Christian Eriksen returns, Ukraine in thoughts on emotional day in European Premier League

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In a stadium in northwest England, two Ukrainian footballers on opposite teams embrace prior to kickoff, before being brought to tears as teammates line 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 unite to applaud the return to competitive football of Christian Eriksen, eight months after he suffered a cardiac arrest during a European Championship game.

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It was a touching, emotional and at times uplifting day in the 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.

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.

Manchester City's Oleksandr Zinchenko of Ukraine, left, hugs Everton's Vitaliy Mykolenko of Ukraine before the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Manchester City at Goodison Park in Liverpool, England, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022.  (AP Photo/Jon Super)

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