Five days after winning the World Cup in Jeddah, Manchester City claimed a hard-fought victory against Everton in the Premier League. The reigning champions turned the 1-0 score into a 3-1 victory at Goodison Park in the second half. Chelsea defeated Crystal Palace 2-1 at home.
Even without top scorer Erling Haaland, who was injured for almost the entire month of December, City struggled at Liverpool. The visitors had the first chance but Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford made a brilliant save of shots from Matheus Nunes, Jack Grealish and Julián Álvarez.
Everton ahead
The home team took a shot in the 29th minute after Nathan Aké cleared the ball off the line. Started by Rodri’s mistake, Jack Harrison scored from close range with a pass from Dwight McNeil. Ederson then made a superb save to prevent Harrison from scoring a second goal.
City, who had won only one of the previous six league matches, kept control of the game in the second half. Phil Foden struck and found the short corner and Álvarez drilled a penalty through the middle through Pickford.
City were left defenseless and Bernardo Silva only managed to score from distance for City after a missed goal from Everton substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Foden hit the post in the closing stages and saw Pickford save another try. Arnaut Danjuma entered the game for Everton in the 80th minute.
Maatsen’s first starting position at victorious Chelsea
Ian Maatsen made his Premier League debut for Chelsea. The 21-year-old Dutch player is among Chelsea’s youngest starting 11 in the Premier League, becoming the youngest Chelsea to be in the top tier in England since 16 May 1979. The average age was 23 years and 21 days.
Coach Mauricio Pochettino had made room for the left-footer in midfield and the Dutchman had the first chance. Maatsen, standing deep after a fine through ball from Mychajlo Moedryk, came alone in front of Dean Henderson. The Crystal Palace goalkeeper touched the ball and allowed Tyrick Mitchell to get in front of the line.
Moedryk gave Chelsea the lead from close range after Malo Gusto’s cross. Ukrainian Moedryk could have increased the score on his own but came across Henderson. Shortly before half-time, Michael Olise equalized for the visitors.
Chelsea won again in the second half. Nicolas Jackson’s goal was disallowed for offside, but substitute Noni Madueke scored the penalty with VAR approval, which the former PSV player himself assessed.
Source: NOS
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
