Manchester City’s free fall continues on matchday 18 of the Premier League, even against Everton they weren’t enough to win. But Liverpool’s pursuers Chelsea FC also made a big mistake on “Boxing Day”.
Bernardo Silva had given City the lead at 1-1 (1-1) (14th minute), Iliman Ndiaye equalized for Everton in the first half (36th). The draw is clearly not enough for Manchester’s high standards. The “Skyblues” are extending their bitter series of disappointments: there have only been five points from the last nine games.
“We accept that. That’s life. Many, many times we didn’t expect that we would lose. But what do you have to do? Keep going!”said coach Pep Guardiola. “Of course we need good results, but we didn’t get them.”
City not compelling enough, Haaland fails from the spot
Once again, star coach Pep Guardiola’s team was the superior team for long stretches of the game. In the final third, however, City acted too imprecisely and was too erratic in defense in some situations. There was hardly any sign of the dominance and self-evidence of days gone by.
Manchester City around Erling Haaland is disappointed after the 1-1 draw against Everton
To make matters worse, Erling Haaland’s penalty was missed by guest goalkeeper Jordan Pickford shortly after the restart (53′). In the final stages, Everton had the chance to score the winning goal thanks to a deflected shot from Orel Mangala, but the ball missed the goal by a few centimeters. City also intensified their efforts in the last few minutes, but there was no real chance and the score remained a draw.
Fulham catches Chelsea ice cold
At the top of the table, Chelsea FC failed to get ahead of leaders Liverpool. There was a surprising 1-2 defeat against FC Fulham. The guests earned the three points thanks to an extremely courageous performance in the second half and are now in direct contact with the European Cup places.
Chelsea had taken the lead through Cole Palmer (16), but the “Blues” failed to extend their lead several times afterwards. This took revenge in the second half, when Harry Wilson equalized in the 82nd minute and Rodrigo Muniz finally brought an ice-cold shower in the 5th minute of stoppage time.