On Thursday evening, Manchester City failed to secure a victory at Sunderland (0-0) in the 19th round of Premier League fixtures. Following this result, the Sky Blues, second in the league, remain four points behind leaders Arsenal. Meanwhile, the Brentford-Tottenham match also ended in a 0-0 draw.

Often described, and rightly so, as the best league in the world, the Premier League did not show its best side on January 1st. While the two matches scheduled for 6:30 pm, namely Liverpool-Leeds (0-0) and Crystal Palace-Fulham (1-1), had already proven rather unspectacular, those that started at 9 pm, Sunderland-Manchester City and Brentford-Tottenham, ended with a score of 0-0 this Thursday evening, as part of the 19th matchday.

If no goals were scored at the Stadium of Light, it was largely because the Black Cats, playing with great aggression, delivered a remarkable collective defensive performance, but also because two players particularly stood out: Nordi Mukiele, who was very reassuring and saved his team by blocking a close-range shot from Jérémy Doku with his face (70th minute), and goalkeeper Robin Roefs. Roefs made several crucial saves, including a shot from Erling Haaland (37th minute), two consecutive attempts from Savinho (47th and 48th minutes), a last-gasp shot on the turn from Tijjani Reijnders (90+4th minute), and a header from Josko Gvardiol (65th minute), who also hit the post with a clever deflection (74th minute).

Despite a noticeable physical decline in the second half, Sunderland extended their unbeaten home record this season with this match. The team managed by Frenchman Régis Le Bris also looked dangerous, particularly with long balls played to the powerful Brian Brobbey, which resulted in a close-range shot from the latter that was well saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma (19th minute) and a shot over the bar from Trai Hume (22nd minute), who also had a dangerous header following a cross from Granit Xhaka (45+3rd minute).

Ultimately, this result confirms the impressive momentum of the Black Cats, who will finish the first half of the season in 7th place in the Premier League, boasting the third-best defense in the league. Meanwhile, Manchester City, in second place, missed the opportunity to close the gap on league leaders Arsenal, who now have a four-point advantage over the Citizens. Finally, at the same time, the Brentford-Tottenham match (0-0) allowed Spurs to climb one place in the standings (12th), while the Bees remain in 9th.