accused Luis Suarez of `` an acrobatic swimming pool jump '' and going down `` like somebody shot him . '' This was after Chelsea 's match-winner Samuel Eto ' o had clearly body-checked the 19-goal striker off the ball inside his own penalty area while Cesar Azpilicueta cleared the ball . `` Suarez lost a duel with Azpilicueta ... and now he 's doing an acrobatic swimming pool jump to try to get the penalty , because he 's so clever because he 's in the area where the Liverpool supporters are behind , '' Mourinho insisted at his press conference . `` But ( referee Howard ) Webb is 10 meters away . And I think the only mistake Webb did was not to give him a yellow card . '' Suarez has a reputation of going to ground too easily , but this season the Uruguayan has been a reformed man -- being named interim captain by Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers -- following last season 's eight-match ban for biting Chelsea 's Branislav Ivanovic . `` The player is amazing , '' acknowledged Mourinho , who has yet to suffer a home league defeat in his two spells at Stamford Bridge . `` He does everything to win and Brendan is doing a fantastic job on him because he 's changed . There 's no doubt that he 's changed . `` But when the situation is like this and you are losing comes the nature of the player , the wild nature of the player or the cultural nature of the player . `` Culturally people from that area ( South America ) , they like it . It 's not also that area . There 's a corner in Europe where I belong to , that they also like diving . '' Rodgers , meanwhile , was aggrieved that Eto ' o was still on the pitch following a high tackle on Jordan Henderson that provided the free-kick for Martin Skrtel 's early opening goal -- the defender pounced from close range after Ivanovic tussled with Suarez . Eden Hazard leveled with a superb curling effort , and Eto ' o poked in a 34th-minute winner from Oscar 's low cross . `` He should 've been sent off , '' Rodgers said of the Cameroon striker . `` I know we scored from it , but that was a wild challenge , where he 's raked down his knee and down his shin and did n't even get a yellow card . `` Luis will always provoke a challenge from defenders , that 's why he 's world-class . What he probably does n't expect is to provoke a challenge from someone who 's not involved in the contact . `` He 's running to challenge Azpilicueta and Eto ' o is streetwise , he 's cute , he blocks him . On another day you could give that as a penalty , because it 's obstruction in the area . '' Rodgers was measured in his comments after being charged by the English Football Association for criticizing match officials following Liverpool 's 2-1 defeat by Manchester City on Thursday . His team topped the table last weekend , but a second straight reverse left the Reds in fifth place -- six points behind Arsenal , and four adrift of third-placed Chelsea . The team leading going into the new year has won the title for seven of the past nine years , though Arsenal was one of the exceptions in 2007-08 , dropping back to third . The London side was missing record signing Mesut Ozil and top scorer Aaron Ramsey for Sunday 's trip to in-form Newcastle , but battled to a vital 1-0 victory thanks to Olivier Giroud 's eighth league goal this season . The France striker glanced in Theo Walcott 's 65th-minute free-kick to inflict Newcastle 's first league defeat since October . `` There is something in the team that is special on the mental front , '' said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger . `` We have many times been questioned , but we have shown that at West Ham , where we were 1-0 down , we have shown that again today , where we were a bit backs-to-the-wall in the last 15 minutes . `` Last year in this period , we were out of the championship race , but in 2013 , we have been quite consistent . '' Arsenal 's win allowed London rival Tottenham to move up to seventh place above Newcastle with a 3-0 win at home to 12th-placed Stoke , as Spain striker Roberto Soldado netted a penalty before Belgium midfielder Mousa Dembele and England winger Aaron Lennon added the others . Everton climbed above Merseyside rival Liverpool into fourth with a 2-1 win at home to ninth-placed Southampton , as on-loan Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku struck the 74th-minute winner -- the Belgium international 's ninth in the league this season .
Third - placed Everton two points behind Arsenal after beating Liverpool 2 - 1 . Samuel Eto ' o scores winning goal , Everton scored Liverpool 's opener with foul . Arsenal top of the table following Sunday 's 1 - 0 victory at Chelsea . Everton in fourth above Liverpool after winning 2 - 1 against Southampton .