Manchester City was knocked off the Premier League podium by a flamboyant Aston Villa team (1-0), now third, two points behind Arsenal’s runner-up, Liverpool, winner without panache at bottom-place Sheffield United ( 2-0).
Manchester City in slow motion
The triple title holders did not properly digest the copious menu that the calendar had reserved for them as the end-of-year holidays approached.
They only obtained three points in four matches against the elite of the Premier League: Chelsea (3-3), Liverpool (1-1), Tottenham (3-3) and Aston Villa (1-0), therefore, who tamed them with a goal from Jamaican winger Leon Bailey (74th), preferred to Moussa Diaby.
“When a team is better, you have to recognize it,” responded Pep Guardiola, weakened on Wednesday by the suspension of his all-purpose midfielder, Rodri. “He’s an important player, of course, but when he’s not there you have to find a way to win without him,” he said. “It’s my job to find solutions.”
This masterstroke allows Aston Villa to steal third place (32 points) from its prestigious visitors, the Citizens (30 pts) unable to deploy their usual firepower.
A double save from Emiliano Martinez in front of Erling Haaland, at the start of the game, set the tone for an evening where the Mancuniens only shot twice on goal, according to league statistics, more than ten times less than the “Villans”.
The Birmingham club accumulated a fourteenth victory in a row in the league at “Villa Park”, an impregnable citadel that leader Arsenal will visit on Saturday (36 pts).
“We have to stay humble and work every day,” Bailey commented on Amazon.
Liverpool sans panache
Liverpool’s usual offensive flame did not particularly shine at Bramall Lane, the Sheffield United venue, where the victory came from defender Virgil van Dijk, scorer from a corner (37th), then from midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai (90th+ 4) at the very end of the game.
The victory, even narrow, nevertheless offers the same number of points as that acquired three days earlier against Fulham (4-3) in the last minutes and in a boiling Anfield stadium.
“It was really difficult to defend, but we got through it. We took the three points and we kept moving forward,” commented coach Jürgen Klopp to the BBC.
Sheffield United, last in the championship, showed character in front of their home crowd without being able to prevent a third defeat in a row, the first since the appointment of Chris Wilder, inducted on Tuesday to replace Paul Heckingbottom on the bench.
Manchester United s’offre Chelsea
Struggling in the Champions League, not often brilliant in the league, Manchester United achieved a big blow on Wednesday by dominating Chelsea (2-1), four days after a defeat at Newcastle which caused a lot of ink to flow.
The Red Devils move up to sixth place (27 pts), with the same number of points as fifth Tottenham who host West Ham on Thursday. Newcastle (7th, 26 pts) could overtake them again in the event of a good performance against Everton, also on Thursday.
At Old Trafford, the victory came from a double from Scott McTominay (19th, 69th), the club’s child.
Brighton has a similar profile with Jack Hinshelwood, 18 years old, eleven of whom spent at the club, and it was he who offered victory to the “Seagulls” on Wednesday against Brentford (2-1).
The midfielder, whose father Adam wore the Brighton jersey (100 matches) in the 2000s, scored the second goal in the 53rd minute.
Fulham, twelfth, inflicted a “manita” on Nottingham Forest (5-0), sixteenth, after having already scored three goals at Wolverhampton (3-2) then three others at Liverpool during their two previous meetings.
Bournemouth, fifteenth, recorded their third victory in four matches against a Crystal Palace team (2-0) struggling in the league.
© Agence France-Presse
2023-12-07 02:13:38
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