Manchester City’s struggle continued as they were held to a 1-1 Premier League draw at home by Everton, extending their winless run in the league to three games. Though City dominated possession, they could not find their usual incisiveness and now drop temporarily into sixth place.
City was brighter in the early stages, with Joško Gvardiol rattling the post early on. Their pressure paid off as, in the 12th minute, a deflected Bernardo Silva strike from Jérémy Doku’s pass beat Jordan Pickford to give the hosts the lead. Everton responded resiliently, though. Idrissa Gana Gueye tested Stefan Ortega before Iliman Ndiaye thundered home Abdoulaye Doucouré’s cross to equalize just before halftime.
The second half started with controversy as a clumsy foul from Vitalii Mykolenko on Savinho handed the visitors a penalty. Yet, for once, Erling Haaland’s spot kick was saved brilliantly by Jordan Pickford. The Norwegian forward then thought he had atoned with a header from Josko Gvardiol’s rebound, but it was deemed offside.
Pep Guardiola brought Kevin De Bruyne into the action late on, but even the Belgian maestro was unable to break down Everton’s resolute defensive line. To compound matters for City, Nathan Aké limped off with an injury, further stretching an already depleted squad of Pep Guardiola.
Everton continued their good run as they have lost only once in the last seven matches and found themselves 15th in the table.
