EIn a late conceding goal, Chelsea with coach Thomas Tuchel cost two important points in the English Premier League. The Champions League winner came on Wednesday evening against Brighton & Hove Albion only to a 1: 1 (1: 0). Despite the late setback after a goal conceded by Danny Welbeck (90 + 1), Chelsea overtook Jürgen Klopp and Liverpool (41), who surprisingly failed at Leicester City (0: 1) on Tuesday, with 42 points. The Reds have played one game less. The big winner is Manchester City, who are well on their way to defending their title with a 1-0 win at Brentford FC with 50 points.
Without national soccer player Timo Werner, Chelsea had their first chance through Cesar Azpilicueta after 17 minutes. Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez deflected his attempt from a corner to the post. The Spaniard cleared the following header from Antonio Rüdiger again. Chelsea took the lead eleven minutes later: Romelu Lukaku prevailed after a free kick from Mason Mount and headed into the far corner to take the lead 1-0. After the break, the guests pressed the equalizer and were rewarded by Welbeck in stoppage time.
With their tenth win in a row, Manchester City extended their lead to eight points in the evening. Phil Foden scored the winning goal for Pep Guardiola’s star ensemble in the 16th minute. Without national player Ilkay Gündogan, the Cityzens were initially lucky. Joao Cancelo saved after a Brentford corner with a header just before the goal line (15th). Almost in direct return, the guest tour. A pass from Kevin De Bruyne converted Foden to 1-0. After the break, Man City missed the 2-0 several times. However, the eighth away win was no longer in danger.
On January 2nd, Chelsea and Liverpool face each other in a chase duel. City is already challenged at Arsenal FC on New Year’s Day. Far from the top in seventh, 22 points behind City, is Manchester United. The German team manager Ralf Rangnick is dissatisfied with the progress. “Every ambitious coach wants to move forward in bigger and faster steps,” said the 63-year-old on Wednesday. “But for that you have to be able to train too.”
From Rangnick’s point of view, the corona problem is slowing down renewal. “We had to close our training center for four days,” he said, but afterwards his players made a good impression – so the recent 1-1 draw at relegation candidates Newcastle United was “a nasty surprise”. It was the first United game in two weeks after a forced Corona break. On Thursday against Burnley FC (9.15 p.m. on Sky), defender Victor Lindelöf will continue to be absent after a positive test. Paul Pogba is out with thigh problems.
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