Haaland misses penalty as City draw Everton to continue winless streak

Erling Haaland missed a second-half penalty as Manchester City failed to defeat Everton at the Etihad stadium on Saturday. 

Pep Guardiola’s team was frustrated to a 1-1 draw by a dogged Everton side that dug deep for a vital point in the Boxing Day encounter.

The draw extends Man City’s winless streak to five games. The team has failed to win 12 of their last 13 games across all competitions.

Before the game, Guardiola admitted that the club might not make the top four and qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League (UCL) if the poor form was not overturned.

The Spaniard rejigged his squad to tweak out a desired change with Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish and a handful of other big players excluded from the team’s squad.

Initially, the decision appeared positive when Bernardo Silva stabbed home the game’s first goal in the 14th minute. Jeremy Doku’s persistent run down the left wing set up the diminutive Portuguese, who slid into the ball and punted it beyond a wrong-footed Jordan Pickford.

A few minutes later, however, Everton struck back. Manuel Akanji’s flying limbs missed a cross from Abdoulaye Doucouré. The ball fell for Iliman Ndiaye, who smacked his right shoelaces into it and watched it fly into the top right corner of City’s net.

Man City had the opportunity to restore their lead in the second half after Savinho was brought down inside Everton’s goal area. But Pickford saved Haaland’s effort from the spot.

The English Premier League (EPL) champions are sixth in the table. They have played one game more and are 11 points behind Liverpool, the league leader, and four points away from UCL spots.