EPL: Guardiola’s woes deepen as Man City is held to 1-1 draw by Everton

Manchester City’s struggles took another hit as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Everton at the Etihad Stadium, with Erling Haaland missing a second-half penalty.

The defending Premier League champions, who have dominated the league for the past four seasons, have now won only one of their last 13 games across all competitions.

Bernardo Silva gave City the lead early in the match, but Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye equalized to earn a crucial point for the visitors.

The result sees City climb to sixth in the table, though they risk falling further behind the top four, potentially trailing by five points by the end of the day.

For Everton, the draw pushes them to 15th place, now five points clear of the relegation zone.

City manager Pep Guardiola admitted the team faces the prospect of missing out on Champions League qualification for the first time in 15 years. While the top four usually secure automatic qualification, fifth place could be enough this season, thanks to strong performances by English clubs in European competitions.

The pressure is mounting on Guardiola and his squad to reverse their poor form as the season progresses.

“The one team that has been in the Champions League for the past years has been Manchester City,” said Guardiola. “Now we are at risk, of course we are. Definitely.”

Not for the first time in City’s miserable few months they failed to build on a promising start.

Josko Gvardiol headed a corner off the post inside the opening three minutes.

Everton had kept five clean sheets in their last six games but were breached after just 14 minutes.

Jeremy Doku fed Silva and his effort across goal deflected off Jarrad Branthwaite and looped beyond the helpless Jordan Pickford.

Silva wasted a glorious chance for the vital second goal when he attempted a tough finish with the outside of his left boot that flew past the post when he had just Pickford to beat.

Guardiola held his head in his hands as that opportunity slipped by and had even more reason to lament moments later.

Manuel Akanji sliced an attempted clearance into the path of Ndiaye, who took one touch to control before unleashing a brilliant finish into the top corner for Everton’s first away goal in over two months.

Pickford denied Savinho’s low effort and Mateo Kovacic fired just wide as City upped the tempo at the start of the second period.

There was another major swing in momentum just seven minutes after the restart.

Savinho was chopped down inside the area by Vitaliy Mykolenko, who was lucky to avoid a second yellow card.

Haaland had the chance to end his longest goal drought at the Etihad but his spot-kick was that of a striker short in confidence as Pickford dived low to his right to make the save.

The giant Norwegian headed in after Gvardiol nodded the rebound across goal but was clearly offside.

Haaland has scored just once in his last seven matches and not found the net in his last four.

Guardiola said this week the 24-year-old’s lean spell alone did not explain City’s collapse.

But their dependance on Haaland, who has played the full 90 minutes in every Premier League game this season, is at the heart of his side’s struggles.

It should have been even worse for Guardiola’s men as Everton spurned a huge chance to snatch all three points deep in stoppage time.

Jack Harrison’s shot was blocked after the visitors failed to make the most of a four against two counter-attack.