While the rest of the world stops at the end of the year to watch the festivities, football in England followed, as usual. The traditional round of Boxing Day, in reference to more than the centenary holiday of the Commonwealth of Nations that coincides with the first (unofficially recognized) football match in history, raised the English Premier League on Sunday (26).
full time | Classic Boxing Day! ✨
6-3 #city of Manchester pic.twitter.com/MdJYj111dT
– Manchester City (ManCity) December 26, 2021
Championship leaders and defending champions Manchester City fought an emotional duel against Leicester City. Pep Guardiola’s side opened 4-0 in just 25 minutes of play, but saw the opponent come back from the first half ready to make things difficult, reducing the disadvantage to 4-3 in the first 20 minutes of the second stage. However, City managed to breathe two more goals and win 6-3, focusing on Sterling who scored two goals. The Manchester team is still in the lead, now with 47 points from 19 games played.
Second, tied with 41, come Liverpool and Chelsea. The current European champions beat Aston Villa 3-1 away with two goals from Brazilian-born Italian Jorginho.
Three KO punches! 🥊# falsie pic.twitter.com/ELdgg3rlYD
– Chelsea (ChelseaFC) December 26, 2021
In fourth place, Arsenal ignored Norwich City and thrashed their home 5-0, the highlight of which was Bukayo Saka, who scored both goals.
Boxing Day Bliss!
koj 👊
🟡 0-5 🔵 (foot)#norrs pic.twitter.com/I3E4BkdlJw
Arsenal December 26, 2021
Tottenham did not face any difficulties in beating Crystal Palace 3-0 with a goal from Brazilian Lucas Moura.
Merry Christmas! 🎄 pic.twitter.com/vjYwOVWk5z
– Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) December 26, 2021
And in another match that had already ended, Southampton beat West Ham away 3-2.
Incomplete tour due to COVID-19
There are still two clashes left in the 19th round of the English Premier League. With that, Brighton and Brentford will face on Sunday, and on Monday (27) Newcastle will host Manchester United. Three more matches have been postponed due to the increase in the number of cases of the emerging coronavirus (Covid-19) in the United Kingdom: Burnley – Everton, Wolverhampton – Watford, and Liverpool – Leeds United. Some participating teams claimed that they did not have the minimum number of athletes to be able to enter the field.
The Reds, runners-up in the competition, will have the chance to get close to Manchester City, but Leeds has been hit by an outbreak, with five players infected on the eve of the match.
