Premier League restarts with strong anti-racism message, Man City defeat Arsenal.

After its suspension in mid-March, the first EPL match between Aston Villa and Sheffield United played without fans, in an empty stadium, ended in a 0-0 draw and was marred by a major technical glitch.

The Premier League restarted its 2019-20 season on Wednesday after a 100-day suspension due to the novel Covid-19 virus outbreak. In the first match between Aston Villa and Sheffield United at Villa Park stadium in Birmingham, the referee blew the whistle, indicating the return of “the most entertaining league in the world”. 

Black Lives Matter:

English Premier League (EPL) delivered a strong anti-racism message as at the start of the game, instead of kicking the ball, for 15 seconds, both sets of players, coaches and match officials, took a knee signaling their support for the ‘Black Lives Matter’ campaign and also to honor George Floyd, who was killed in police brutality in United States’ Minneapolis. The message was crystal clear and PL’s decision to take a knee will showcase the hot topic across the globe. In another powerful anti-racism message, players on each team had their names on the back of their shirt removed and replaced it with “Black Lives Matter”. Even the banners draped over the seats in the empty stadium had the same message.

A minute’s silence for the deaths due to the pandemic: 

Paying tribute to those deceased patients due to the Coronavirus outbreak, a minute’s silence was held by the players and coaches before the kick-off. PL has returned after more than three months of suspension and in Britain, the death toll due to the pandemic has crossed over 40,000.  

The first game ended goalless with a major technical glitch, as the ball crossed the goal line and was not detected by the usually reliable Hawk-Eye goal-line technology. The other game saw Manchester City easily defeat ten men Arsenal, 3-0, and delayed Liverpool’s wait for a first title in 30 years.