There was no victory under the Christmas tree for Manchester City: on the traditional ‘Boxing Day’ the current four-time champion of England did not go beyond a 1-1 draw against Evertonon the 18th day of the Premier Leaguewhich included a missed penalty by Erling Haaland.
The lack of success of the until recently lethal Norwegian center forward, with just one goal in the last seven gamesis one of the symptoms of the deep and long crisis that City is going through this season, which has only won one of his last thirteen matches between all competitions.
In the instant before Haaland’s failed shot, the goalkeeper Jordan Pickford surprised with a resource that brought back the memory of Dario Benedetto and his mockery in the final of the 2018 Copa Libertadores, when Boca converted the 1-0 against River in Madrid and the former Xeneize scorer stuck out his tongue at his marker, Gonzalo Montiel.
In this case it was the English goalkeeper who used the same gesture to distract Haaland, who ended up kicking the penalty with little skill, biting and crossing, so that Pickford could dress up as a hero. The achievement of Everton’s 1 is even more remarkable if you take into account that Haaland had taken 16 penalties in the Premier League, with 15 goals and a shot that hit the post.
City’s 1-1 in their home court against Everton (15th), which is fighting for permanence, leaves Guardiola’s team anchored in sixth provisional position with 28 points, eleven less than the leader Liverpool… which has two games pending , one of them this Thursday against Leicester (17th).
Despite the final result, the game had started well for the ‘Citizens’: before the first quarter of an hour of play, Belgian winger Jeremy Doku filtered a great pass into the area for Bernardo Silva (minute 14) put City ahead at the Etihad Stadium, but the advantage ended up being diluted, once again this season, due to the fragile defense.
A cross from Malian Abdoulaye Doucouré sailed through the area without being cleared until it reached the feet of the Senegalese Indian educationwho took advantage of such a Christmas gift to tie (36th minute) in one of Everton’s few chances against goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
In the second half, Savinho received a challenge from Vitaliy Mykolenko in the penalty area but Pickford appeared to save the shot from the eleven meters, securing an important point for his team.
With information from Agencies
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