The English football champions Manchester City have suffered a surprising defeat in the Premier League after three wins in a row. The team around former Dortmund star striker Erling Haaland lost 2-1 (1-1) in their own stadium against the strong FC Brentford from London thanks to two goals from Ivan Toney.
In the last game before the World Cup break, Liverpool FC beat Southampton FC 3-1 (3-1), who parted ways with coach Ralph Hasenhüttl at the beginning of the week.
World Cup candidate scores equalizer
Toney scored the winning goal for Brentford with German pro Vitaly Janelt in the starting XI in the eighth minute of added time, after first putting the visitors ahead in the 16th minute. England professional Phil Foden (45.1), who was called up to the World Cup squad by national coach Gareth Southgate on Friday, scored the equalizer for the Cityzens of star coach Pep Guardiola.
The game at the Etihad Stadium was interrupted for a long time after City defender Aymeric Laporte suffered a severe bleeding laceration to his head in a second-half clash. The Spaniard was able to continue playing with an association. Ten minutes were replayed.
Man City, opponents of RB Leipzig in the round of 16 of the Champions League, remained in second place in the Premier League table after the home defeat. Leaders Arsenal have an opportunity to extend their lead to five points with a win in Wolverhampton on Saturday night.
Don’t knock on the sidelines
Liverpool moved up to sixth place in the table after the convincing home win. Former Hoffenheimer Roberto Firmino (6th) headed from a free kick and Darwin Núñez (21st/42nd) scored twice for the superior Reds. Coach Jürgen Klopp had to watch the game from the stands after his red card, which he received in a duel against Man City a few weeks ago.
Che Adams (9th) scored the temporary equalizer for the Saints, who were threatened with relegation and where new coach Nathan Jones was on the sidelines. Adams’s header from a free-kick was like a copy of Firmino’s goal three minutes earlier.
Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United delivered a spectacular goal festival – with the better ending for Tottenham. The Spurs fell behind three times at 4: 3 (1: 2) in front of their home crowd. Harry Kane (25′) and Ben Davies (51′) equalized twice before Rodrigo Bentancur (81’/83′) turned the game around in London.
Crysencio Summerville (10′) and Rodrigo twice (43’/76′) scored for Leeds. The team of the former RB Leipzig coach Jesse Marsch had to play the final minutes after a yellow-red card for Tyler Adams (87th) outnumbered.
Chelsea with the German World Cup driver Kai Havertz could not end their crisis before the break. The heated 0: 1 (0: 0) at Newcastle United was the third Premier League defeat in a row for the Londoners and the fifth game in a row without a win. With his goal, Joe Willock (67th) ensured that Newcastle remained third in the table at least until Christmas – and that Graham Potter, as Thomas Tuchel’s successor, already had to worry about his job as Chelsea coach.
