For many weeks, Manchester City has become easy prey in the Premier League. Having won only 2 of his last 14 matches in all competitions, the reigning English champion has suffered a violent downgrade for several months. In great difficulty, the Skyblues carried many uncertainties before hosting West Ham this Saturday, despite the sluggish victory last week against Leicester (0-2). However, the meeting against the Hammers ultimately turned into a health walk. From the start, the locals were able to rely on an active Savinho to quickly open the score. Found on the left by Bernardo Silva, the former Girona forward sent a fleeing cross which pushed Coufal to mark his side (10th).
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Despite a slight slowdown, the Cityzens came back strong before the break under the leadership of the Brazilian. Brilliant at the start of the match, the man who scored his first goal with City last week sent a perfect cross towards Haaland for the second goal of the match just before the break (2-0, 42nd). Returning from the locker room, the Norwegian striker, heavily criticized in recent weeks, even scored a double with a clever lob after a caviar from…Savinho (55th). Three minutes later, Phil Foden added to the score with a clear strike (4-0, 58th). The reduction of the gap by Niclas Fullkrug at the dawn of the last quarter of an hour of play (71st) will not have changed anything and Manchester City therefore offered themselves a large and valuable success which allows them to fill up on trust. In the standings, Pep Guardiola’s men remain in sixth place but remain in contact with the European places.
Jean-Philippe Mateta frustrates Chelsea, Bournemouth continues
At the same time, Chelsea traveled to Crystal Palace. Plagued by doubt after a draw against Everton (0-0) and two consecutive defeats against Fulham (1-2) and Ispwich (2-0) in the league, the Blues had to win against their neighbor this Saturday . It all started well for Enzo Maresca’s men who quickly took the lead thanks to the insatiable Cole Palmer a quarter of an hour into the game (0-1, 14th). Dominant during the first act, Chelsea finally died down in the second half. In danger in several situations (50th, 56th, 70th), the teammates of an agitated Jadon Sancho finally conceded an equalizer which was hanging over their noses and which was inflicted on them by Jean-Philippe Mateta at the end of an action collective of Palace (1-1, 81st). With this draw, Chelsea sees Manchester City and Newcastle come back together and can see Arsenal fly six points ahead in second place in the event of a victory this Saturday at Brighton (6:30 p.m.).
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Overall Premier League standings
Bournemouth also came back to within three points of Chelsea by winning this Saturday against Everton. In a fiercely contested match where both teams had their situations, Bournemouth was able to materialize its domination by scoring the only goal of the match at the end of the match thanks to David Brooks, who came on just six minutes before the winning goal ( 1-0, 77th). With this success, the Cherries are seventh. Aston Villa are also in the mix after their victory against Leicester. While Stephy Mavididi responded to Ross Barkley’s opener, it was ultimately Leon Bailey who gave the Villans the advantage at the start of the last quarter of an hour of play (2-1). Villa are 8th while the Foxes sink to 19th place. Finally, Brentford outclassed bottom side Southampton thanks to goals from Schade, Lewis-Potter and Wissa but also thanks to a double from the inspired Bryan Mbeumo (0-5).
The results from 4 p.m.:
Manchester City 4-1 West Ham : Coufal (csc, 10th), Haaland (42nd, 55th), Foden (58th) / Fullkrug (71st)
Crystal Palace 1-1 Chelsea : Mateta (82e) / Palmer (14e)
Southampton 0-2 Brentford : Schade (6e), Mbeumo (62e, 69e), Lewis-Potter (90+2e), Wissa (90+4e)
Aston Villa 2-1 Leicester : Barkley (58e), Bailey (76e) / Mavididi (64e)
Bournemouth 1-0 Everton : Brooks (77e)
Pub. the 04/01/2025 17:58
– UPDATE 04/01/2025 18:03
