Both Manchester City And Chelsea Suffer Losses, Liverpool Pulling Away

Saturday is the day for soccer in England, and we saw 8 Premiership games played this afternoon all over this country. There were two major surprises, which made Liverpool very happy.

Both Chelsea and Manchester City got stunned, losing their home matches, and allowing the Reds to increase their advantage in the standings.

Palace won at Etihad with 2:3, while Leicester silenced Stamford Bridge, 0:1.

City was leading against Crystal Palace, with Ilkay Gundogan opening the game in the 27th minute. Up until that point, the home team was better and they didn’t allow for the Eagles to have one chance from which they could score.

But only six minutes later, Jeffery Schlupp equalized, and that completely froze the champions. Some 100 seconds later, Andros Townsend scored the goal of the season, when he struck a volley from some 30 yards. City’s goalkeeper Ederson made it even more beautiful with his attempt to intervene, as the couldn’t even touch the ball which smashed into the back of the net.

Townsend, mate. Bloody hell. pic.twitter.com/rsW41bXmvg

— Bench Boost #FPL (@BenchBoostFPL) December 22, 2018

In one sentence, it was a beauty.

If Manchester City players felt shocked, imagine what was in their heads when Andre Marriner pointed towards the penalty kick spot, just six minutes into the second half. Kyle Walker made a reckless challenge, which in the end resulted with Luka Milivojevic scoring, increasing Palace’s lead to 1:3.

The home team woke up as the end approached, and they started pressuring the opponents, but besides Leroy Sane’s set piece in the 76th minute of the event, nothing really happened until five minutes before the end of the regulations.

Kevin De Bruyne decreased the deficit, and the Citizens, all went ahead trying to reach at least one point from this meeting, which would be of a great significance for them in the title race with Liverpool.

Gabriel Jesus had a chance to equalize in the second minute of injury time, but his shot went inches above the bar.

Chelsea was also surprised at home. The Blues lost against Leicester City with a minimal result, even though they had numerous chances for netting especially in the first 45 minutes.

The only scorer in this contest was Jamie Vardy, one of the best English strikers in recent years. James Madison made the assist before Vardy made a perfect shot from some 11 yards. Young Madison, who is one of the biggest talents of English soccer, is playing very well this season, and he became one of the players whose transfer will probably reach $100 million limit.

Jamie Vardy’s goal to make it 1-0 🙌 #LCFC #CHELEI https://t.co/pWVsXtzpsZ

— ComeOnLeicester.com (@Come0nLeicester) December 22, 2018

Chelsea was more than better in the first half, but excellent defending of the guests prevented them from scoring at least once. Eden Hazard’s shot struck the bar, while Willian didn’t have enough concentration to execute from a nearby in the late part of that sequence.

Marcos Alonso hit the post in the second half, and that was the biggest chance Chelsea had despite dominating on the pitch.

In other games, Bournemouth defeated Brighton and Hove Albion, with 2:0, bouncing back after two losses in a row. Southampton was better than their direct relegation rivals, Huddersfield Town, 1:3. Watford continued their solid displays, with a triumph over West Ham on the road in London, 0:2. In one very boring and unattractive event, Newcastle and Fulham played without goals.

Liverpool is first in the standings with 48 points, Cty is second with four fewer, and Tottenham sits third with 39 and a game in hand. The Blues are occupying no.4 with 37 points.