		<div class="wpcnt">
			<div class="wpa">
				<span class="wpa-about">Advertisements</span>
				<div class="u top_amp">
							<amp-ad width="300" height="265"
		 type="pubmine"
		 data-siteid="111265417"
		 data-section="2">
		</amp-ad>
				</div>
			</div>
		</div><p>Manchester City bemoaned a controversial late penalty decision as they dropped two points in the title race with a frustrating goalless draw against Everton.</p>
<p>Raheem Sterling looked to have been fouled by John Stones in injury time of a lively Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium, but referee Roger East saw it differently.</p>
<p>The upside for third-placed City was that leaders Arsenal were also held at Liverpool, but manager Manuel Pellegrini was in no doubt his side should have had a spot-kick.</p>
<p>Pellegrini said: &#8220;The whole stadium could see it was a penalty. It was so clear, so near for the referee and both legs of Raheem were taken.</p>
<p>&#8220;It was clear foul from Stones but if the referee doesn&#8217;t whistle for it, we can&#8217;t say anything about that.&#8221;</p>
<p>East&#8217;s decision cost City the chance to claim a victory they arguably deserved for their second-half dominance on a cold and wet night.</p>
<p>https://youtu.be/Zliaw5Xm-6w</p>
<p>The hosts created numerous chances but found the recently-maligned Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard in superb form, while Sergio Aguero also had two penalty claims turned down.</p>
<p>Howard, who saved a powerful header from Yaya Toure in the first half, kept out two good efforts from Aguero as well as denying Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne.</p>
<p>Everton&#8217;s best opportunities came in the first half with Leon Osman volleying narrowly wide and Gerard Deulofeu testing Joe Hart.</p>
<p>Pellegrini said: &#8220;In the second half it was complete dominance by us &#8211; of possession, of shots, of saves from their goalkeeper. I think we did enough to merit winning the game.&#8221;</p>
<p>Everton boss Roberto Martinez viewed the penalty controversy differently.</p>
<p>Martinez said: &#8220;The way I saw it, I see John Stones going to ground trying to block the trajectory of the ball.</p>
<p>&#8220;All of a sudden Raheem Sterling is quite happy not to play the ball and he wants to invite some sort of contact.</p>
<p>&#8220;If you are not certain, you don&#8217;t want to gamble in a decision that could have been so damaging from our point of view.</p>
<p>&#8220;I felt Roger made the right call there.&#8221;</p>
<p>Everton beat City in the first leg of their Capital One Cup semi-final at Goodison Park last week and Martinez was again pleased with the performance.</p>
<p>He said: &#8220;I thought in the first half we were very good. I thought we controlled the game for long spells, probably more than Manchester City.</p>
<p>&#8220;The second half was a little different. We found it difficult to impose ourselves but we had to show resilience and concentration and defend well.&#8221;</p>
<p>The game had gone ahead as scheduled at 7.45pm despite severe traffic problems on the motorway network. There were many empty seats at kick-off and fans continued to trickle in throughout the first half.</p>
<p>Martinez said: &#8220;I think it was chaotic around Manchester today. We got here later than normal but with enough time to prepare.</p>
<p>&#8220;Delaying kick-off &#8211; I am always in favour of to allow fans to watch from the beginning, but it is not in our hands to make those decisions.&#8221;</p>
			<div style="padding-bottom:15px;" class="wordads-tag" data-slot-type="belowpost">
				<div id="atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68e1d1ec403b1">
					<script type="text/javascript">
						window.getAdSnippetCallback = function () {
							if ( false === ( window.isWatlV1 ?? false ) ) {
								// Use Aditude scripts.
								window.tudeMappings = window.tudeMappings || [];
								window.tudeMappings.push( {
									divId: 'atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68e1d1ec403b1',
									format: 'belowpost',
								} );
							}
						}

						if ( document.readyState === 'loading' ) {
							document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', window.getAdSnippetCallback );
						} else {
							window.getAdSnippetCallback();
						}
					</script>
				</div>
			</div>
Discover more from London Glossy Post
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
