On the evening of December 19, Beijing time, the two matches of the 18th round of the Premier League were held at the same time. This round of the league is the most tortuous round so far in the season, with 10 games and only 5 of them going smoothly.
There was just one match on the first matchday, with Arsenal winning 4-1 away to United, four points ahead of West Ham United in one more round, and secured a fourth-place finish.
The top three teams can all play normally, with Manchester City at the top of the table playing newcastle away. This is a contest between the old and new tycoons of the Premier League. In another simultaneous match, third-placed Chelsea came to challenge Wolves at no. 8 in the table.
Before the start of this round, Manchester City had 41 points from 13 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats, and their opponents Newcastle were in second-to-last place with 1 win, 7 draws and 9 losses. Chelsea's last three rounds of 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss, the ranking has gradually declined, 11 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses, has been 4 points behind Manchester City.
Let's take a look at The Manchester City vs. Newcastle, the first goal was scored, just five minutes into the start of the game, City's first shot was converted into a score, facing the cross, Newcastle's goalkeeper and defender looked at each other, there was an extremely serious mistake, Ruben Dias scored easily.
After conceding the ball, Newcastle launched some offensive attacks, but the ball was passed in front of the goal, and there was often no better way to complete the shot.
In the 26th minute, City tore open Newcastle's defence with a simple passing ball, and full-back Cancelo dribbled the ball in the middle of the road, clipped past the defender and fired directly into the top left corner of the goal.
After scoring, Cancelo slipped his hands in front of him and slid to his knees in celebration.
City took a 2-0 lead.
Newcastle, who are behind, are not without opportunities, but when players arrive in the box, they are often indecisive, resulting in a shift in ball possession. At the end of the half, City easily led 2-0.
In the 63rd minute, City's attack scored again, and after a series of smooth passes, Zinchenko sent an assist and Mahrez calmly scored.
After a review by the VAR, the referee confirmed that the goal was valid.
In the 80th minute, Newcastle had the best chance of the game when Wilson's header was lifted by Alisson.
In the 83rd minute, City continued to extend the scoreline, with Sterling scoring easily in front of goal. This time, City's players have been too lazy to celebrate, just symbolically hugging each other in greeting.
In the end, defending champions Manchester City beat Newcastle 4-0 to win eight straight, four points ahead of Liverpool before the start of their match against Tottenham.
Let's take a look at Chelsea's game against Wolves. For Chelsea, the great difficulty before playing against Wolves is that many of the teams have been quarantined, adding up to only 17 players to play, in addition to the starting 11, there are 2 goalkeepers, 1 defender and 3 midfielders.
Head coach Tuchel said he was furious that the Premier League had rejected the team's request for an extension, expressing strong dissatisfaction.
Perhaps because of the lack of a tidy squad, Chelsea were in a passive beating situation after the opening.
Wolves' attacks are loud and colorful, and the coordination between players is flowing. Moreover, Bourdains scored, but the referee raised his flag to indicate offside.
A slow-motion look back reveals that Jimenez had a dormant move in front of Bourdens' shot, and the score changed from 1-0 to 0-0.
Throughout the first half, Chelsea failed to get too good a chance, with the exception of Pulisic's shot, which was lackluster on the offensive end.
In the second half, Chelsea's attack improved slightly, but still could not convert the attack into a goal.
In the end, Chelsea, who are worth a total of 882 million yuan, drew 0-0 with Wolves in the absence of a major general, and in the last four rounds, 1 win, 2 draws and 1 loss, although still ranked third, but already 6 points behind Manchester City.
Chelsea, who have always been ranked first at the beginning of the season, are gradually falling behind.