Boxing Day

Not going to trust my memory for 20 matches over five days so I'll post about Boxing Day now while it's "fresh."

Several Christmas traditions were in evidence in the matches.  First, many cards were "exchanged" as referees showed 26 yellows and four reds, including two to Stoke players (more on that below).  Second, there was consideration for those less fortunate; all three bottom clubs were "treated" to wins on the road. And several keepers were seen giving "gifts" to attackers as I can recall at least three soft goals surrendered during the day.

For those who didn't see it, the Newcastle match looks like a 5-1 thrashing of Stoke City.  It is a win and I won't say the Magpies didn't deserve it but game details may leave you with a different impression.  Through 30 minutes Stoke City was dominating possession, had a 1-0 lead and looked "good for their money."  Then Whelan picked up a silly yellow card for some sort of extracurricular activities following a confrontation with Cabaye.  He followed that a few minutes later with an ill-advised challenge from behind, again on Cabaye, to earn a second yellow and then a red.  Shortly thereafter, Wilson pulled Remy down in the box for a straight red, leaving Stoke with just nine players.  Though Remy missed the PK, Stoke's fate was effectively sealed.  Remy scored before the half and the second half was completely one-sided.  Several of the Newcastle goals were actually quite good even given their two-man advantage.  Some may claim that Martin Atkinson imposed himself on the match.  I thought maybe the second yellow on Whelan was a little soft but if you already have a yellow, you shouldn't be kicking at the back of somebody's legs; I thought the other two critical calls were correct.  So it was a weird win and the match might have played out differently if not for the cards but that's not Newcastle's fault.  They deserved the win.

The less said of Aston Villa's 0-1 home loss to Crystal Palace, the better.  I did not see the match but was following the score while watching another contest.  As the score remained 0-0 throughout the match, I kept thinking a draw at home against CP is simply not good enough.  When Gayle's goal in the 92nd minute was posted, the realization that the Villans weren't even going to get one point sank in.  For the second straight match, Benteke wasn't named to the squad as he has a knee problem and traveled to Belgium to have it examined; he'll be out Saturday and Wednesday as well.  This feels so much like Newcastle's season last year.  Dennis may add some pithy quotes as he endured the whole match so we wouldn't have to.  At least he hasn't burned the AV scarf I gave him for Christmas.  Yet.


Some of the big boys fell behind early but rallied to take important wins.  Man Utd was down 2-0 to Hull before kicking it in gear for a 3-2 win.  Sure the winning tally was an own goal but frankly the Red Devils pressure forced the error; they continue to creep back up the table and now sit in 7th, even with Van Persie out due to injury.  And Rooney is grudgingly awarded the YouTubeableMoment for his goal that tied the score at 2-2.


Arsenal were down a goal to West Ham through 67 minutes but then Walcott tallied twice in 4 minutes and Podolski celebrated his return with another to seal it for the Gunners.  Surely it is an embarrassment of riches when a player like Ramsey goes out with a muscle strain only to be replaced by someone of the likes of Podolski.  The win put Arsenal back in first.  And at Etihad Stadium, goals by Kompany and Negredo wiped out the early 1-0 lead Liverpool had staked on Coutinho's tally in the 25th minute.  Thought (hoped?)this contest would be high scoring but even at 2-1, it was a high tempo, entertaining match.  The win put Man City into 2nd place, who so far are surviving the loss the Aguero (calf - out for 6-8 weeks).  Expect to read about fines for Brendan Rodgers, who openly expressed dissatisfaction with the refereeing, most notably about a phantom offsides call that probably took away a goal from Sterling (I saw the play, he looked clearly onsides to me - not even close to being level with the defender).







Chelsea beat Swansea 1-0 on sweet play by Eden Hazard and Everton lost to Sunderland 1-0 on a PK (the result of a straight red card foul by keeper Tim Howard).  Chelsea stays right on the heels of Arsenal and Man City while the Toffees loss, completely unexpected at home against one of the weaker clubs, will hurt but they remain in the hunt for a Champions League spot.   You'd have to say Tottenham gave away two points in the lackluster 1-1 draw against West Brom.  The Boxing Day action left them in 8th place, five points out of 4th and two points out of 6th.  They will have to do better if they want to see action in Europe next year.  

Hope you used your day off from EPL wisely.