The Premier League saved its best for last in 2012 as 41 goals were scored on Saturday and Sunday - the highest number of strikes over a single weekend this season.

Manchester United maintained their seven-point lead at the top of the table with a 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion, while champions Manchester City edged out Norwich City 4-3 in a thriller at Carrow Road.

Queens Park Rangers ended their year on a losing note as they went down 3-0 to Liverpool and Stoke City staged a comeback to earn a 3-3 draw at Southampton.

However, the weekend's most bizarre result came at the Emirates Stadium as a Theo Walcott-inspired Arsenal saw off Newcastle United 7-3.

Here, Sports Mole picks out the 11 players who dazzled in their respective matches.

Ben Foster (West Brom)
The Baggies may have lost 2-0 at Manchester United, but Foster's impressive display between the sticks kept his side in the game at Old Trafford.

Kyle Walker (Spurs)
Walker gave a typically-gutsy performance for Tottenham on Saturday as they came through a tricky test at Sunderland.
Nemanja Vidic (Man Utd)
The Serbian looked to be almost back to his best against West Brom with a defiant performance.
Alex Pearce (Reading)
The 24-year-old gave little away against the power of West Ham as Reading earned an important three points against the Hammers.
Angel Rangel (Swansea)
The zippy Spaniard made an impressive return from injury in the Swans' win at Fulham.

Theo Walcott (Arsenal)
A hat-trick in Saturday's crazy 7-3 win over Newcastle proved that the Gunners need to tie Walcott down to a new deal.
Jonathan de Guzman
De Guzman has been a vital presence in midfield for Swansea this season and he capped a fine year with a well-taken goal in Saturday's victory at Fulham.
Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
The 34-year-old couldn't have done too much more to convince Chelsea to offer him a new contract thanks to a match-winning brace at Goodison Park.
Gareth Bale (Spurs)
Forget all the talk of diving, Bale was a rampant force in his team's win at Sunderland.

Luis Suarez (Liverpool)
QPR's defenders would have been glad to see the back of Suarez on Sunday after the jinking Uruguayan netted a quickfire brace in the Reds' win at Loftus Road.
Demba Ba (Newcastle)
A move to Chelsea is understood to be on the cards, but Ba would be an asset to any team in the top flight as his brace against Arsenal demonstrated.