Written by Contributor: Sean Gallagher
Premier League Roundup Matchday 19/20: Man City Victorious in Wild Match with Leicester; United Disappoint Against Newcastle; Liverpool Upset by Leicester
Games are being played at a furious pace and thankfully Covid is only impacting a few matches here and there. Let’s dive into the latest of the ‘Festive Fixtures’!
Man City v Leicester (6-3)
What just happened?! In Boxing Day’s headliner, Leicester came in on 14 days’ rest thanks to Covid cancellations, looking to continue the spark created from a 4-0 win against Newcastle. City meanwhile was making quick work of their opponents and hosting Leicester didn’t seem to forecast a real threat.
For the first 45 minutes, it was another Man City style drubbing. They piled on four goals in just 25 minutes. Two were penalties, one of which was conceded on an extremely lazy challenge by Youri Tielemans. This embodied Leicester’s start to the game. The Foxes came in, no doubt, with injuries in their backline. But with the amount of rest they had, even against Man City, they should have come out far less sloppy and at least try to defend and keep the game somewhat close. Leicester’s keeper, Kasper Schmeichel, made a dreary error to give City’s Gundogan a late Christmas gift of a tap in just in front of the net; it was all going wrong. There were some chances sprinkled in for the Foxes in the half, which set up for a second half that topped the 4 goals we saw in the first!
Brendan Rodgers’ men came out of the dressing room and astoundingly put 3 past City in 10 minutes. Ademola Lookman scored the second of these 3 when he got his foot on a through ball that sliced through City’s normally stellar Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo. It felt like a comeback for the ages was on when Man City keeper Ederson only got a hand to Maddison’s cracking shot, setting up an easy finish for Kelechi Iheanacho.
Sadly for the Foxes and their traveling fans, their set-piece woes this season got the best of them again when Aymerick Laporte of Man City got his head to a corner kick to put his side up 5-3 and effectively end any hope of a draw or Leicester win. Sterling made it 6 for City when he scored his second goal of the day just before the end of the match. Just like last blog, Manchester City came out the big winners again. With Liverpool’s defeat to Leicester, they’re now 6 points at the top of the league.
Newcastle v Manchester United (1-1)
Didn’t expect that one to be an end-to-end fantastic game! Newcastle has been getting decimated by nearly every team they face so Eddie Howe and company had nothing to lose by throwing everything at the wall against Manchester United. The Red Devils had a long break between their most recent game against Norwich to this one at St. James Park, and the rust showed. Badly.
It was frankly shocking to see Newcastle come out of the gate as fast and intense as they did and kudos to them. The crowd was absolutely buzzing all game, especially when the Magpies were threatening in United’s end. Allan Saint-Maximin scored the game’s first goal in the 7th minute with the help of woeful defending by Harry Maguire and the returning-from-injury Varane. The chances kept pouring in after that for Newcastle, but they had to settle for a 1-0 scoreline at halftime.
Where the game should have been put away was less than 2 minutes into the second half when Saint-Maximin had a chance to make it 2 goals on the day, but the golden opportunity he had in front of goal came off his heel and into the hands of David de Gea. Newcastle would come to regret that when Edinson Cavani, as he so often does, came on as a second half substitute and rescued a point for United with his 71st minute goal. David de Gea had one of the saves of the season just before the final whistle when he extended to deny Miguel Almirón a winner for Newcastle.
Much will be made about Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes storming into the tunnel without acknowledging their traveling supporters. United’s poor play, controversy over whether Ronaldo should’ve been given a red card, and questions about Ralf Rangnick may also be the main headline. But let’s give credit where it’s due: this was Newcastle’s best performance under Eddie Howe and possibly of the season. It’s a shame for them that they couldn’t come away with 3 points as they thoroughly deserved the win. They’ve been perhaps the worst team in the league this season, and they need every point they can get. But a game like that can still kick start the type of turnaround that they’ll need in order to remain in the Premier League.
Quick Hits:
- What a result for Leicester! Just 2 days after that 6-3 loss to City, they came back with a semi-depleted team and beat Liverpool. The Foxes were defending for their lives in an immensely tense second half, but ultimately escaped victorious. Mohammed Salah will lose sleep over his missed penalty and subsequent scuffed rebound that should’ve easily been tucked away. Liverpool’s Boxing Day game against Leeds was postponed, so they had an advantage over a fatigued Leicester and needed to run with it. Instead, the Reds are 6 points behind Man City at the top
- Tottenham are creeping up as a serious top four candidate. They dominated Crystal Palace on Boxing Day and Harry Kane seems to finally be scoring goals again. They would have wanted to take more from 10-men Southampton, but they’re now on a 7 game unbeaten run. It would be truly remarkable if Antonio Conte could resurrect Spurs as a threat in the league and in European competition
- It was a much needed 4-1 win for West Ham over Watford, because they have been showing signs of fading. They conceded 3 goals and lost to Southampton on Boxing Day, and that was following a bad 0-2 result against Arsenal and 0-0 draw versus Burnley
- Norwich is hopeless. They somehow are only 3 points back of escaping the relegation zone, but can’t seem to ever get a footing in Premier League games this season. Arsenal won comfortably against them on Boxing Day 5-0
- This Sunday’s clash between Chelsea and Liverpool will be very fascinating. The teams are level at 41 points apiece, so this will be pivotal in deciding who could catch Man City