Pep Guardiola rocked by injury crisis as another Man City star hauled off amid Arsenal title race
Manchester City's injury crisis appears to have moved from bad to worse as star player John Stones had to be hauled off against Everton with a fresh issue on Wednesday night. It came as the Cityzens made their return to Premier League action after winning the Club World Cup last week.
They have struggled to find their top gear so far, going on a winless run under Pep Guardiola that has seen them cease control of the title race to teams around them. Heading into their match with Everton, all of Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Tottenham were above them.
There have been some injury issues blighting the manager though, with Kevin de Bruyne one key absence that has been missed the whole season so far. Erling Haaland has been another recent miss through a foot injury, with his return to action still currently unknown.
Add to that issues for Ruben Dias and Jeremy Doku that kept them out of the Everton match and it means there is a very thin squad available to Guardiola. That was made worse as his side struggled at Goodison Park in the first half, with the Toffees working hard to get a result.
The home side took the lead after a mistake from Rodri saw Dwight McNeil capitalise, squaring it to Jack Harrison for an easy finish. They continued to threaten as Beto found a ball in behind, with a late offside flag ruling out the chance, but the damage had been done to covering defender Stones.
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The England defender went to ground, having seemingly felt his ankle buckle, requiring some serious attention before making his way back to the pitch. Stones couldn't
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