-Deborah Akinyosoye
Manchester City failed to win for the eighth time in nine games in a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace on Saturday as high winds caused the Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool to be postponed.
City had the chance to go second in the Premier League but failed to build on a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest in midweek, which had appeared to stop the rot for the English champions.
Pep Guardiola’s men got off to the worst possible start at Selhurst Park when Daniel Munoz raced on to Will Hughes’ pass to fire Palace in front after four minutes.
Erling Haaland’s towering header from Matheus Nunes’ cross brought City back level and took the Norwegian level with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah on 13 Premier League goals in the battle for the Golden Boot.
The visitors started the second half strongly but were hit with a sucker punch when Maxence Lacroix powered home Hughes’ corner.
Rico Lewis found the top corner to level once more for City, but was then sent off six minutes from time.
Fourth-placed City close to within eight points of leaders Liverpool, but more dropped points is another blow to their chances of making it five consecutive titles.
Brentford’s fortress
Brentford enjoyed the best home record in the division and made it seven wins from eight games at the Gtech Community Stadium with a thrilling 4-2 victory over Newcastle.
Bryan Mbeumo, who has been linked with a move to the Magpies, opened the scoring with a sensational individual effort.
Twice Newcastle quickly levelled in the first half through Alexander Isak and Harvey Barnes, either side of Yoane Wissa’s second for Brentford.
But calamitous defending cost Newcastle in the second period when Nathan Collins prodded home from goalkeeper Mark Flekken’s long ball forward.
Kevin Schade then sealed the points for the Bees in stoppage time.
Brentford climb up to seventh, while Newcastle drop down to 12th.
Villa beat Soto
Aston Villa moved up to fifth thanks to a 1-0 win over bottom-of-the-table Southampton.
Jhon Duran made his mark in his first Premier League start of the season with the only goal.
The Colombian took advantage of another defensive calamity for the Saints to run through and slot home his ninth goal of the season in 24 minutes.
Nigeriatodaytimes reports that Manchester United hosting Nottingham Forest in the 1730GMT kick-off is trailing 0-1, as the Red Devils will look to bounce back from Ruben Amorim’s first defeat at Arsenal on Wednesday.
Liverpool’s postponement means Arsenal and Chelsea have the chance the cut the gap at the top to four points when they travel to Fulham and Tottenham, respectively, on Sunday.
AFP