Winner of Leicester (6-3), this Sunday, December 26 for the 19th day of the Premier League, Manchester City continues to dominate a Premier League where the Covid-19 dictated the pace for this truncated but very spectacular Boxing Day.
Amputated from three matches – Burnley-Everton, Liverpool-Leeds and Wolverhampton-Watford – out of the nine initially planned, this great tradition of English football has lost a little magic under the effect of the Omicron variant.
If the stadiums were well filled with spectators, tensions between the clubs and the Premier League remain high. The organizer of the championship has thus refused a request for a last minute postponement by Crystal Palace before facing Tottenham.
The Eagles were deprived of their French coach Patrick Vieira on the bench, who tested positive for Covid, and of a handful of players, but in view of their scoresheet, the Premier League felt they did not fit into its criteria for obtaining a postponement
Spectacular Manchester City
However, there was football on the fields and a big show all over the place. Manchester City and Leicester have thus offered a nice gift to lovers of the game with a 6-3 victory at the key for the leader.
We thought the men of Pep Guardiola left for a demonstration with 4 goals on their first 4 shots on target including two penalties from the Algerian Riyad Mahrez.
But the Foxes had the merit of not giving up and coming back within range by scoring three times in ten minutes at the start of the second period, by James Maddison (4-1, 55th), Ademola Lookman (4-2, 59th ) and Nigerian Kelechi Iheanacho (4-3, 65th).
On a corner, Aymeric Laporte, from the head, finally gave air to his people (5-3, 69th), before Sterling closed the mark (6-3, 87th), but the scenario of the match shows City that all the same, it will not be necessary to err on the side of overconfidence if it is to go to the end.
Chelsea is relaunching
Behind the leader with nine consecutive victories, Chelsea temporarily glue back to runner-up Liverpool thanks to his victory on the lawn of Aston Villa (1-3). The Blues, who remained on two draws were well helped by the success of Jorginho on penalty (34th, 93rd) and Romelu Lukaku (56th). Chelsea and Liverpool (who have one game less) are six points behind the Citizens.
Beyond the podium, the good operation went to Arsenal (4th), easy winner with the red lantern Norwich (5-0). A little more than two years after his arrival at the Gunners, Mikel Arteta could see that his precepts seem well applied, with a high pressing and a lightning transition which allowed Bukayo Saka to open the scoring in the 6th minute.
Just before the break, Kieran Tierney doubled the lead (2-0, 44th) with the help of the post, before Bukayo Saka offered himself a brace (3-0, 67th). Alexandre Lacazette, confirmed in his duties as captain, drove the nail on the penalty (4-0, 84th), before Emile Smith-Rowe further added to the bill (5-0, 90th).
In the rearview mirror of the Gunners, we find Tottenham (5th) who dismissed Crystal Palace (3-0). In addition to the cases of Covid, the Eagles had to play ten for nearly an hour following the expulsion of Ivorian striker Wilfried Zaha (37th).