On This Day – 30th December
There was a Premier League first on this day back in 2009 in the match played between Portsmouth and Arsenal. It was the first time ever that a game was played in the top flight where both starting line-ups hadn’t got a single Englishman!
In all, seven French players started the match and there were also players from thirteen other countries. Algeria, Belgium, Bosnia, Cameroon, Croatia, Ghana, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Russia, Scotland, South Africa and Wales were all represented.
Portsmouth manager Avram Grant and Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger did both bring on an English substitute in the final ten minutes. Wenger brought on Craig Eastmond in the 85th minute for his Premier League debut and Michael Brown came on for the home side in stoppage time.
Arsenal won the match 4-1 with goals from Eduardo, Samir Nasri, Aaron Ramsey and Alex Song. Portsmouth’s consolation came from Nadir Belhadj.
Portsmouth had a difficult season off the field with financial problems causing great concern at the club. They finished rock bottom of the table but did much better in the FA Cup as they went all the way to the final, only to lose 1-0 to Chelsea at Wembley.
Arsenal finished the season in third place in the Premier League, 11 points off champions Chelsea. With only one win in the final five games of the season, their title bid collapsed and Chelsea took full advantage.
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