Soccer Football - Premier League - Manchester City v Everton - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - December 26, 2024 Manchester City's Erling Haaland scores a goal that was later disallowed REUTERS/Phil Noble
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) -Bernardo Silva scored an early goal but Erling Haaland missed a penalty as struggling Manchester City could only muster a single point in a 1-1 Premier League draw with Everton to kick off a full slate of Boxing Day games on Thursday.
The champions' slump has seen them win just once in their last 13 matches across all competitions -- including one of nine league games -- and they provisionally sit sixth in the table with 28 points, 11 below leaders Liverpool who have two games in hand. Pep Guardiola's team could drop to as low as eighth by the end of the day.
"We played really good but we are in the period right now that is what happens, we create, (then) we concede," Guardiola said. "We shot a lot inside the 18-yard box but unfortunately couldn't get the result we wanted."
Everton are 15th, five points above the drop zone.
"The biggest thing for me is the mentality," said a delighted Everton manager Sean Dyche. "Two losses in 13, I know there's been a lot of draws, but it's not easy to do that in the Premier League."
The Etihad Stadium crowd breathed a sigh of relief when Silva scored in the 14th minute. Jeremy Doku played a ball in behind the Toffees' defence and Silva slid in to fire into the far corner from a tight angle, the ball deflecting off Jarrad Branthwaite and in.
The goal, which had Guardiola pumping two fists in celebration, ended Everton's streak of clean sheets at three games.
But City's celebration was short-lived. Iliman Ndiaye drew Everton level in the 36th when Manuel Akanji failed to clear a cross and the Senegalese midfielder took a touch to settle the ball then unleashed a shot from the centre of the box to the top right corner.
City fans thought they had victory locked up when Haaland stepped up to the penalty spot in the second half after Vitaliy Mykolenko's tackle on Savinho, but goalkeeper Jordan Pickford dived correctly to safe the shot. The rebound was sent back in and Haaland headed into the back of the net, but it was chalked off for offside.
The big Norwegian, the Premier League's top scorer in the previous two seasons, has netted just four times in City's last 14 league games.
City had 24 shots to Everton's eight, including a header that Josko Gvardiol fired off the near post in the game's early minutes.
Silva had a brilliant chance at a second goal midway through the first half when he hit the ball on the run from the top of the 18-yard box but sent it sailing wide. City defender Rico Lewis squandered a terrific chance in injury time when he fired well over the crossbar.
"The season is not finished but (winning the league) is not a target for us at the moment," Akanji said. "We need to focus game by game and the next game against Leicester City (on Sunday) will not be easy as well now, in the shape we are in.
"We need to focus on the positives. We did a lot of things great. We defended well and we attacked well, but were not able to finish as well as we wanted to or we could have scored three or four goals."
While City fans quickly filed out after what would have felt like a loss, Everton supporters celebrated long after the final whistle, chanting "England's number one" about Pickford, who tugged off his shirt and gave it to a young fan in the away end.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
