Premier League rings in New Year with goal drought as Man City lose ground in title race

SUNDERLAND, England, Jan 1 : The Premier ‌League's festive feast turned stale on Thursday as the New Year's Day programme served up three 0-0 draws, most significantly Manchester City's stalemate at Sunderland which left them four points adrift of leaders Arsenal.

Second-placed City would have reduced Arsenal's advantage to two points but instead were frustrated as their winning streak in all competitions was halted at eight.

Liverpool's attack was also found wanting as they drew 0-0 at home to Leeds United while there were no goals at Brentford as they ground out a draw with Tottenham Hotspur.

The only goals of the day came at Selhurst Park where Fulham's Tom Cairney scored a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw.

Sunderland have proved stubborn opposition on their return to the Premier League and have now drawn with City, Arsenal and third-placed Aston Villa at their Stadium of Light.

They are only the ‌second promoted team to remain unbeaten in their first 10 home games in a Premier League campaign, after Ipswich Town in ‌1992-93, and were worth their point.

City did everything in their power to make the breakthrough but home goalkeeper Robin Roefs pulled off a series of saves while the closest the visitors came to scoring was Josko Gvardiol's header which shaved the post in the second half.

"They are so physical. They're so strong, so it's not a surprise at that. We take the point," City boss Pep Guardiola said. "Really pleased with the performances, especially in the second half. There's still a long way (to go)."

One boost for City was the sight of Rodri back in action as a substitute for the injured Niko Gonzalez having recovered from a hamstring injury that had restricted him to a handful of minutes in the last three months.

Arsen