Coral’s Christmas in pictures: Arsenal, Man Utd festive frights
Matt Haynes, Jamie Clark, Sam Barnard and
Holly Thackeray | December 28, 2015
What a wonderful Christmas we’ve all had here at Coral, and here are some of our 2015 memories across the festive football, horse racing, darts and cricket.
Tea For Two please
History was made at Kempton’s King George meeting, as Lizzie Kelly became the first female jockey to win a Grade One race in Britain on board Tea For Two in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase.
Faugheen shows frightening burst in Christmas Hurdle
Willie Mullins star Faugheen left a small Christmas Hurdle field in his wake with a terrific home straight burst to justify his status as odds-on favourite both in this key Kempton race and for the Champion Hurdle at the 2016 Cheltenham Festival.
Douvan delivers
There was a quick-fire double for Mullins as, back in his native Ireland, Douvan underlined his credentials for the Arkle Challenge Trophy by taking the Racing Post Novices Chase on day one of Leopardstown’s winter festival.
Don Cossack fails to read Cue Card
King George VI Chase favourite Don Cossack fell, allowing Colin Tizzard gelding Cue Card to finally take the Kempton festive showpiece at the fourth attempt.
Vaniteux a Wayward Lad as Ar Mad wins Kempton clash
Ar Mad came back at firm Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase favourite Vaniteux in another Kempton surpirse, and both are now the same price to win next year’s Arkle.
Sprinter Sacre slips past Sire de Grugy
The Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton on Sunday proved another acid test for 2016 Cheltenham Festival runners, and Sire de Grugy’s blunder allowed Sprinter Sacre to continue his return to form. They jumped the above fence together.
Arnautovic and Bojan heap more misery on LVG
Marko Arnautovic and Bojan Krkic helped Stoke City to a 2-0 win over Manchester United at the Britannia Stadium, piling more pressure on under-fire Red Devils manager Louis van Gaal. The Dutchman’s future at Old Trafford is widely expected to be decided following their next match with Chelsea, while Stoke are on a surge.
Southampton storm Gunners
It was Southampton, who perhaps pulled off the shock of Boxing Day with a superb 4-0 win over Arsenal, who have looked sensational recently and are many people’s favourites to win the Premier League title, based on the next half of the season. Goals from Cuco Martina and Jose Fonte were sandwiched in between a Shane Long brace as Saints march on.
Broad battles through South Africa’s top order
After England were restricted to a total of 303, with the likes of Alastair Cook and Joe Root failing with the bat, Stuart Broad was the hero on day two of the 1st Test as he got Stiaan van Zyl out first ball of the innings, as well as the scalps of stars Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers. Broad ended up with four wickets for the innings as the hosts were all out for 214.
Darts deja-vu as Barney beats Bunting
The 2016 World Darts Championship delivered a brilliant Boxing Day bonanza, as veteran Raymond van Barneveld dumped out Stephen Bunting 4-3 from a deciding set after a tense and thrilling tungsten tussle. A battle between these two was one of the highlights of last year’s tournament too, and yet again they lived up to their billing.
Related
This may be our fantastic festive edition, but you can check out previous weekend in pictures articles in our archive.