Dhe race for the English football championship may have been decided prematurely after the 22nd matchday. Leaders and defending champions Manchester City have a huge lead of 13 points after a 1-0 (0-0) win over second-placed Chelsea on Saturday. Thomas Tuchel and his Blues will have to give up hope of winning the title this season.
When asked about a preliminary decision in the championship race, Tuchel kept a low profile after the defeat at the Etihad Stadium. “It’s not a question I can answer,” the Chelsea coach told BT Sport. “We won’t give up, but if City keeps winning every game, nobody can catch them.”
Kevin De Bruyne (70th minute) shot the superior Cityzens to a well-deserved victory in front of their home crowd. The champions were the better team overall, had more possession and finished more often than the visitors from London in the game with few chances. “A result like that can happen,” said Tuchel, who was annoyed by the lack of precision, lack of composure and too many turnovers from his blues. “We deserved a draw.”
His opponent Pep Guardiola, who seemed surprisingly tense after the narrow victory, saw things differently. “We absolutely deserved it,” said the former Bayern coach, “the way we played, everything we did. And don’t forget who we played against, they are Champions League winners.”
The German pay-TV broadcaster Sky has apologized for a glitch during the transmission of the game. Sky Go had an “unintentional commercial break” during the game on Saturday, Sky tweeted, adding: “It was obviously a technical error.”
After the twelfth win in a row, Man City is alone at the top of the table. However, Pep Guardiola did not want to write off Liverpool in particular, who have played two games less. “If Liverpool win their two catch-up games, then they’re only eight points ahead,” Guardiola warned. “So my job is to make sure that what people are going to say now gets out of the players’ minds.”
Ralf Rangnick, on the other hand, suffered another setback with Manchester United. The football record champion lost a two-goal lead against Aston Villa and only managed to score 2-2 (1-0). Former Bayern pro Philippe Coutinho scored on his debut for Villa.
With two goals from Bruno Fernandes (6th/67th minute), the guests, with superstar Cristiano Ronaldo missing due to injury, took the lead at Villa Park. Fernandes’ first goal benefited from a curious blunder by Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who slipped the ball between his legs.
Jacob Ramsey (77th) scored the goal. Then substitute Coutinho, who came on in the 68th minute, scored the equalizer (82′). The commitment of the Brazilian, who is on loan from FC Barcelona until the end of the season, only became fixed on Wednesday. Coutinho had played with Villa coach Steven Gerrard at Liverpool years ago.
