Man City 2 Everton 0
Pep Guardiola’s side had the chance to go back to the top of the table with a victory against Everton at the Etihad Stadium in the early kick-off. Victory against Brentford during the week had put the defending champions only two points behind Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Sean Dyche was forced to watch this one from the stands as he was serving a touchline ban. Fortunately the Everton boss had more microphones on than Madonna on tour, so he could still communicate with his coaches from his balcony seat.
The visitors started the game in positive fashion as they put pressure on Man City. Calvert-Lewin won the ball in the final third but tried an audacious chip from some twenty-five yards out when he had McNeil in space to find if he had seen him.
Jeremy Doku was in form as he twisted and turned on the wing, creating all sorts of problems for the Everton defence. As he got down the left flank, he clipped a cross to the back post to find Haaland but the big striker got his header all wrong as it went well over the crossbar.
Credit: @ManCity
The Toffees has caused Guardiola’s side some headaches in Manchester and this game was no different. They seemed to be struggling to break down the visitors, even a neat ball from Foden in behind the back line to Nunes, saw Pickford get there first to clear his lines.
Looking at the replay, the Man City midfielder seemed favourite to get to the ball first but pulled out of the challenge when he noticed the Everton goalkeeper steaming towards him. As a player who seen his fair share of injuries in his career, Nunes did not fancy getting reacquainted with the physio staff.
Dyche’s side were creating glimpses of openings and one such chance fell to Harrison in the box. He looked to hit it first time but got his shot all wrong as it fizzed off at a right angle into the stands. At this stage you felt Everton needed some divine intervention if they were to stun the champions.
Alvarez swung in a corner which Haaland could not get a solid head on. Everton tried to hack it clear but the ball went straight up in the air, as players from both teams tried to capitalise, the ball pinged around like a game of pinball.
It finally fell to Akanji, six yards out from goal, but the defender could not react quickly enough and by the time he got his shot away, it was blocked well by Tarkowski. The Toffees were throwing everything they had in front of the ball to try and protect Pickford’s goal.
Guardiola will have been infuriated from what he was seeing from his team. Despite dominating possession they were just not creating any clear-cut chances. The ball dropped to Alvarez outside the box but his shot was not troubling the visitors’ keeper whatsoever, more the spectators in the stands.
Credit: @ManCity
After an hour of the game, nobody in the Etihad Stadium could have believed that Pickford had seen so little action in the Everton goal. With that in mind, Pep Guardiola saw a sign on his bench that said ‘in emergency please break glass’. He did just that and introduced Kevin De Bruyne to the game.
Walker managed to find Rodri in a good position on the edge of the box but he too sent his shot well wide of the goal. Man City were shooting like an untrained militia, holding AK-47s for the first time as the world’s press filmed their exploits.
As Alvarez’s corner was poorly dealt with by the visitors, finally the ball broke to Haaland at the back post and he smashed the ball past Jordan Pickford. The Etihad Stadium erupted as Guardiola’s side finally managed to break the deadlock.
With points desperately needed, Everton had no option but to throw bodies forward in search of an equaliser. As City managed to clear the ball, De Bruyne slotted a pass into the path of the big Norwegian. He bounced off Branthwaite and neatly tucked his shot past Pickford to double the lead.
Everton’s plight is looking bleak and it almost got worse when De Bruyne tried to loft the ball over The Toffees’ keeper to make it three but fortunately for the visitors it landed on the roof of the net. Sean Dyche’s side left Manchester knowing they would spend another week in the bottom three.
The gravely-voiced manager had to get his kicks where he could, taking solace in the fact that they had contained City to three shots on target in the entire game. Guardiola will be focussed on their battle with Liverpool, but for the time being they went top of the table until Klopp’s side played later that day.
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