Man City pay penalty for Erling Haaland miss in Everton draw

LONDON – Erling Haaland had a second-half penalty saved as Manchester City’s astonishing slump continued with a 1-1 draw against lowly Everton at the Etihad Stadium on Dec 26.

Winners of the last four English Premier League titles, the English champions have now won just once in their last 13 games in all competitions.

Bernardo Silva put City in front early on before Iliman Ndiaye salvaged a point for the Toffees.

The home side climb to sixth but could end the day five points adrift of the top four, while a hard-fought point for the visitors edges Everton five clear of the relegation zone in 15th before the later matches.

City boss Pep Guardiola had conceded ahead of the game that his side are at risk of failing to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 15 years.

The top four automatically qualify for Europe’s premier club competition, but fifth place is likely to be enough this season due to a strong start by English clubs in European competition.

“The one team that has been in the Champions League for the past years has been Manchester City,” said Guardiola. “Now we are at risk, of course we are. Definitely.”

Following the draw, City defender Manuel Akanji said on the BBC: “We had plenty of chances to score goals.

“Their goal came out of nowhere. Second half we had the penalty chance, we created opportunities but the ball didn’t want to go in. We played really well. Maybe you see it differently, but I think we played well compared to other matches.

“This can’t happen that we nearly conceded on the counter-attack late on. Otherwise, we defended well as a team and attacked great as a team. We have to keep going, the next chance is against Leicester.”

Not for the first time in City’s miserable few months, they failed to build on a promising start.

Everton had kept five clean sheets in their last six games but were breached after just 14 minutes.

Jeremy Doku fed Silva and his effort across goal deflected off Jarrad Branthwaite and looped beyond the helpless Jordan Pickford.

Silva then wasted a glorious chance for the vital second goal when he attempted a tough finish with the outside of his left boot that flew past the post when he had just Pickford to beat.

Guardiola held his head in his hands as that opportunity slipped by and had more reason to lament moments later.

Akanji sliced an attempted clearance into the path of Ndiaye, who took one touch to control before unleashing a brilliant finish into the top corner for Everton’s first away goal in over two months.

Pickford denied Savinho’s low effort and Mateo Kovacic fired just wide as City upped the tempo at the start of the second period.

There was another major swing in momentum just seven minutes after the restart.

Savinho was chopped down inside the area by Vitaliy Mykolenko, who was lucky to avoid a second yellow card.

Haaland had the chance to end his longest goal drought at the Etihad Stadium, but his spot kick was that of a striker short in confidence as Pickford dived low to his right to make the save.

The giant Norwegian headed in after Josko Gvardiol nodded the rebound across goal but was clearly offside.

The striker has scored just once in his last seven matches and not found the net in his last three.

Guardiola said this week the 24-year-old’s lean spell alone did not explain City’s collapse.

But their dependence on Haaland, who has played the full 90 minutes in every Premier League game this season, is at the heart of his side’s struggles.

It should have been even worse for Guardiola’s men as Everton squandered a huge chance to snatch all three points deep in stoppage time. Jack Harrison’s shot was blocked after the visitors failed to make the most of a four-against-two counter-attack. AFP