In a stadium in northwest England, two Ukrainian footballers on opposite teams embraced prior to kickoff, before being brought to tears as teammates lined up for a match wearing tops displaying the Ukraine flag and the message: “No War.”
An hour earlier in west London, fans of Brentford and Newcastle united to applaud the return to competitive football of Christian Eriksen, eight months after he suffered a cardiac arrest during a European Championship game.
It was a touching, emotional and at times uplifting day in the English Premier League on Saturday, marked by messages of solidarity across the country from players and fans toward those in – and from – Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.
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Nowhere more so than at Goodison Park, where the football – Manchester City beat Everton 1-0 to move six points clear at the top – felt somewhat insignificant as City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko and Everton’s Vitaliy Mykolenko, two Ukraine internationals, walked toward each other during the warmups and hugged.
After taking their respective places on the substitutes’ bench, the players were seen in tears as “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” by The Hollies was played inside Goodison Park. Everton players were draped in Ukraine flags.
Everton usually comes out for games at Goodison to the “Z-Cars” theme that features an air-raid siren. Not this time, as a mark of respect.
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At Old Trafford, where Manchester United was held to a 0-0 draw by Watford, players from both teams came together before the start of the match behind a sign showing the word “peace” in several languages.
And at Brighton’s Amex Stadium, Matty Cash scored the goal that sent Aston Villa on its way to a 2-0 win and marked it by taking off his jersey, revealing a message to a teammate in the Poland national side who plays his club football in Ukraine.
“Tomasz Kedziora + family,” it read, “stay strong my bro.”
Meanwhile, Eriksen came on as a 52nd-minute substitute for Brentford in its 2-0 loss against Newcastle, marking a return to competitive action many probably thought would never happen after his on-field collapse while playing for Denmark last year at Euro 2020.
Eriksen has been fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator which meant he had to leave Serie A team Inter Milan, due to Italian regulations.
Even Newcastle’s players joined in the applause as Eriksen came on.
“I’m one happy man,” Eriksen said. “To go through what I’ve been through, being back is a wonderful feeling.”