The wait is almost over.
No, not for Christmas day; for the Boxing Day football of course.
Here is a rundown of some of the craziest, captivating and compelling Boxing Day clashes of the Premier League era:
The public half-time lecture (Manchester City 5-1 Hull City, 2008)
Something out of the ordinary occurring is what makes a game memorable. That could be an amazing goal, a high-scoring match, late drama or maybe a comedy own-goal. However Phil Brown produced a moment on Boxing Day 2008 that we really are never likely to ever see again.
With Hull City being run ragged by new money-bags Manchester City and 4-0 down at half-time; the Tigers' players would have been desperate to get back to the warmth of the dressing rooms for some much-needed respite, however their gaffer Brown was having none of that.
He marched his bewildered team back out onto the pitch and over to where the Hull City supporters were congregated and gave them Sunday-League style dressing down with some ferocious finger-wagging.
It failed to have the desired effect as Hull went on to lose 5-1 and midfielder George Boateng claimed that the squad lost respect for Brown after the bizarre incident.
Embed from Getty Images
The eight-goal thriller (Chelsea 4-4 Aston Villa, 2007)
A year prior to Brown's hilarious festive fume, Chelsea and Aston Villa were involved in a thrilling Christmas cracker at Stamford Bridge.
Shaun Maloney grabbed a brace to put Villa into the ascendancy and it looked as if Martin O'Neill's outfit were going to enjoy a very merry Christmas at the Bridge.
However Zat Knight was sent-off on the stroke of half-time and gave a way a penalty that Andriy Shechenko converted. This presented Chelsea with the opportunity to fight back to victory which they appeared to have taken when Shevchenko equalised and Alex fired the Blues in front.
Villa didn't give up though and kicked off a remarkable end to the game when Martin Lausen pegged Chelsea back at 3-3 with a vicious volley.
Referee Phil Dowd evened up the sides when he brandished a red card at Ricardo Carvalho for a horrible two-footed challenge.
Michael Ballack put Chelsea in front with a wonderful free-kick that flew past Scott Carson on 87 minutes but there was still to be more drama. Yes, really...
Ashley Cole was adjudged to have blocked the ball on the line with his hand; he was sent off, Gareth Barry cooly slotted away the penalty and the Villa fans caused pandemonium in the away end.
Embed from Getty Images
The Christmas treat at Old Trafford (Manchester United 4-3 Newcastle United, 2012)
This isn't the only game between Manchester United and Newcastle that'll go down in Premier League history but it'll surely go down as the most dramatic.
A topsy-turvy, breathtaking game in which Newcastle led three times but as we saw so often from Sir Alex Ferguson's side, The Red Devils pinched it late on.
James Perch, an own goal from Jonny Evans and Papiss Cisse gave Alan Pardew's side hope that they can secure an surprise away win.
However, Robin van Persie's 71st-minute leveller and Javier Herandez's dramatic stoppage-time strike turned the game around and won it for Man Utd in 'Fergie Time'.
Embed from Getty Images
No, not for Christmas day; for the Boxing Day football of course.
Here is a rundown of some of the craziest, captivating and compelling Boxing Day clashes of the Premier League era:
The public half-time lecture (Manchester City 5-1 Hull City, 2008)
Something out of the ordinary occurring is what makes a game memorable. That could be an amazing goal, a high-scoring match, late drama or maybe a comedy own-goal. However Phil Brown produced a moment on Boxing Day 2008 that we really are never likely to ever see again.
With Hull City being run ragged by new money-bags Manchester City and 4-0 down at half-time; the Tigers' players would have been desperate to get back to the warmth of the dressing rooms for some much-needed respite, however their gaffer Brown was having none of that.
He marched his bewildered team back out onto the pitch and over to where the Hull City supporters were congregated and gave them Sunday-League style dressing down with some ferocious finger-wagging.
It failed to have the desired effect as Hull went on to lose 5-1 and midfielder George Boateng claimed that the squad lost respect for Brown after the bizarre incident.
Embed from Getty Images
The eight-goal thriller (Chelsea 4-4 Aston Villa, 2007)
A year prior to Brown's hilarious festive fume, Chelsea and Aston Villa were involved in a thrilling Christmas cracker at Stamford Bridge.
Shaun Maloney grabbed a brace to put Villa into the ascendancy and it looked as if Martin O'Neill's outfit were going to enjoy a very merry Christmas at the Bridge.
However Zat Knight was sent-off on the stroke of half-time and gave a way a penalty that Andriy Shechenko converted. This presented Chelsea with the opportunity to fight back to victory which they appeared to have taken when Shevchenko equalised and Alex fired the Blues in front.
Villa didn't give up though and kicked off a remarkable end to the game when Martin Lausen pegged Chelsea back at 3-3 with a vicious volley.
Referee Phil Dowd evened up the sides when he brandished a red card at Ricardo Carvalho for a horrible two-footed challenge.
Michael Ballack put Chelsea in front with a wonderful free-kick that flew past Scott Carson on 87 minutes but there was still to be more drama. Yes, really...
Ashley Cole was adjudged to have blocked the ball on the line with his hand; he was sent off, Gareth Barry cooly slotted away the penalty and the Villa fans caused pandemonium in the away end.
Embed from Getty Images
The Christmas treat at Old Trafford (Manchester United 4-3 Newcastle United, 2012)
This isn't the only game between Manchester United and Newcastle that'll go down in Premier League history but it'll surely go down as the most dramatic.
A topsy-turvy, breathtaking game in which Newcastle led three times but as we saw so often from Sir Alex Ferguson's side, The Red Devils pinched it late on.
James Perch, an own goal from Jonny Evans and Papiss Cisse gave Alan Pardew's side hope that they can secure an surprise away win.
However, Robin van Persie's 71st-minute leveller and Javier Herandez's dramatic stoppage-time strike turned the game around and won it for Man Utd in 'Fergie Time'.
Embed from Getty Images
Comments
Post a Comment