At a stadium in north-west London, two Ukrainian players on rival teams hugged each other before kick-off and after tears came to their eyes as the teams lined up wearing shirts bearing the Ukrainian flag and the message: “No to the war”.
An hour earlier, in the west of the capital, Brentford and Newcastle fans came together to applaud Christian Eriksen’s return to competitive football, eight months after he suffered a cardiac arrest during a Denmark match at the European Championship. .
There were emotional and inspiring moments in the Premier League on Saturday, with messages of solidarity across the country from players and fans to the people in Ukraine following the Russian invasion.
Nowhere was it more colorful than at Goodison Park, where the football – Manchester City beat Everton 1-0 to extend their lead to 6 points – was a bit of a slouch after Oleksander Zinchenko and Vitaliy Mykolenko, two Ukrainian players, approached each other during warm-up and hugged each other.
After taking their respective places on the bench, the players burst into tears as they heard The Hollies’ “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.” Everton players wrapped themselves in Ukrainian flags.
At Old Trafford, where Manchester United drew 0-0 with Watford, players from both teams gathered before the match behind a sign reading “Peace” in multiple languages.
At Brighton’s Amex Stadium, Matty Cash scored a goal to give Aston Villa a 2-0 win and celebrated by removing his shirt and revealing a message for his Poland team-mate who plays for a Ukrainian team.
“Tomasz Kedziora + family, stay strong bro,” it read.
FOOT RESUELVE
City left it to the end to beat Everton, with an 82nd-minute goal from Phil Foden.
The defending champions have a six-point lead over Liverpool, who are second and have one game in hand.
The result might have been different if Everton had been awarded a penalty by VAR after midfielder Rodri touched the ball at arm’s length in added time. The incident was reviewed by and it was determined that there was no conclusive evidence of a violation.
“I have a 3-year-old daughter at home and she would have told you it was a penalty! Everton manager Frank Lampard said.
LETHAL COMBINATION
It’s official: Harry Kane and Son Heung-min are now the deadliest combination in Premier League history.
When Son found the ball after a long pass from Kane, he fired in as Tottenham took a 4-0 lead over Leeds. It was the 37th time the pair had combined for a goal.
They surpassed the 36 that Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba had with Chelsea.
FIGHT AGAINST DESCENT
With their defeats, Leeds, Everton and Brentford moved closer to the relegation places.
They currently sit just above the relegation zone but are close to being overtaken by Burnley, who are 18th, and improved after following up their strong performances by drawing 1-1 with Crystal Palace.
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