Being local on this Boxing Day, at full capacity after a year of serious damage from the Omicron variant, was synonymous with suffering. None of the locals achieved victory in the first five games of the day. All the visitors won and by comfortable results in most cases, with the exception of Tottenham's draw against Brentford (2-2), and Wolves' narrow victory at Goodison Park, in Julen Lopetegui's debut on the benches of the Premier.
The game with the most emotion of the thick block of the day offered the triumph of the Wolves, in which Julen Lopetegui made his debut on the bench. The hitherto bottom team had to overcome Yerry Mina's early goal. First Podence managed to equalize before the break and in the second half Lampard's team deserved much more. But in the penultimate play of the game, in the 95th minute, Aït-Nouri gave the three points to Wolves, who will continue to fall, but only one point away from salvation.
The relative surprise of this edition of the Premier, Newcastle, did not fail. At last the great investment of the magpies is paying off and after the victory at the King Power Stadiums against Leicester City they momentarily placed second. The game had no history and in half an hour Eddie Howe's men were sentenced. Chris Wood opened the scoring from a penalty after only three minutes of the game had been played. Almirón, in number seven, and Joelinton, in number 32, left the local fans that packed the stands speechless. Newcastle achieved the fifth consecutive victory and is running as a serious candidate to enter the Champions League and who knows if something else.
There was also no excitement in Southampton, where Brighton continued their run against the new bottom club. Lallana opened the scoring for the seagulls when nothing happened in the game and when the locals tried to react, Romain Perraud missed a clearance in his own area and scored the second. Solly March, the best player in the game, sealed the game after the restart, despite the fact that Southampton improved their image and managed to get on the scoreboard with Ward-Prowse's goal.
In south London, Crystal Palace had one of its worst days and fell to Fulham in one of the day's derbies. The game went awry for the locals in the 30th minute, Bobby Reid scoring the first goal and then Tyrick Mitchell was sent off. The visitors, led by an excellent Mitrovic, would complete the win in the second half. Ream made the second and the Austrian striker completed his exhibition, he had assisted in the first two goals, with a goal that sealed the victory.
