Defending Premier League champions Manchester City's poor season has continued.In the early kickoff on Boxing Day, the Pep Guardiola-tutored side played a 1-1 draw with Everton, who themselves have relegation to worry about.It could have been very different had Erling Haaland scored from the penalty spot in the second half. His poorly executed spot kick was saved by England international Jordan Pickford.Despite taking the lead through a Bernardo Silva first half goal, City were once again unable to take all three points, meaning that they have won less than half (8/18) their league matches in 2024-25 so far. Silva could have put City 2-0 up in the 33rd minute, but blasted wide with the outside of his boot when well placed to test Pickford in the Everton goal. [caption id="attachment_46584" align="alignnone" width="599"] Haaland missed the spot kick[/caption] Guardiola’s team were made to pay suffer few minutes later, as Everton equalised against the run of play. Iliman Ndiaye equalized, guiding the ball into the top corner of the City net from inside the box. It was his third goal in the Premier League this season. City came out for the second half looking to get an early goal to regain the lead, and it only took them five minutes to get a fantastic opportunity to do just that. Savinho wriggled his way into the box before being taken down by Vitalii Mykolenko. Haaland was given the chance to end a three-game scoreless run from the penalty spot, but saw his spot-kick saved by Pickford before being ruled offside upon netting the rebound. There were few chances for either side after that disallowed goal, with City continuing to struggle to break down opposition defences. Everton offered little in the second half, with just four shots after half-time, but a point away at City certainly isn’t a poor result and will undoubtedly be celebrated by Sean Dyche’s side.
