There were three Premier London Derbies (PLDs) matches in the Premier League (PL) on Monday 26 December, commonly called Boxing Day. At The Emirates Stadium it was Arsenal (0) 3 v 1 (1) West Ham United in front of former “Maestro Manager” Arsene Wenger. The Gunners went behind to a 27th minute penalty for a foul on The Hammers‘ Jarrod Bowen converted by Said Benrahma, but confirmed their title pedigree with second-half goals by Bukayo Saka (assist Marin Odegaard), Gabriel Martinelli (assist Granit Xhaka) and Eddie Nketiah (assist Martin Odegaard again).
Spurs were also a goal down at half-time after Vitaly Janelt’s 15th minute shot at the Brentford Community Stadium but the final score was Brentford (1) 2 v 2 (0) Tottenham Hotspur. Ivan Toney (assist Christian Norgaard) made it 2-0 on 54 minutes, but the visitors finished strongly with goals from Harry Kane (assist Clement Longlet) on 65 and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg on 71 minutes. Harry Kane is now the PL’s Boxing Day top scorer with 10 goals, scoring in each of his 7 matches. This was his first against Brentford meaning he has scored against all 32 different teams he has faced. When will the records stop coming?
There was also a lot of action at Selhurst Park where the final score was Crystal Palace (0) 0 v 3 (1) Fulham. The Cottagers were a goal up through Bobby Decordova- Reid (31, assist Aleksandar Mitrovic) at half-time but The Eagles were a man down! Promising full back Tyrick Mitchell received a straight red card for a foul after 34 minutes. He was followed off by James Tomkins for a second yellow on 57 minutes. Fulham then scored 2 more through Tim Ream (71) and Aleksandar Mitrovic (80). Crystal Palace missed out on 4 home wins in a row.
The next PLDs match is West Ham United v Brentford on Friday 30 December 2022, the last for this year. The Hammers are desperate for points being 16th with 14 points, but last season suffered a 1-2 reverse in this one against The Bees. Will it be a happier new year?
Until next time, “Keep Safe”, “Happy New Year” and enjoy your football, Andrew at PLDs.