MAN CITY 1, EVERTON 1
Manchester City failed to banish their New Year’s Eve blues as they were held at home by struggling Everton.
Pep Guardiola’s side found itself four points behind leaders Arsenal having played one more match after their latest slip on the last day of the year.
City, despite a 27th goal of the season from Erling Haaland, have never won a Premier League game on December 31, a sequence now extending to five games.
By contrast, battling Everton are now unbeaten in their last seven league games played on the final day of the calendar year.
It was the most improbably result in the light of City’s recent imperious form and Everton’s poor run which had heaped pressure on manager Frank Lampard.
But the Toffees were rewarded for a battling performance in which they restricted City to only three on-target goal attempts and 15 overall.
Everton managed only two with Demarai Gray’s spectacular equaliser their only effort on target in the game, the second half of which extended to almost 58 minutes after 11 minutes of stoppages were signalled.
Embed from Getty ImagesGuardiola had no complaints about City’s performance other than scoring a second goal.
“I would loved to have made a thousand million chances, but it was not easy when they had nine players in the box and a good goalkeeper,” he said.
“We played a really good game, though the result was not what we expected.
“Since the World Cup, we have played a top level. We have got to win but have not done it. It is not the first time it has happened.
“There were not a lot of chances, but we had one in the last minute of the first half and one in the last minute of the second.
“We have dropped two points and it will be tough to be top of the table.”
Delighted Everton manager Frank Lampard said: “It was a big result after the sucker punch against Wolves. To come to the champions, it was a big deal for the dressing room.
“We limited their good chances. We carried out our plan for 100 minutes and, thought there were times when we had to ride our luck, we deserved a point.
“We showed a lot of personality and work ethic. When you play a team of City’s level you understand what’s coming.
“If you open up against them, they put you to bed, so we had to have a certain style and the players kept to that and scored a goal. It’s very hard but they did it.
“We had to not give them the space they wanted. I thought we were pretty good at that. We had some great blocks and defending too. When you stay in the game, you have a bit of belief and you just need some moments. We got a special moment. You need that here at City.
“The quality of the finish was top draw. Demarai Gray wants more of that and I do. It got us the point. You ride your luck a tiny bit of course. We deserved more last week after the result. Sometimes football pays you back in different ways.
“We haven’t achieved anything yet. It’s a point at the champions but we need to go and get more points.”
City made one change from their 3-1 win over Leeds on Wednesday, Bernardo Silva replacing Ilkay Gundogan in midfield.
Joao Cancelo was absent again as Rico Lewis started with John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake in an unchanged back four as Ruben Dias remained out with a thigh injury.
Erling Haaland was flanked by Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez while Phil Foden was on the bench along with returning World Cup winner Julian Alvarez.
Lampard opted to make four changes to his side which suffered an agonising last-minute defeat to Wolves on Monday.
Defender Conor Coady returns to the backline in place of Yerry Mina after being unable to face his parent club last time out.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin returned for the first time in two months after recovering from a thigh injury. Ben Godfrey and Gray also started with Anthony Gordon absent from the squad while Neal Maupay and Dwight McNeil were on the bench.
Julian Alvarez was paraded pre-match, proudly showing off his World Cup winners’ medal for Argentina.
There was a first minute injury scare for City when Haaland hurt his ankle after falling awkwardly following an aerial duel with Ben Godfrey, but the striker continued after treatment.
Haaland had an early chance when he skipped around goalkeeper Jordan Pickford but fired into the side netting from a right angle.
Inevitably it was goal-machine Haaland who broke the deadlock in the 24th minute. Mahrez provided the assist following trickery on the right before squaring a pass for Haaland to sweep home from eight yards.
City almost added a second shortly before half time when Stones headed against the upright from De Bruyne’s free kick.
There was a stoppage of six minutes and 21 seconds to fix an issue with an assistant referee’s technical equipment as the official was jeered by the fans.
City were stunned midway through the half when Everton equalised, the first time they had threatened Ederson’s goal.
Gray intercepted a pass from Rodri burst forward, cut inside and from the left of the box fired a missile high into the far top corner of the net for his fourth goal of the season.
City were forced to lift their game as Mahrez was denied by a smart stop by Pickford during a massive goalmouth scramble.
And in a do-or-die move, Guardiola made a triple change in the 87th minute as Grealish, Silva and Rico Lewis were replaced by Foden, Alvarez and Gundogan.
Despite the 11 minutes of stoppage time which became almost 13, City were unable to find a winner.