We’re already ten days into the month of Christmas and the smell of mince pies emanates from bakeries across the country.
Our next daily instalment of our football-themed Advent Calendar includes records, stunning goals and goal-laden matches. What more could you want?
The Football Faithful’s Advent Calendar: December 10th
Number: 10
William Gallas was a character, to say the least.
The Frenchman was a central defender, but after moving to Arsenal in the summer of 2006, he inherited Dennis Bergkamp’s number 10.
Arsene Wenger thought it was a sensible decision to hand the number to a defender. The French tactician thought that if the number had been given to a striker that player would’ve been under immense pressure to emulate the greatness of Bergkamp.
Gallas is no stranger to testing the waters of the norm. To force a move from Chelsea to Arsenal, he threatened to score own goals if he was selected to play.
He’s also the only player to play for the Blues, the Gunners and Tottenham Hotspur. Gallas is not a popular man in London.
Arsène Wenger got a lot of things right at Arsenal, but letting William Gallas wear the no.🔟 shirt was not one of them…
🛒https://t.co/U67jrVXaVr pic.twitter.com/e2HEQnuVXq
— Football Shirt Collective (@thefootballsc) October 9, 2020
Crisitano Lupatelli was a goalkeeper who moved to Chievo in 2001 having played a bit-part role in Roma’s Scudetto win the previous season.
The stopper chose to adorn the number 10 on his back. But why?
Originally Lupatelli went with the story that he won the number at a charity auction.
Then he said he chose the number because he wanted to be the first goalkeeper in football to wear the number.
But he later admitted his friends had made a bet with him that he wouldn’t pick the number. So to prove them wrong, the number 10 was Lupatelli’s.
I bet you can’t believe that!
Nowadays, the Italian is the goalkeeping coach for Juventus’ U23 team.
Goal: Controversial Puskas Winner and Essien’s piledriver
We have another assortment of sumptuous goals scored on this day throughout history.
But first, we have to discuss a controversial moment. Mohamed Salah was awarded the Puskas Award for his goal in the Merseyside derby at Anfield.
Is it a good goal? Yes. Salah shrugs off Cuco Martina before bending the ball into the side netting and beyond the despairing dive of Jordan Pickford.
The Egyptian’s strike received 38% of the votes. But when you hear some of the other contenders, you may begin to scratch your head.
#OnThisDay in 2017, @MoSalah scored THAT stunning strike against @Everton – winner of the FIFA #Puskás Goal of the Year award. 🔥👑 pic.twitter.com/vreUqeoz0h
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 10, 2018
Salah was up against Cristiano Ronaldo’s bicycle kick against Juventus and Gareth Bale’s audacious overhead against Liverpool in the Champions League final.
For context, Bale’s acrobatic effort is widely considered to be the greatest goal scored in a Champions League final.
The situation gets even more ludicrous when you discover Salah’s goal didn’t even win the Premier League Goal of the Month. Mind-boggling.
Moving on to two of the most aesthetically pleasing efforts in Premier League history.
First, we have Robin van Persie’s gorgeous volley against Everton in 2011. Alex Song chipped an inviting pass into the Dutchman’s path who sweetly connected with the ball to volley it in. The way the ball hits the post and nestles into the net is a thing of beauty.
Michael Essien nearly ripped the net off with his thunderous strike against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge in 2006.
Michael Essien was pivotal in the ❤ of Chelsea’s midfield 👏 pic.twitter.com/GG8oKGTsCC
— Premier League (@premierleague) June 25, 2022
Frank Lampard laid the ball off to the Ghanian who struck the ball from all of 35 yards with such ferocity and swerve that it flew past Jens Lehmann who had no chance. A goal that defies description.
Match: Newcastle 5-5 West Ham
How often do you see a team score five goals and not win a match?
Well, that was the case for both Newcastle and West Ham back on this day in 1960. The spoils ended up being shared after a ten-goal thriller at St. James’ Park.
Incredibly, there were nine different scorers in the North East with Newcastle’s Len White the only man to score more than one.
And to add to the absurdity, Newcastle went on to net 86 goals that year and still got relegated into Division Two. The Magpies managed to concede 109 times that campaign. Talk about a leaky defence!
Footballer(s) Born on this Day: El Pipita, Swansea Cult-Hero and Charlie Adam.
The ruthless Argentine Gonzalo Higuain turns 37 years old today.
The French-born marksman made over a century of appearances for Real Madrid, Napoli and Juventus before having a brief stint in the Premier League with Chelsea.
He established himself among Europe’s elite strikers with Los Blancos, winning three league titles before moving to Serie A.
After equalling the Serie A goal record for a single season with 36 strikes to win the Capocannoniere, he earned a £85 million pound to Juventus, one of the biggest fees in football history at the time.
Higuain won three league titles with Juventus before ending his career in 2022 with Inter Miami.
“Come on Wilfried Bony, score some goals for Swansea”
The iconic Ivorian celebrates his 36th birthday today and he’ll be hoping his present is a new club as he is currently a free agent.
🎂 Happy Birthday to Wilfried Bony…
Here’s the classic video of him singing his favourite song pic.twitter.com/L4y7avLvCT
— The Sportsman (@TheSportsman) December 10, 2018
Fleetwood Town boss Charlie Adam will also be in a celebratory mood as he turns 39 today.
The Scotsman was the talisman of the Blackpool side that spent a solitary season in the top flight back in the 2010/11 season.
Despite relegation, Adam earned a move to Liverpool before transferring to Stoke.
We can’t discuss Adam without mentioning his halfway-line goal for the Potters against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge back in 2015. What a hit son.
Stat: Sheffield United hit double figures away from home
For this one, we have to go all the way back to the 19th century, 1892 to be precise.
In a Division Two match, Sheffield United astoundingly beat Burslem Port Vale 10-0 on the 10th of December.
This remains the only time in Football League history a team has hit double figures in an away match.
Will we ever see that record be broken?
Read – The Premier League top scorers as three-way Golden Boot race emerges
See more – The Football Faithful’s Advent Calendar: December 9th
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