Manchester United scored two late goals on Sunday to deepen the pain for beleaguered Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola as Chelsea moved just two points behind English Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Elsewhere on a day of high drama in the English top flight, Wolves manager Gary O’Neil and Southampton boss Russell Martin were sacked, paying the price for their teams’ struggles.
In the marquee game of the day at the Etihad, City defender Josko Gvardiol opened the scoring, but Bruno Fernandes leveled from the penalty spot in the 88th minute and Amad Diallo struck two minutes later to seal a 2-1 win.
Photo: Reuters
Defending champions City — who have dominated English soccer over the past decade — now have just one win in 11 games in all competitions, and Guardiola is desperately searching for answers.
“I don’t have a defense, I’m the boss, I’m the manager. I have to find a solution and I don’t find a solution,” Guardiola said.
“This is a big club, when you lose eight out of 11, something wrong is happening. What can I say? The schedule is tough, the injured players? No,” he said. “I’m the boss, I’m the manager and I’m not good enough. It’s as simple as that.”
Photo: Reuters
Guardiola’s men trail leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand, by nine points and sit outside the UEFA Champions League places, in fifth spot.
The win is a huge relief for new United boss Ruben Amorim, who had won just one of his first four Premier League matches.
“I think for the fans it has a deep meaning, especially in this context, in this moment,” the former Sporting Lisbon boss said after his first experience of a Manchester derby.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We had a difficult moment one week ago against Nottingham [Forest] at home with a storm. It was a really tough moment after the game,” he said. “Today, we are more happy, but it’s three points that we have to continue.”
United finished the day 13th in the Premier League table, after Tottenham hammered bottom club Southampton 5-0.
Enzo Maresca’s high-flying Chelsea beat Brentford 2-1 at Stamford Bridge to close to within two points of long-time leaders Liverpool, who have 36 points.
The home team dominated the first half and got the reward they deserved shortly before the break when Marc Cucurella nodded home Noni Madueke’s cross.
Nicolas Jackson doubled Chelsea’s lead in the 80th minute and they held out for the win despite a late strike from prolific Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo.
It is a fifth straight win for Chelsea, who look increasingly like being Liverpool’s main challengers this season, with Arsenal and City faltering.
But Maresca is still being coy over his side’s title chances.
“It’s not about how many games we win,” he said. “It’s about being realistic. There are things we have to do better. That’s why I said for me we are not ready.”
LA LIGA
AFP, BARCELONA
Spanish La Liga leaders Barcelona stumbled 1-0 at home against Leganes on Sunday as they suffered another blow in the title race.
Atletico Madrid pulled level on points with the Catalans with a 1-0 victory against Getafe earlier on, their 11th straight win across all competitions.
Leganes defender Sergio Gonzalez headed home from a corner kick after four minutes for the visiting minnows and Barcelona missed a host of presentable chances as they failed to mount a comeback.
After a superb start to the season, Barcelona have lost three of their last six league games and won just one of those, seeing their lead whittled away.
Hansi Flick’s side lead third-place Real Madrid by a single point, after the champions drew at Rayo Vallecano on Saturday, having played one extra game than both their closest title rivals.
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“We have to be better in front of goal if we want to win points, we’re in a bad run in the league and we have to turn it around,” he said.
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