Man City have lost nine of their 12 games before hosting Everton on the evening of December 26. Coach Pep Guardiola has a long injury list, including John Stones, Ruben Dias, Rodri, Oscar Bobb, Ederson, Matheus Nunes, Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker.
Rico Lewis was chosen to start at right-back. He was a very young player with little experience. Their bench was mostly made up of unfamiliar faces from the youth team.
Despite the patchwork defence, City started the game on the offensive. In the 14th minute, Doku passed to Bernardo Silva in the penalty area. The Portuguese midfielder looked to combine with his teammate and fortunately the ball went into the net after a difficult cross.
Since the opening goal, The Citizens have played with more confidence, applying good pressure. After a few missed chances, City paid the price with a goal in the 36th minute. Akanji headed the ball away, but it fell right to Ndiaye and he finished past Ortega.
Man City's efforts were ruined by an unfortunate mistake. This scenario has been repeated in previous matches. In the second half, they increased the speed and tried to take control.
In the 53rd minute, Savinho was fouled by Mykolenko on the edge of the penalty area, Man City was awarded a penalty. But at the 11m mark, Erling Haaland's shot was blocked by Pickford.
The home team players were all very tense after Haaland's missed kick. Another problem for City is that they have no quality players to bring in to change the situation. After 90 minutes, they had 24 shots, 3 times more than their opponents but only scored 1 goal.
With the 1-1 draw, City's disastrous run of results extended to 13. Worse, they also lost points at home and are likely to fall out of the top 6 after this round.
