While the rest of the world stops at the end of the year to catch the festivities, football in England, as always, followed. The traditional round of Boxing Day, which marks the centenary-plus holiday in the Commonwealth of Nations that coincides with the (informally recognized) first football match in history, caused a stir in the Premier League this Sunday (26).
full time | A Boxing Day classic! I
6-3 #man City pic.twitter.com/MdJYj111dT
— Manchester City (@ManCity) December 26, 2021
Championship leader and defending champion Manchester City had an emotional duel against Leicester City. Pep Guardiola’s team started 4–0 in only 25 minutes of play, but saw the opponent make a comeback from the break to complicate things, taking the loss 4–3 in the first 20 minutes of the second leg. reduced. City, however, managed to take a breather by scoring two more goals and won 6-3, insisting on Sterling, who scored twice. Manchester team now remains on top with 47 points from 19 matches played.
Second, tied at 41, come Liverpool and Chelsea. The defending European champions beat Aston Villa 3-1 away from home with two goals from Brazilian-born Italian Jorginho.
Three-Punch KO! I#Avalche pic.twitter.com/ELdgg3rlYD
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 26, 2021
In the fourth, Arsenal ignored Norwich City and lost 5–0 away from home. The main attraction was Bukayo Saka, the author of Do Goal.
Boxing Day Bliss!
COYG
0-5 (FT)#norars pic.twitter.com/I3E4BkdlJw
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 26, 2021
A goal from Brazil’s Lucas Moura also helped Tottenham beat Crystal Palace 3-0.
Merry Christmas! I pic.twitter.com/vjYwOVWk5z
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) December 26, 2021
In another match that had already ended, Southampton beat West Ham 3–2 away from home.
incomplete phase due to covid-19
There are still two matches left for round number 19 of the Premier League. Yet this Sunday, Brighton and Brentford will face off, and on Monday (27) Newcastle will host Manchester United. The increase in the number of cases of the new coronavirus (Covid-19) in the UK has led to the postponement of three other games: Burnley v Everton, Wolverhampton v Watford and Liverpool v Leeds United. Some of the teams involved claimed there was no minimum number of athletes to be able to take the field.
The Reds, runners-up in the competition, will have a chance to get closer to Manchester City, but Leeds was hit by an outbreak in which five players were infected on the eve of the match.
