Manchester City deliver, Liverpool, Chelsea stumble

Sports Desk, Dec 19 (EFE).- A 10-man Liverpool on Sunday had to settle for a 2-2 draw against Tottenham in a thriller, as their gap behind leader Manchester City increased by three points as the Citizens got the job done against Newcastle.

It was the Spurs who drew the first blood, 13 minutes into the game, when Harry Kane beat goalkeeper Alisson, capitalizing on a clever through from Tanguy Ndombele.

Liverpool hit back in the 35th minute on Diogo Jota’s header connecting a cross from Andrew Robertson, who would give him team the lead for the first time in the game as he headed home off a shot from Trent Alexander-Arnold in the 69th minute.

It took Tottenham five minutes to draw level thanks to Son Heung-min, who punished Alisson for an unfortunate attempt to clear a pass outside the area.

Things got complicated for the Reds in the 79th minute, when Robertson was sent off for a challenge on Emerson Royal. Initially, he was shown a yellow card, but after reviewing the foul, it turned red.

After the draw, Liverpool are now three points behind Manchester City, who earned a 4-0 win over Newcastle earlier in the day.

The Citizens took the lead five minutes into the game, when Ruben Dias took advantage of miscommunication between goalkeeper Martin Dubravka and the defense line to head home a cross by Joao Cancelo.

Shortly before the half-hour mark, City struck again on a powerful shot from Cancelo. Riyad Mahrez added to his team’s tally in the 63rd minute on a volley off a Rodri cross.

With four minutes to spare before second-half stoppage time, Raheem Sterling rounded off the win on a close-range shot.

Elsewhere, Chelsea failed to earn a win for the second game in a row, as they had to settle for a scoreless draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The Blues had to do without Jorginho, Ben Chilwell, Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner and Callum Hudson-Odoi, all of whom have tested positive for the coronavirus as the Premier League refused a Chelsea request to postpone the game.

Having been held to a 1-1 deadlock by Everton, Chelsea saw the gap behind the leader City widen to six points 18 games into the season.

EFE ta-bp