Premier League: City still in crisis – Reds extend league lead

Manchester City simply cannot find a way out of the sporting crisis. In the home game against Everton FC on Boxing Day, the English champions couldn’t get past a 1-1 (1-1) draw. Bernardo Silva (14th minute) gave the hosts an early lead. After another drop in performance, Iliman Ndiaye (36th) equalized before the break. Erling Haaland then missed the best chance of a City victory when he missed a penalty (53′).

Chelsea and United lose

Chelsea FC, second in the table, suffered an almost historic defeat despite leading 2-1 in a duel with Fulham FC. For the Blues it was the first defeat at Stamford Bridge against their rivals from London in 45 years. Cole Palmer scored for Chelsea (16th), Harry Wilson (82nd) ​​and Rodrigo Muniz (90th + 5) turned the game in Fulham’s favor in the final phase. Chelsea are still seven points ahead of City.

Liverpool FC took advantage of their pursuer’s mistake and extended their lead at the top of the table to seven points. The Reds won against Leicester City 3-1 (1-1) after an early deficit through Jordan Ayew (6th). Cody Gakpo (45th + 1), Curtis Jones (49th) and Mohamed Salah (82nd) ​​scored.

Manchester United suffered their third competitive defeat in a row with a 0-2 (0-0) draw at relegation-threatened Wolverhampton Wanderers, lost captain Bruno Fernandes again to a sending-off (47th) and slipped to 14th place. The goals were scored by ex-Bundesliga professionals Matheus Cunha with a directly converted corner (58th) and Hee-Chan Hwang (90th + 9th).

Guardiola: “This is life”

“We accept that. That’s life. Very, very often we didn’t expect that we would lose. But what do you have to do? Keep going,” said City coach Pep Guardiola. “Of course we need good results, but we didn’t get them.”

Guardiola’s team has only won one of the last 13 competitive games. In the table, the gap to the Champions League ranks could continue to grow.

Worst crisis under Guardiola

Despite the worst crisis during Guardiola’s time as City coach, things would have started almost perfectly for the hosts. Ex-Leipzig player Josko Gvardiol could have given City the lead in the third minute, but his header landed on the post. A good ten minutes later, Silva somewhat happily slipped the ball into the goal – but this goal didn’t give City much confidence.

The City game was characterized by uncertainty and mistakes, one of which Everton ultimately took advantage of. Because Manuel Akanji missed the ball, Ndiaye equalized with a wonderful dropkick. Haaland was then denied a penalty by Jordan Pickford, who made a strong save.