The arrival of Christmas signals the beginning of a chaotic period for Premier League sides, the peak of which tends to be Boxing Day, which is on December 26, a day after Christmas.
Fixtures on Boxing Day can throw up some strange and memorable moments. Here are some of the most iconic Premier League Boxing Day fixtures:
Arsenal 6-1 Leicester City (2000/01)
Boxing Day 2000 was marked by some festive magic from French striker Thierry Henry as Arsenal took on Leicester with hopes of mounting a title challenge. The Frenchman scored his first with a stunning volley from the edge of the box, before adding a second with a brilliant swivel and finish in the box. He would then complete his first ever Premier League hat-trick by rounding the goalkeeper and slotting home as Arsenal handed Leicester a comprehensive 6-1 thumping for Christmas.
Southampton 4-0 Arsenal (2015/16)
If Henry’s hattrick was the best of Arsenal on Boxing Day, then this is arguably the worst. With Arsenal right in the middle of a title race, it visited Southampton hoping to keep up the pressure. Right-back Cuco Martina, who was making his first start for Southampton, opened the scoring with a stunning outside-of-the-foot volley before Shane Long tapped in a second. Jose Fonte headed home from a corner to add a third, then Long scored again to compound Arsenal’s misery. The 4-0 win would prove Southampton’s only win in a stretch of eight games.
Manchester City 2-1 Liverpool (2011/12)
Liverpool went into Christmas Day of 2011 top of the table, and when it went ahead in its Boxing Day showdown against Manchester City from a Phillipe Coutinho goal, it was hopeful of maintaining its strong claim to the title. City, however, had other plans. Vincent Kompany headed in from a David Silva corner before Alvaro Negredo beat Simon Mignolet in the Liverpool goal to secure a win for City that would send it on the path to winning their first ever Premier League title.
Manchester City 5-1 Hull City (2008/09)
It’s often said team matters are best kept internal, but Hull City manager Phil Brown decided that this wasn’t the case on Boxing Day 2008. Watching his side fall 4-0 behind by half-time, Brown decided to give his team talk from the pitch in front of the travelling Hull City fans. Hull would eventually lose 5-1, but when they went back to Manchester City the following November, attacker Jimmy Bullard would celebrate scoring by sitting his teammates down and giving them a team talk again.
Chelsea 4-4 Aston Villa (2007/08)
Boxing Day can often throw up bizarre games, and Aston Villa’s trip to Stamford Bridge in 2007/08 is an example of that. They took an early 2-0 lead courtesy of Shaun Maloney, but Zat Knight’s red card allowed Chelsea to take a 3-2 lead from a brace from Andriy Shevchenko, and a goal from Alex. Martin Laursen levelled it up to 3-3, before Ricardo Carvalho was sent off for Chelsea. Michael Ballack seemed to have won it for the Blues with a late free-kick, but Ashley Cole then handled the ball on the line, for which he also saw red before Gareth Barry duly converted the consequent penalty.
Manchester United 4-3 Newcastle (2012/13)
In his final season in the Premier League, Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United side established a reputation for scoring plenty of goals and conceding plenty as well. Ferguson’s final Boxing Day fixture would prove no different as well. United went behind thrice, hitting back each time as Jonny Evans scored at both ends of the field. They eventually snatched a late win as Javier Hernandez smuggled in Michael Carrick’s cross in the 90th minute, securing a final Boxing Day win for Ferguson in the process.
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com