PL MATCHDAY 18 REVIEW: Chelsea and Tottenham served knockout blows on Boxing Day encounters
By Esosa Osa
As most of Europe’s leagues went on a Christmas break, our eyes were glued to the Premier League’s traditional Boxing Day fixtures and they did not disappoint.
Manchester City saw more points slip in a 1-1 draw at home to Everton. The Champions poor run of form continued on Wednesday afternoon after failing to beat a defensively resilient Everton side.
The hosts took the lead early through Bernardo Silva and were completely in control of proceedings until a not-so-surprising equaliser by Iliman Ndiaye in the 36th minute. The match continued in the same fashion in the second-half and City were handed a golden opportunity from the spot. But out-of-form Striker, Erling Haaland saw his penalty saved by Jordan Pickford, and it proved to be a costly miss for the Citizens.
Aston Villa swallowed three goals in their away encounter against Newcastle. Anthony Gordon lifted the roof off inside two minutes with a stunning curler to beat Emiliano Martinez. In the 32nd minute, Jhon Duran was sent off for violent conduct after stepping on Fabian Schär’s back but it certainly looked like a complete mistake as his legs were simply reaching the floor after a tumble.
Newcastle compounded their woes with two second half goals by Alexander Isak and Joelinton. Chelsea were stunned by two late goals by Fulham. Cole Palmer opened the scoring with a brilliant individual goal in the first-half. The Blues went on to conjure up a couple of half-chances but to no avail. They were made to pay deep in the second-half with goals by Harry Wilson and Rodrigo Muniz.
Anthony Elanga’s third straight league goal was enough for Nottingham Forest to overcome Tottenham Hotspur. Forest currently sit 4th on the table in what is an incredible story thus far.
Bournemouth and Crystal Palace played out a goalless draw at the Vitality, while Jarrod Bowen’s sole goal sealed the three points for West Ham against Southampton.
Wolves inflicted more suffering on Ruben Amorim and his Manchester United side, winning 2-0. The first-half was a tight affair with both teams matching each other well. The second-half started in the worst possible way for United as Captain Bruno Fernandes picked up a second yellow card and was sent off.
In the 58th minute, Matheus Cunha put Wolves ahead with a spectacular goal, straight from a corner-kick. United made a late charge deep in the game, deploying all their armoury to attack. This left Matheus Cunha with all the space in the world to assist Hwang Hee-chan who served a killer blow.
Liverpool survived a small scare against Leicester City, coming from a goal down to win 3-1. Jordan Ayew shocked the Anfield ground six minutes in after great work by Stephy Mavididi down the left. The visitors defended their goal well in the foggy atmosphere but were disappointed to go into the break level after a trademark left winger curler from Cody Gakpo.
Liverpool responded well in the second half with two goals from Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah to wrap things up.
On Thursday night, Brighton were held to a 0-0 draw against Brentford. The Seagulls controlled proceedings but failed to create enough clear-cut opportunities to trouble their opponent. Arsenal also moved up to second after a 1-0 home victory against Ipswich, thanks to Kai Havertz.
