Manchester City's sporting crisis continues. The inaugural Boxing Day match, played at home at the Etihad Stadium, started on an optimistic note with a goal from Bernardo Silva in the 14th minute. But it was quickly equalized by Everton's Ndiaye. The match ended 1-1.
Everton are struggling, 15th in the Premier League, but have had a good track record of not conceding a goal and picking up points with 0-0 draws (with the big recent exception of a 4-0 defeat to Manchester United). Today, playing very defensively, they managed to stop all of City's attempts… including a penalty from Erling Haaland.
Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford made good use of his cheat sheet which he wrote around his bottle telling how penalty takers usually shoot, a tactic he also used during UEFA Euro 2024, where Pickford saved a penalty by Manuel Akanji. Haaland headed the rebound, but was offside.
Although he has scored 13 goals so far in the Premier League, second only to Salah (15), Haaland has scored just three in his last 12 games.
Manchester City must focus on surviving in the Champions League this year… and next
Since this draw, Manchester City have won just one of their last 13 matches in all competitions. They have almost no chance of fighting for the Premier League and could even be barred from European competitions if they don't improve, dropping out of the top five teams.
Manchester City's next match will be Sunday 29 December. Probably at this moment for most citizens of Citzens, the day marked in red on their calendars is January 22nd, when PSG welcomes Manchester City to Paris forUEFA Champions League a match in which both teams are on the verge of elimination.
