Manchester City returned to winning ways in the Premier League with a narrow 1-0 victory against a resilient Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Manchester City beat Everton 1-0 late on Saturday at Goodison Park to maintain their lead at the top of the Premier League standings. Following an emotional display of solidarity for the people of Ukraine before the game, both teams started with tremendous enthusiasm, pressing high with quality and vigour.
Predictably, City controlled the lion’s share of possession and had the greater number of half-chances in the opening 45 minutes, but Everton defended superbly and constantly put the visitors on the back foot with their fast-paced counter-attacks, although clear-cut chances were few and far between for both sides.
Richarlison also squandered a chance before the first half, while a well-struck free-kick from Anthony Gordon got the home crowd off their seats despite never really threatening Ederson’s goal. City escaped a big Everton penalty claim when VAR ruled that their midfielder Rodri had not committed a handball offence in the box.
The Citizens came out all guns blazing after the break and a goal looked to be on the cards as the clock ticked on. Finally, the decider came in the 82nd minute when some careless defending from Michael Keane allowed Foden to slip in and bundle home a scrappy goal to give City a lead and eventually the three points.
➕3️⃣ @ManCity leave it late to take all three points#EVEMCI pic.twitter.com/vpUB7alOkV
— Premier League (@premierleague) February 26, 2022
The result moved City six points clear of second-placed Liverpool, while Everton’s fifth defeat in six league games dropped them to 17th place — one point above the relegation zone. The Hard Tackle will now run the rule over both sets of players.
Everton
Jordan Pickford: 8/10
After an uneventful first half, Pickford was called into action to make several spectacular stops after the interval, including a brilliant double save to deny Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva. The Englishman made a number of decent saves to keep City at bay for much of the game and was left helpless by a slow defence for the goal.
Seamus Coleman: 6.5/10
Coleman held his ground against the fleet-footed Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva and dived into a couple of strong challenges. He still managed to get forward and also contributed to the attack. He finished the game with 3 tackles, 1 interception and 2 clearances, so the veteran put in a solid defensive shift.
Mason Holgate: 7/10
Holgate looked a bit unsteady on the ball at times but luckily got away with it. The English centre-half put in a dogged performance in challenging circumstances against a quality City attack and unlike his defensive partner, rarely put in a foot wrong at the heart of the Toffees’ defence.
Michael Keane: 5/10
The English centre-back put in a poor performance. Although he was largely composed during City’s numerous waves of attacks and was solid in the air, he made some blunders, including the most decisive one when he lost concentration for the goal. To be fair on Keane, Foden made a blindside run which is usually difficult to keep track of. He was devastated after realising how costly his error would be.
Jonjoe Kenny: 6/10
Kenny was defensively solid and went close to scoring in the first half. He was constantly surging up and down the left wing and was often caught out of position against a relentless City attack. Left-back is certainly not his best position, and he continues to struggle under Lampard.
Allan: 7.5/10
Allan’s game by numbers vs Man City:
100% tackles won (4/4)
100% successful dribbles (2/2)
91% pass accuracy (31/34)
75% long ball accuracy (3/4)
49 total touches
8 ball recoveries
6 ground duels won
1 chance createdUnlucky to be on the losing side. ?? pic.twitter.com/1TjdCkKbSZ
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) February 26, 2022
Allan had the tough task of keeping City’s midfield runners quiet, which he did very well with his unstoppable energetic press. Operating in a deep-lying midfield position, he found himself on the back foot and had to cover every inch of grass.
He broke up play well in midfield, making a match-high four tackles in the process. The Brazilian also had a strong penalty claim denied in the first half, which felt harsh on Everton.
Abdoulaye Doucoure: 7.5/10
To say Everton missed Doucoure’s combative midfield presence in recent games would be a big understatement. He was far too physical for City’s midfield and made those extra legs of the third central midfielder count with the relentless press.
He made a big difference working alongside Allan and got forward to contribute to the attack well enough. His fitness could be a crucial factor in Everton getting away from the relegation mire this season.
Abdoulaye Doucoure’s stats vs Manchester City:
Touches – 53
Successful passes – 27
Successful forward passes – 14
Successful attacking third passes – 10
Chances created – 1
Pass accuracy – 82%
Recoveries – 4
Successful tackles – 2
Clearances – 2
Shots blocked – 1#EFC #EVEMCI— EFC Statto (@EFC_Statto) February 26, 2022
Donny van de Beek: 7/10
The Manchester United loanee put in another fine performance. While there was not much on the creative side given Everton’s low possession stats, the Dutchman put in a tenacious shift in the Toffees’ engine room and looked to be relishing the off-the-ball side of the game before his evening was curtailed early due to injury.
Alex Iwobi: 5/10
Iwobi showed endeavour and spirit down the right flank and caused City a fair few problems. Certainly put in a lot of effort in his performance, but needs to read the game better at times and make better calls in the final third.
Richarlison: 6/10
Richarlison surely has had better games leading the line for the Toffees than this one. While the Brazilian was bright in the opening exchanges of the match, he faded in the second half and was fairly anonymous. He simply did not make the most of the chances that fell his way, including a golden opportunity that was later called offside.
Anthony Gordon: 7/10
Another lively showing from the Toffees’ academy product. He appears to be getting better with each passing game. He was very sharp and technical on the ball and looked threatening every time he involved John Stones in a footrace. The youngster forced Ederson into action early on with a powerful left-footed drive, while he also flashed a curling free-kick not far off target in first-half stoppage-time. Plenty of enterprising, purposeful runs caused City’s defence problems.
SUBSTITUTES
Dele Alli: 6/10
Alli still appears to be finding his way back to full intensity. He could not inspire Everton to create more and was booked in injury time for a collision with Ederson.
Demarai Gray: N/A
The Everton faithful will be relieved to see their most regular attacking threat and leading top-flight goal-scorer this season returning to full fitness, but his return came too late in this game.
Anwar El Ghazi: N/A
Did not play enough to warrant a rating.
Manchester City
Ederson Moraes: 6/10
Ederson was not involved heavily but was always there when called upon. He made a couple of great saves to deny Richarlison in 1v1 situations, albeit one of those shots was adjudged to be offside. He had a few saves to make but always looked comfortable as the Toffees only posted 2 shots on target.
John Stones: 7/10
Deployed at right-back, Stones looked comfortable while performing his duties against his former club, apart from a couple of times when he gave the ball away cheaply under pressure. He was particularly brilliant with the ball at his feet and went close with a great hit from range. He surged forward on multiple occasions but often stayed inside to keep City’s midfield in control.
Ruben Dias: 6/10
The Portuguese international seemed to be back to his best after some uncharacteristic mistakes against Tottenham last weekend. He had yet another strong performance and appeared calm and collected on the ball throughout the game.
Aymeric Laporte: 7/10
Laporte displayed his excellent range of passing to unpick the Everton defence on a number of occasions. There was also some nice progressive passing to get the Sky Blues moving forwards. Always looked at ease despite mounting pressure from the hosts and battled to help his side earn a hard-fought clean sheet.
As usual, he was impeccable in distribution and attempted a match-high 110 passes with a stunning 100% success rate, while he also completed five accurate long balls.
Joao Cancelo: 6/10
Cancelo was superb in the attacking part of the game as he posed a constant threat when marauding up the pitch, getting into some nice positions. But Alex Iwobi caught him out of position a few time, which put City under unnecessary pressure.
Rodri: 5/10
Rodri could not shield the backline as gracefully as he usually does, as he struggled to cope with Everton’s physicality, intense press and fast-paced style. He gave away a cheap free-kick towards the end of the first half in a dangerous position and also got fortunate with a major handball shout against him. That said, he dictated the play with his slick passing and recovered possession a fair few times too.
Better to stop the games and give the City the title from now!!
Man City vs Wolves ..penalty and City won 3 points!!
Everton vs Man City ..not a penalty and City won the 3 points!!
Premier League kills the competition
Disgusting!! pic.twitter.com/KSTvBSCKcy— Zainab Z.Z. (@ZainbZamzam) February 26, 2022
Kevin De Bruyne: 6/10
On his 200th Premier League appearance for Man City, De Bruyne failed to produce the spark needed and struggled with Everton’s intensity. In fact, the hosts overpowered and surpassed City’s midfield with their energy and drive. The Belgian was the only player trying to cut open a well-oiled Everton defence and had variable success.
Ilkay Gundogan: 5/10
He is usually such a reliable passer, but his radar went off for this game as he played several stray passes. Otherwise, it was an unspectacular showing from the Germany midfielder, who made a few good driving runs into the box and tried to link City’s attacks together. However, the midfielder was unable to produce decent scoring chances and was later substituted by Pep Guardiola
Phil Foden: 8/10
Foden was a constant menace throughout the game and almost carved open Everton’s defensive line with brilliant pieces of skill. The England international was also heavily involved with off-the-ball movements and some tireless pressing, while he eventually forced the issue by scoring the all-important winner for his side.
Phil Foden’s game by numbers vs. Everton:
80% pass accuracy
60 touches
44 passes
8 touches in the opp. box
6 crosses (=most)
4 duels won
3 possessions won
3 shots (=most)
2 dribbles completed
1 goalThe match winner was impressive.? pic.twitter.com/6WHmf1h8Eh
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) February 26, 2022
Bernardo Silva: 6/10
Another star player who looked a bit off the pace for large parts of the game, but he came alive midway through the second half and was at the heart of most of City’s attacking play, including a weak cross that somehow found its way to Foden for the only goal. Though the Portuguese playmaker was slick with his passes, his decision-making was not particularly effective on the day.
Raheem Sterling: 5/10
Sterling made a few strong runs where he looked dangerous, but the Englishman made some bad decisions that crushed many of City’s promising attacks. He also lacked precision in terms of his passing and shooting, making it a tough day at the office for the England star.
SUBSTITUETS
Gabriel Jesus: N/A
Jesus replaced Ilkay Gundogan in the 77th minute. The Brazilian pressed well and made himself available for passes, but didn’t spend enough time on the ball and was barely involved, having just three touches.
Riyad Mahrez: N/A
Did not play enough to warrant a rating.
