MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Erling Haaland’s penalty miss cost Manchester City as the four-time defending Premier League champion dropped more points in a 1-1 draw with Everton on Thursday and left manager Pep Guardiola admitting he needs to spend in the January transfer window.
Haaland had the chance to fire City on course for only its second win in 13 games when stepping up for a 53rd-minute spot kick at the Etihad Stadium. But his tame effort was saved by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford to extend City’s woeful run.
“The transfer window in the winter is not easy, but even the players know that we have to add some new players,” said Guardiola, who has had to cope without a host of key players, such as Rodri, through injury this season.
City has lost nine of its last 13 games in all competitions and the draw meant it secured only its fifth point in the league since the end of October.
City is seventh in the standings and 11 points behind leader Liverpool, having played two games more. Liverpool has the chance to extend its lead over the champion when it plays Leicester later Thursday.
Second-place Chelsea also dropped points after a 2-1 loss at home to Fulham, and Nottingham Forest won 1-0 against Tottenham to go up to third.
Newcastle is fifth after a 3-0 win against Aston Villa. Sixth-place Bournemouth drew 0-0 with Crystal Palace. West Ham won 1-0 at last-place Southampton.
City squandered a winning position after going ahead through Bernardo Silva’s deflected shot in the 14th. Iliman Ndiaye leveled the score in the 36th.
Haaland’s missed penalty means the Norway international has only scored once in his last seven games. He headed in from the rebound, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Haaland, who last week admitted his form had not been good enough during a run that has seen City’s season unravel, held his head in his hands after his failure to score from the spot. He still has 18 goals in 25 appearances this season, but has not scored in a win for his club since the 1-0 victory against Southampton on Oct. 26.
“We shoot a lot in the 18-yard box, but unfortunately we could not get the results that we wanted,” Guardiola said afterward.
City’s damaging run has seen it slip down the standings in the league and crash out of the English League Cup. It is also in danger of missing out on the playoffs for the round of 16 in the Champions League — sitting just one point above the cut off point with two games to play.
Chelsea failed to keep the pressure on Liverpool after dropping points for the second time in as many games.
Enzo Maresca's team followed up a goalless draw with Everton last week by blowing a 1-0 lead against Fulham.
Cole Palmer's goal in the 16th at Stamford Bridge had Chelsea in control until Fulham's late fightback.
Harry Wilson equalized in the 82nd and Rodrigo Muniz sealed the win in the fifth minute of added time.
The result means Arsenal can jump from fourth to second with a win against Ipswich on Friday.
Forest's remarkable season shows little sign of slowing down after Anthony Elanga's winner against Tottenham at the City Ground.
Forest is a point behind Chelsea in third.
Newcastle quickly brought Villa down to earth.
Villa beat City 2-1 before Christmas, but was behind to Anthony Gordon's strike after two minutes at St. James' Park.
Alexander Isak and Joelinton completed the win for Newcastle in the second half.
West Ham had to cope with first-half injuries to defender Max Kilman and goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, but still won 1-0 at Southampton after Jarrod Bowen's goal in the 59th.
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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