A Very Merry Boxing Day
Even as an American, Boxing Day is legitimately one of my favorite holidays. Its main premise is that of boxing up extra/unneeded gifts and giving them to poor and less fortunate people. That's a fantastic identity for a holiday, but the international holiday also has a second identity: on this day every year, all 20 Premier League teams are in action. And as it is every year, the amount of soccer going on at once was entirely too stressful for a curious young fanatic like myself.
Let's begin with the early game, for which I woke up at 7:45. Hull City welcomed my Manchester United to the KC Stadium, in a game which ended 3-2 to the visitors. I was impressed (but not at all surprised) at Hull's dominance in the center of midfield. Huddlestone, Livermore, Koren, and Meyler absolutely dominated Cleverley and Fletcher. The former looked just as uninspiring as he usually does, playing a lot of very short passes, but nothing that would worry his opponents, while the latter looked like he was rushed back into the United starting lineup before he was fully fit. Up front, I was impressed by Danny Welbeck's ability to control even the fastest of passes in a very calm manner. In the back, Jonny Evans looked like he had a bit too much to drink on Christmas. However, my man of the match is undoubtedly Wayne Rooney. His Xavi-like vision coupled with his ... well, Rooney-like ability to play the ball wherever he wants with prime accuracy worked wonders against a less talented but resilient Hull side. Oh, and he scored a brilliant half-volley from 30 yards out that you should probably look up on YouTube.
There were eight games that kicked off at 10 AM EST. I do not nor will I ever have enough eyes to watch all of them, but I did manage to catch the West Ham/Arsenal game and the Cardiff/Southampton game, and saw highlights of all the others.
Arsenal will be incredibly thankful that Aaron Ramsey got hurt today, because the introduction of substitute Lukas Podolski made all the difference as they beat West Ham by a score of 3 goals to 1. Overall, the domination of Arsenal's center midfield trio - especially Santi Cazorla - was far too much for the Hammers to withstand for 90 minutes.
Out in Wales, my other favorite team Southampton scored three goals in the first 25 minutes of the match and held that scoreline for rest of the 90. 3-0 to the Saints over Cardiff, in a game where Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez continued their quest to make the English national squad for the World Cup.
Crystal Palace left it late to beat Aston Villa 1-0 in Birmingham. Palace's road win, coupled with road wins by Sunderland (over Everton) and Fulham (over Norwich), means that three of the bottom four clubs in the league came up with huge results on this Boxing Day.
Finally, Chelsea performed economically at home to Swansea, winning 1-0, while Tottenham and West Brom produced the only draw of the day. The latter match was highlighted by a brilliant free kick from one of my favorite players: Christian Eriksen.
In the latest match of the day, Manchester City hosted Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium. A game that went into halftime with a score of 2-1 to the team in blue ended with the same scoreline, although I would hardly say that City were the better side. Both sides had plenty of chances, and plenty of lovely possession, but the expensive talent of City shone through in the end. Also evident was Liverpool's lack of depth; substitutes Victor Moses and Iago Aspas were about as useful as Christmas trees in July. That being said, it was still Manchester City's toughest test at home in the league this season, thanks to miraculous sliding tackles from Martin Skrtel and equally as miraculous dribbling/vision from Luis Suarez.
The clubs in the Barclays Premier League will each be playing four or five games in the next 15 days, so it is entirely possible that teams like Everton or Cardiff were looking ahead instead of necessarily focusing on the tasks at hand. But I digress, and congratulate all 20 clubs for the most entertaining Boxing Day yet in my memory.
Arsenal will be incredibly thankful that Aaron Ramsey got hurt today, because the introduction of substitute Lukas Podolski made all the difference as they beat West Ham by a score of 3 goals to 1. Overall, the domination of Arsenal's center midfield trio - especially Santi Cazorla - was far too much for the Hammers to withstand for 90 minutes.
Out in Wales, my other favorite team Southampton scored three goals in the first 25 minutes of the match and held that scoreline for rest of the 90. 3-0 to the Saints over Cardiff, in a game where Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez continued their quest to make the English national squad for the World Cup.
Crystal Palace left it late to beat Aston Villa 1-0 in Birmingham. Palace's road win, coupled with road wins by Sunderland (over Everton) and Fulham (over Norwich), means that three of the bottom four clubs in the league came up with huge results on this Boxing Day.
Finally, Chelsea performed economically at home to Swansea, winning 1-0, while Tottenham and West Brom produced the only draw of the day. The latter match was highlighted by a brilliant free kick from one of my favorite players: Christian Eriksen.
In the latest match of the day, Manchester City hosted Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium. A game that went into halftime with a score of 2-1 to the team in blue ended with the same scoreline, although I would hardly say that City were the better side. Both sides had plenty of chances, and plenty of lovely possession, but the expensive talent of City shone through in the end. Also evident was Liverpool's lack of depth; substitutes Victor Moses and Iago Aspas were about as useful as Christmas trees in July. That being said, it was still Manchester City's toughest test at home in the league this season, thanks to miraculous sliding tackles from Martin Skrtel and equally as miraculous dribbling/vision from Luis Suarez.
The clubs in the Barclays Premier League will each be playing four or five games in the next 15 days, so it is entirely possible that teams like Everton or Cardiff were looking ahead instead of necessarily focusing on the tasks at hand. But I digress, and congratulate all 20 clubs for the most entertaining Boxing Day yet in my memory.
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