Man City drops more points after draw with Crystal Palace and Man United loses again

Manchester City’s Premier League title defense took another blow after drawing with Crystal Palace 2-2 on Saturday.

Four-time defending champion City ended a seven-game winless run on Wednesday by beating Nottingham Forest, but dropped more points with the draw at Selhurst Park.

It could have been worse for City as Palace led twice.

Pep Guardiola’s team is fourth in the standings and eight points behind leader Liverpool, which has a game in hand after its derby with Everton was postponed because of Storm Darragh.

Nottingham Forest was fifth after stunning Manchester United 3-2 at Old Trafford for the first time in 30 years.

Aston Villa beat last-placed Southampton 1-0, and Brentford won against Newcastle 4-2.

A win would have lifted City to second and cut the gap to Liverpool to six points, but it was behind after four minutes when Daniel Munoz scored for Palace.

Erling Haaland leveled by halftime with a header, but Maxence Lacroix restored Palace’s lead in the 56th.

Rico Lewis equalized again for City in the 68th and was sent off in the 84th for a second yellow card.

“I like everything about my team, when we’re in the situation we’re in,” Guardiola said. “We have a lot of problems within the squad. We fought incredible, we gave everything, we take the point.

“The season started difficult and will all season be difficult. We have to survive this season in every game, try to take points to win games and move forward."

Ruben Amorim is getting an idea of just how big a job he has on his hands at Manchester United after a second straight loss.

Goalkeeper Andre Onana's second-half blunder against Forest proved costly. At 1-1, two minutes after the break, Onana misjudged Morgan Gibbs-White's tame shot from outside the box. He dived the wrong way and watched the ball roll in.

For Amorim, who took over last month after leaving Portuguese champion Sporting Lisbon, it was the first home league match he has lost since February 2023.

“This is a long journey ... and we are improving in some aspects,” said Amorim, who tasted his first defeat as the United manager on Wednesday, a 2-0 to Arsenal.

Forest led through Nikola Milenkovic's header in the second minute, and Rasmus Hojlund equalized for United.

After Onana's error, Chris Wood made it 3-1 to Forest. Bruno Fernandes pulled a goal back for the home team.

After an eight-game winless run, Villa has back-to-back victories and is just two points behind City.

Jhon Duran’s goal in the 24th held up for all three points against Southampton at Villa Park and followed Wednesday’s win against Brentford.

Duran has been a super sub for Villa but scored on his first league start this season. He has nine goals in all competitions, five of them as a substitute.

Southampton was bottom of the standings and eight points adrift of safety.

Newcastle has gone four games without a win after being routed by Brentford 4-2.

In a thrilling first half at Gtech Community Stadium, Bryan Mbeumo opened the scoring for the home team before Alexander Isak equalized for Newcastle.

Yoane Wissa made it 2-1 to Brentford, but Harvey Barnes leveled again.

Nathan Collins put Brentford ahead again 11 minutes into the second half, and Kevin Schade ensured Newcastle was beaten by making it 4-2 in the 90th.

The Merseyside derby will be rescheduled because of Storm Darragh. A new date has not been determined.

Everton announced the game was off for safety reasons around four hours before kickoff. There were severe wind warnings. Parts of Wales were experiencing wind gusts of more than 145 kph (90 mph).

James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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Manchester United's Rasmus Hojlund celebrates scoring his side's first goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Nottingham Forest, at Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Saturday Dec. 7, 2024. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)

Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood celebrates scoring his side's third goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Nottingham Forest, at Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Saturday Dec. 7, 2024. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim gestures on the touchline during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Nottingham Forest, at Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Saturday Dec. 7, 2024. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)

Aston Villa's Jhon Duran celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Aston Villa and Southampton at Villa Park, Birmingham, England, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

Aston Villa's Jhon Duran celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Aston Villa and Southampton at Villa Park, Birmingham, England, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

Brentford's Nathan Collins celebrates scoring their side's third goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Newcastle United at the Gtech Community Stadium, London, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)

Brentford's Kevin Schade, right, scores their side's fourth goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Newcastle United at the Gtech Community Stadium, London, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)

Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Manchester City at Selhurst Park in London, Saturday Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)

Crystal Palace's Maxence Lacroix, left, celebrates scoring with teammates during the English Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Manchester City at Selhurst Park in London, Saturday Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)

Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola reacts during the English Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Manchester City at Selhurst Park in London, Saturday Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)

HOUSTON (AP) — Former Uvalde, Texas, schools police Officer Adrian Gonzales was among the first officers to arrive at Robb Elementary after a gunman opened fire on students and teachers.

Prosecutors allege that instead of rushing in to confront the shooter, Gonzales failed to take action to protect students. Many families of the 19 fourth-grade students and two teachers who were killed believe that if Gonzales and the nearly 400 officers who responded had confronted the gunman sooner instead of waiting more than an hour, lives might have been saved.

More than 3½ years since the killings, the first criminal trial over the delayed law enforcement response to one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history is set to begin.

It’s a rare case in which a police officer could be convicted for allegedly failing to act to stop a crime and protect lives.

Here’s a look at the charges and the legal issues surrounding the trial.

Gonzales was charged with 29 counts of child endangerment for those killed and injured in the May 2022 shooting. The indictment alleges he placed children in “imminent danger” of injury or death by failing to engage, distract or delay the shooter and by not following his active shooter training. The indictment says he did not advance toward the gunfire despite hearing shots and being told where the shooter was located.

Each child endangerment count carries a potential sentence of up to two years in prison.

State and federal reviews of the shooting cited cascading problems in law enforcement training, communication, leadership and technology and questioned why officers from multiple agencies waited so long before confronting and killing the gunman, Salvador Ramos.

Gonzales’ attorney, Nico LaHood, said his client is innocent and public anger over the shooting is being misdirected.

“He was focused on getting children out of that building,” LaHood, said. “He knows where his heart was and what he tried to do for those children.”

Jury selection in Gonzales’ trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 5 in Corpus Christi, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Uvalde. The trial was moved after defense attorneys argued Gonzales could not receive a fair trial in Uvalde.

Gonzales, 52, and former Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo are the only officers charged. Arredondo was charged with multiple counts of child endangerment and abandonment. His trial has not been scheduled, and he is also seeking a change of venue.

Prosecutors have not explained why only Gonzales and Arredondo were charged. Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell did not respond to a request for comment.

It’s “extremely unusual” for an officer to stand trial for not taking an action, said Sandra Guerra Thompson, a University of Houston Law Center professor.

“At the end of the day, you’re talking about convicting someone for failing to act and that’s always a challenge,” Thompson said, “because you have to show that they failed to take reasonable steps.”

Phil Stinson, a criminal justice professor at Bowling Green State University who maintains a nationwide database of roughly 25,000 cases of police officers arrested since 2005, said a preliminary search found only two similar prosecutions.

One involved a Florida sheriff’s deputy, Scot Peterson, who was charged after the 2018 Parkland school massacre for allegedly failing to confront the shooter — the first such prosecution in the U.S. for an on-campus shooting. He was acquitted by a jury in 2023.

The other was the 2022 conviction of former Baltimore police officer Christopher Nguyen for failing to protect an assault victim. The Maryland Supreme Court overturned that conviction in July, ruling prosecutors had not shown Nguyen had a legal duty to protect the victim.

The justices in Maryland cited a prior U.S. Supreme Court decision on the public duty doctrine, which holds that government officials like police generally owe a duty to the public at large rather than to specific individuals unless a special relationship exists.

Michael Wynne, a Houston criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor not involved in the case, said securing a conviction will be difficult.

“This is clearly gross negligence. I think it’s going to be difficult to prove some type of criminal malintent,” Wynne said.

But Thompson, the law professor, said prosecutors may nonetheless be well positioned.

“You’re talking about little children who are being slaughtered and a very long delay by a lot of officers,” she said. “I just feel like this is a different situation because of the tremendous harm that was done to so many children.”

Associated Press writer Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, contributed.

Follow Juan A. Lozano: https://x.com/juanlozano70

FILE - Flowers are placed around a welcome sign outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, May 25, 2022, to honor the victims killed in a shooting at the school. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Velma Lisa Duran, sister of Robb Elementary teacher Irma Garcia, cries as she reflects on the 2022 Uvalde, Texas, school shooting during an interview on Dec. 19, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Kin Man Hui)

Velma Lisa Duran, sister of Robb Elementary teacher Irma Garcia, poses with photos of her sister and brother-in-law, Joe Garcia, as she reflects on the 2022 Uvalde, Texas, school shooting on Dec. 19, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Kin Man Hui)

FILE - This booking image provided by the Uvalde County, Texas, Sheriff's Office shows Adrian Gonzales, a former police officer for schools in Uvalde, Texas. (Uvalde County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

FILE - Crosses with the names of shooting victims are placed outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, May 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)