ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SEASON 2021/2022
This year English Premier League started with fans allowed to almost full capacity after a gap of nearly 18 months due to COVID restrictions.
In terms of contention for the title this year there are mainly four teams vying for the honour namely current champions Manchester City followed by Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.
Manchester United vs Leeds United
This season started with a bang for Manchester United who demolished the Leeds United 5-1 with first hat trick of the season going to their striker, Bruno Fernandes (30’, 54’ and 60’) and other two goals coming from Greenwood (52’) and Fred (68’), but the player of the match for Manchester United was mid fielder Paul Pogba who had four assists in the match. On the other hand Leeds United could find the net only once via Dallas (49’) despite holding on to the ball for almost 50% of the time. This showed the striking capability of Manchester United who finished second last year and this time they want to turn things around.
Chelsea vs Crystal Palace
Of the other three contenders Chelsea and Liverpool had easy going with Chelsea thrashing Crystal Palace 3-0 with goals from Alonso (27’), Pulisic (40’) and Chalobah (58’). The highlight of the match in front of a nearly full Stamford Bridge Stadium was when their academy product Trevoh Chalobah netted their third goal from 25 yards on his Premier League debut. Also the most important highlight of the match was Chelsea played this match without their star sign this season Lukaku and midfielder Kante.
Liverpool vs Norwich City
Liverpool (The Reds) were boosted before kick off by the return of their talismanic Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk after ten months out through injury and their day got even better when they took the lead midway in the first half through Diego Jota (26’) followed by Firmino (65’) and third from Salah (74’). Mohamed Salah scored one and provided two assists as Liverpool got their Premier League title bid off to a winning start with a comfortable and easy victory over newly promoted Norwich City. Salah also become the first player to score on the opening weekend in five consecutive Premier League campaigns.
Manchester City vs Tottenham Spurs
The real drama unfolded when Tottenham Spurs made light of the absence of Harry Kane to start the Premier League season with a win over champions Manchester City and their £100m man Jack Grealish. Kane who was heavily linked with a move to Manchester City sat out this pulsating encounter but on the other hand Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola wasted no time in throwing in his British record signing from Aston Villa Jack Grealish. It was Son Heung-min who gave new manager Nuno Espirito Santo the perfect start to his reign with a low shot that sneaked beyond Manchester City keeper Ederson 10 minutes after the first half. Spurs fully deserved their win as they survived a shaky opening phase with City attacking from all sides to play with real purpose with fierce defensive discipline allied to pace on the break. Grealish had a quiet debut, being shown a yellow card late on and it was actually Spurs who had the best opportunity for the second goal when Steven Bergwijn shot wide. City had many opportunities but rarely tested Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris as they looked rusty in contrast to the sharpness of their opponents.
There was Kickball before Football…
Weather or not football originated in China is not my question to answer. But the question “What is footballs history?” did pop in my head and that is all it took to run away to my trusty archives, the Internet.
Now I found quite a bit of information on footballs history. Some interesting, some debatable and some that made me go “oh that’s close!“. And Cuju is that game. But not quite you see, Although you are only allowed to move the ball without using your arms, Where you kick to score is different.
In about 206 BC to 220 AD during the Han Dynasty, What was military fitness training became a more mainstream sport played by the upper-class and royals alike. The goal was to kick a feather stuffed leather ball through a hole in a net tied to two poles in the middle of the field. This also meant no chasing the ball in your opponents court. FootBasketVollyBall anyone?
So what made me feel Cuju was closer to modern football, other than the fact that you could only use your feet, head and torso were the Cuju clubs that had managers, trainers and captains. The tournaments held in fields designated for kickball. Professional kickballers admired and celebrated by fans etc. Mostly all the same as football is revered today.
Play A Game.
Lets see if you can find our title favorites.
The clubs you are looking for are MANUNITED , MANCITY , CHELSEA and LIVERPOOL.
That’s all for now. See you next week.