Pep rues missed chances as Man City come up short against Sunderland

Manchester City came to the Stadium of Light hoping to end Sunderland’s unbeaten run there in the Premier League this season but had to settle for a 0-0 draw after spending the first evening of the New Year misfiring in front of goal.

Thursday’s draw leaves City second in the standings, four points behind leaders Arsenal at the halfway point of the season. Coach Pep Guardiola had hoped for a better return from his attacking players, who struck the woodwork and had a goal disallowed for offside.

“Tough place to come,” he told the BBC. “The amount of chances we missed in the six-yard box, not difficult ones, [but] we could not convert.

“We didn’t do what we talked about in the first half, but in general it was a really good game.”

City tried everything to break Sunderland’s resistance, from firing crosses from the wings to intricate build-ups through the middle, but Sunderland matched them with a defensive intensity that was enough to keep a clean sheet, despite being under the cosh for most of the second half.

“To break the lines, have the composure to break them, it was better [in the] second half, the guys did everything,” Guardiola said.

“They are a bit heads down, but we have to be heads up because in three days we have a difficult game against Chelsea.”

The Premier League’s festive feast turned stale on Thursday night as the New Year’s Day programme served up three 0-0 draws, most significantly City’s stalemate at Sunderland that left them four points adrift of leaders Arsenal.

Second-placed City would have reduced Arsenal’s advantage to two points but instead were frustrated as their winning streak in all competitions was halted at eight.

Liverpool’s attack was also found wanting as they drew 0-0 at home to Leeds United while there were no goals at Brentford as they ground out a draw with Tottenham Hotspur.

The only goals of the day came at Selhurst Park where Fulham’s Tom Cairney scored a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw.

Sunderland have proved stubborn opposition on their return to the Premier League and have now drawn with City, Arsenal and third-placed Aston Villa at their Stadium of Light.

They are only the second promoted team to remain unbeaten in their first 10 home games in a Premier League campaign, after Ipswich Town in 1992-93, and were worth their point.

City did everything in their power to make the breakthrough but home goalkeeper Robin Roefs pulled off a series of saves while the closest the visitors came to scoring was Josko Gvardiol’s header that shaved the post in the second half.

One boost for City was the sight of Rodri back in action as a substitute for the injured Niko Gonzalez having recovered from a hamstring injury that had restricted him to a handful of minutes in the last three months.

Arsenal’s 4-1 thrashing of Villa on Tuesday put them on 45 points at the halfway stage of the season while City have 41 after just their second league draw of the season.

Next up for Arsenal is a trip to struggling Bournemouth on Saturday while City are at home a day later against Chelsea who parted ways with coach Enzo Maresca on Thursday.

Reigning champions Liverpool are 12 points behind Arsenal in fourth place as they produced a lacklustre display.

Their best chance fell to Hugo Ekitike but his miss rather summed up Liverpool’s day, somehow heading an inviting cross by Jeremie Frimpong away from goal when he seemed set to score.

Sometimes we didn’t have enough bodies in front of the goal and in other moments where we did create or we were close to a goal, we were a bit unfortunate.

—  Arne Slot

It could have been worse for Arne Slot’s side too with Dominic Calvert-Lewin having an 81st-minute goal disallowed for offside after latching on to a pass by Noah Okafor.

“You would like to start off [2026] with a win. But it was difficult. I don’t think we were able to play many times through their low block,” Slot said.

“Sometimes we didn’t have enough bodies in front of the goal and in other moments where we did create or we were close to a goal, we were a bit unfortunate.”

For Leeds it was another important point in their bid to stay clear of the relegation zone. They are in 16th place with 21 points, seven ahead of third-from-bottom West Ham United.

Spurs manager Thomas Frank went back to his old club Brentford but it was a forgettable affair as Tottenham’s 137-game run in the Premier League without a goalless draw ended.

Their last one was also against Brentford in May 2022.

The draw left Tottenham in 12th place with 26 points while Brentford, who had the better chances, are ninth with 27.

Palace are now winless in six matches in all competitions as they were denied victory by a superb curling shot by Cairney.

Reuters