LONDON: Marten de Roon’s stoppage-time header earned Middlesbrough a 1-1 draw at Manchester City on Saturday to leave Pep Guardiola’s side in a vulnerable position at the Premier League summit.
Sergio Aguero’s 150th City goal looked to have sent his team three points clear, but De Roon brought the Etihad Stadium back to earth following Tuesday’s brilliant 3-1 win over Barcelona in the Champions League.
“We did absolutely everything to win the game,” said Guardiola, whose side have drawn their last three home league games 1-1 following previous stalemates against Everton and Southampton.
“We controlled the game and in the last minute we concede a goal. It is a pity. We did a lot of good things and tried to win the game.
“It is a miss because we have dropped six points in the last three home games, but we are still there. We have to move forward.”
City’s slip-up means Chelsea can surpass them if they overcome Everton in Saturday’s late game, while Arsenal and Liverpool — both just a point off the pace — will also have designs on top spot.
Second-place Arsenal tackle Tottenham Hotspur in Sunday’s North London derby before Liverpool entertain Watford.
Elsewhere, bottom club Sunderland ended their wait for a first win of the season at the 11th attempt by coming from behind to win 2-1 at Bournemouth despite having Steven Pienaar sent off.
Boro’s trip to the Etihad reunited Guardiola with his former Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes and the Spain international set the tone for his one-time mentor’s day.
Valdes saved brilliantly from Aguero and David Silva in the first half, while Kevin De Bruyne shot just wide from Aguero’s pass.
With half-time beckoning, the hosts went ahead in the 43rd minute as Aguero dispatched De Bruyne’s sumptuous cross to register his 150th goal in 223 City appearances.
Boro showed more attacking intent in the second half, former City striker Alvaro Negredo almost catching out Claudio Bravo with an audacious lob from his own half before Bravo saved smartly from Adam Forshaw.
And after Aguero had squandered a late chance to make the game safe, Dutch midfielder De Roon met George Friend’s deep cross with a thumping header to earn Boro a dramatic point.
Sunderland remain bottom, below Swansea City on goal difference, but manager David Moyes belatedly has a victory to his name following a hard-fought success at Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium.
After Adam Smith had teed up Dan Gosling to bundle in an 11th-minute opener for Bournemouth, Victor Anichebe equalized with his first Sunderland goal.
Pienaar was sent off just before the hour after receiving a second yellow card for a lunge on Junior Stanislas, but Jermain Defoe netted a 74th-minute winner from the spot after Smith felled Anichebe.
“It is a big relief,” Moyes told Sky Sports. “We owed the supporters the victory. They have kept with us.
“We needed a win, but it is only one. We need a few more.”
There was late drama at Turf Moor as Burnley withstood a Crystal Palace fightback to prevail 3-2 courtesy of Ashley Barnes’s 94th-minute strike.
Sam Vokes and Johann Berg Gundmundsson put Burnley 2-0 up, only for Palace to hit back through second-half goals by substitute Connor Wickham and Christian Benteke.
Marten De Roon frustrates Man City; Sunderland tastes win
Marten De Roon frustrates Man City; Sunderland tastes win
Sabalenka debuts engagement ring during Indian Wells win
- World number one sported the striking oval-cut diamond ring for the first time in competition after getting engaged to Georgios Frangulis late on Tuesday
INDIAN WELLS, California: Aryna Sabalenka’s performance in a 6-4 6-2 second-round win over Japan’s Himeno Sakatsume was not the only thing that dazzled at Indian Wells on Friday, with the world number one also showing off her shiny new engagement ring.
The 27-year-old sported the striking oval-cut diamond ring for the first time in competition after getting engaged to Georgios Frangulis late on Tuesday.
“It feels super comfortable and shiny,” she told reporters.
“We double-checked if there was a possibility to lose the diamond, and there was none. I was pretty confident wearing it, hoping it might even distract my opponent.”
Sabalenka, who has made the final of the WTA 1000 event twice in the last three years, said that while the proposal came as a complete surprise to her, the entire team was in on the engagement secret.
“I saw Georgios and I was crying half of the time, because I thought that I looked ugly, not prepared, and this is such a beautiful moment,” she said.
“I stopped everything, and I asked the videographer and the photographer to make sure that my face was not (in the pictures), just the ring, and side views and from the back, just so you guys wouldn’t be shocked by the way I looked.
“But it was a beautiful moment.”
Sabalenka was asked what she has learned about Frangulis, the CEO of global health-food brand OakBerry, and what he has learned about her since they began dating in 2024.
“What I have learned about him? He likes Oakberry a lot,” the four-times Grand Slam champion said. “What he has learned about me? That I’m crazy,” she added with a laugh.
