Okay…maybe I’m guilty of a touch of hyperbole because Manchester City have only lost two Premier League games but, for the first time in his managerial career, Pep Guardiola has led his team to four consecutive defeats.
A loss in the Carabao Cup and in the Champions League, as well as a league reversal to Bournemouth meant the Sky Blues had lost three on the bounce and we all, this SBOTOP writer included, expected the champions to put things right on Saturday against Brighton and Hove Albion, particularly when Erling Haaland broke through on goal and dispatched a rebound after Bart Verbruggen had parried his first effort. That was on 23 minutes and the Sky Blues could have extended their lead; but they didn’t, and Fabian Hurzeler’s Seagulls roared back late in the game to bite the Citizens. The leveller was a scrappy affair as the Manchester City defence descended into chaos when Danny Welbeck got a toe to the ball and Joao Pedro smashed it home.
When substitute Matt O’Reilly fired his shot into the net in the 83rd minute the Amex Stadium erupted and the away end fell silent.
City are in unchartered territory but the situation is not terminal by any stretch. Guardiola’s team are going well enough in the Champions League and the FA Cup is yet to start, while they are five points off the lead in the Premier League and that is a gap well within the Sky Blues’ reach.
Brighton moved up to fourth in the table but Guardiola has work to do.
The Premier League 2024 betting odds have taken a shift towards Merseyside this weekend after Liverpool beat Aston Villa 2-0 at Anfield to cement their position at the top of the table. Whether or not they were encouraged by City’s slip up I don’t know, but Arne Slot’s Reds set about the Villains with ruthless efficiency, Darwin Nunez scoring midway through the first half and Mo Salah rounding off a late breakaway.
That makes it 15 wins in 17 games for Slot in all competitions and Liverpool are surely the biggest threat to Manchester City’s dominance this season.
Fulham glide into the top seven
Almost un-noticed Marco Silva’s Fulham have climbed up into European contention, quietly picking up seven points from the last three games, two of them away from home, and on Saturday they had a highly impressive 2-0 win away to Crystal Palace. Super sub Harry Wilson climbed off the bench and scored for the second time in a week and the Cottagers could have won by a wider margin had VAR not saved the flapping Eagles more punishment.
Reiss Nelson and Emile Smith-Rowe have swapped North London for West, moving from Arsenal to Fulham and they walked off the pitch in sixth place, level on points with the Gunners, and it was Smith-Rowe who gave the visitors a first half lead when he took a pass from Raul Jimenez and fired past Dean Henderson into the net. Smith-Rowe thought he’d grabbed another early in the second half but VAR chalked his goal off as he was marginally offside. Palace were down to ten men after Daichi Kamada saw red for a stupidly high tackle on Kenny Tete and then Wilson, who scored twice in a win over Brentford on Monday, doubled the Cottagers’ lead finishing clinically after good work from Alex Iwobi. Wilson too was denied a second by VAR which spotted a handball in the build up but Fulham ran out comfortable winners as Palace slid towards the relegation mire.
Wolves finally get a win
The nerves at Molineux were clear for all to see and feel as the 20th placed Wolverhampton Wanderers hosted 19th placed Southampton. But two hours later it was all smiles and a huge sigh of relief as Gary O’Neil’s side earned a first win of the campaign thanks to goals from Pablo Sarabia and Matheus Cunha. The hosts were ahead early on as Sarabia rounded Aaron Ramsdale to slide the ball into an empty net. The Saints had an equaliser cancelled out by VAR after Ryan Manning had smashed the ball high into the net, but there had been a foul in the build up, and when Cunha, who had set up the first goal curled in a beauty the shackles were off and Wolves are off the mark. Ipswich Town are now the only team without a win and they play away to Spurs on Sunday.
In other Premier League 2024 results on Saturday Brentford edged a five goal thriller at home to Bournemouth while West Ham United were held to a goalless draw by Everton.
And there’s more action for SBOTOP fans on the way on Sunday, with the headline act being Chelsea versus Arsenal at Stamford Bridge; but Saturday belongs to Liverpool who will end the weekend five clear at the top of the league.
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