There was still some drama to be seen despite the fact that most of the European football leagues are currently enjoying their winter break. Here's the latest Euroscore Monday Round Up.
England – Boxing Day, 26th December
The Premiership has had a busy time of late with two full programmes of fixtures. Firstly, our Premiership heroes had to quickly run off any Christmas excesses by turning out on Boxing Day.
Arsenal let a two-goal lead at Aston Villa with central defender Zat Knight equalising for the home side in injury time for a 2-2 draw. Chelsea brushed aside struggling West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge 2-0. Didier Drogba scored after just three minutes and Frank Lampard added Chelsea’s second just as the first half closed.
Liverpool maintained their push for the title by beating Bolton Wanderers 3-0 at home. The game marked a personal triumph for their big summer signing from Spurs, Robbie Keane, who has so far struggled to find the back of the net on a regular basis. Keane scored twice in five minutes to silence claims that he is on his way out of Anfield in the upcoming January sales.
Manchester City’s manager Mark Hughes, previously under fire, breathed a sigh of relief as his side dominated Hull City 5-1. Hull’s bubble seems to have burst of late, and two goals apiece from City’s Caicedo and Robinho were added to by an 82nd minute fifth by Ireland.
The bottom of the table is so tight that a win can see a team rise from the bottom three to halfway up the ranks, a situation that should make the second half of the season go to the wire in the bid to avoid relegation.
Portsmouth were thumped 1-4 at home by West Ham United. Craig Bellamy, linked with a move away from Upton Park, scored two of the Hammers' goals. Middlesbrough continued their poor form, losing 0-1 at home to Everton with Tim Cahill grabbing the goal. They now have to travel to Old Trafford on Monday evening. Manchester United meanwhile, warmed up by beating Stoke City away 1-0 with a late goal from Argentinean star Carlos Tevez.
Spurs was held at home by draw specialists Fulham 0-0, and the same score shared the points between Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers. Wigan Athletic added to Newcastle United’s problems by beating them 2-1.
Article comments
1 - Ally Brown
Celtic did to us what we did to European teams last year - they held tight, didn't give us space, limited us to a few chances and survived them, and hit us with a single sucker-punch. (Last year, they called it "anti-football"!). The title is Celtic's to lose now.