VIEW FROM THE BLUE

Manchester City 1-2 Everton

Playing at the City of Manchester Stadium clearly agrees with Everton these days. Coming into this Monday evening fixture, one of only three games from this week's programme to survive the weather, they'd won their last three games on Manchester City's home turf and they again frustrated Roberto Mancini's side for 90 minutes before departing back along the M62 with all three points... all despite playing the last half hour with 10 men.

The win, only the Blues' second on the road all season, was vital and will have warmed the hearts of those hardy Evertonian souls who braved temperatures languishing at -6 at kick off. But the second half was a grind as City tried to press home their one-man advantage ? until, that is, Kolo Toure joined Victor Anichebe down the tunnel after picking up his second yellow card ? and royal blue-shirted heroes threw everything between them and Tim Howard's goal, repelling attack after attack until, finally, Yaya Toure managed to find the net... but only via the leg of Phil Jagielka.

In the end, despite then losing Jagielka to an apparent injury, David Moyes's side held out valiantly thanks largely to towering displays by Howard and ex-City man, Sylvain Distin. The American goalkeeper made a string of important stops while Distin continued the form that has made him an early front-runner for player of the season by shackling Carlos Tevez and generally dominating his sphere of influence all game.

Seemingly adjusting to the icy conditions quicker than their hosts, an Everton side featuring two changes from the one that had started against Wigan, stole into an early lead. There were barely three minutes on the clock when Anichebe could only glance a Leighton Baines cross beyond the City goal where Seamus Coleman picked up the loose ball and picked out Tim Cahill ? who else ? perfectly. With no one near him, the Australian nodded a simple header inside Joe Hart's near post to score his ninth goal of the season, his third in a row at Eastlands, and hand the Blues the lead.

Though City eventually adjusted to the slippery surface and David Silva had half the stadium thinking he'd equalised with a left-footed half volley that rippled the side netting, a lovely Everton move ended with a second goal after 18 minutes. Baines fed Anichebe down the left flank before charging inside on the overlap while the striker found Cahill in the area. He laid it back first time into the path of Baines who picked his spot in the far corner of the goal with a placed right-footed shot that left the 'keeper with no chance.

2-0 and the stadium had become a caludron of frustration that bled from the home fans to City boss Roberto Mancini who was already venting his spleen at Cahill for a clash of heads that meant that Zabaleta was in the dressing room getting stitches when the Blues scored the second goal. Now he was staring defeat in the face. not to mention also the prospect of passing up a gilt-edged opportunity to top the Premier League table over Christmas following the postponement of his rivals' matches over the weekend.

Not surprisingly, the pressure began to build on Everton who sat back a little and when Rodwell had headed behind after Zabaleta had been given the freedom of Eastlands down City's right flank and all the time he needed to pick out a cross, Balotelli volleyed the resulting corner over the bar.

Then, with a little over half an hour played, a passage of play that would be repeated many times in the second half. With Everton unable to get the ball away from their area, Vincent Kompany's shot following a corner was blocked by Jagielka and Silva hammered the rebound goalwards where it struck Phil Neville's arm, the home fans baying for handball on both occasions. Again SIlva's shot was blocked as the ball pinged around the visitors' area and Jagielka finally relieved the pressure when his lunge denied Zabaleta.

That spell of panic aside, Everton were fairly comfortable in the first half and only a direct free-kick attempt by Kolorov that was probably going to cannon off the outside of the post until Howard finger-tipped it wide threatened to pare back their two-goal advantage.

Undeterred, Kolorov tried his luck again three times in the early stages of the second half, first driving a powerful half-volley that Howard, leaping to his left, fisted away, then rifling a 20-yard shot narrowly wide, before finally smashing another free kick into the wall after Leon Osman, playing in place of the injured Steven Pienaar, had been adjudged to have fouled Zabaleta.

A few minutes earlier, Anichebe had been very harshly booked by referee Peter Walton for colliding with Hart as he tried to charge down a clearance and it was a decision that would take on much larger significance on the hour mark when the young striker, who was about to be substituted, caught Zabaleta in full flight and was flashed a second yellow card.

Predictably, Everton then had to dig in and defend their lead and City came forward with renewed vigour as the half wore on. Silva was again denied by Neville's arm and then again by Jagielka before Gareth Barry's dipping volley grazed the top of Howard's crossbar.

But the pressure told in the 72nd minute when Silva faked a shot and slipped the ball through to Adam Johnson. When he found the route to goal blocked Distin, he laid it off to Yaya Toure whose shot deflected off Jagielka's leg and crept inside the far post to make it 2-1.

Moyes responded by withdrawing the tiring Osman in favour of Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and then following up a minute later with the introduction of Louis Saha for Coleman, but it all looked for nought with 12 minutes left when Yaya Toure sprung the offside trap to put Balotelli in on goal. The Italian clipped the ball over Howard but then watched as it bounced off the post and back in play in front of the yawning goal. As they chased down the loose ball, Howard did enough to shoulder Balotelli to the side before making a sprawling block to deny Tevez from the angle.

It was a heart-stopping moment and it would be the closest City would come to wresting two points away from Everton, even when Jagielka was forced off with an injury and Tony Hibbert was pressed into service as an emergency central defender. Indeed, the verteran picked up where Jags had left off, charging down Barry's shot in the 85th minute and then inadvertantly stopping Silva's shot with his arm a minute later.

Desperate, City kept coming forward and when Yaya Toure was given too much time to set up a shot from outside the box, Howard tipped it wide at full stretch before turning around and berating his teammates for backing off and allowing the shot in the first place. And the USA international was on hand in stoppage time to foil Tevez with another excellent stop, a two-handed parry that pushed the ball away to safety.

That left enough time for Kolo Toure, who'd been booked moments earlier for chopping Distin down as he tried to maraude down the right wing, to get his marching orders from the referee for clipping Bilyaletdinov's heels as he swept past him on the counter-attack. It evened the teams in terms of numbers but this was to be Everton's night in terms of the scoreline as the final whistle sounded a minute later.

Given the frigid conditions, this was never going to be a vintage performance but it has to be said that Moyes's side played some pretty tidy and patient football at times, even without their two main playmakers in the form of Mikel Arteta and Pienaar. Marouane Fellaini was a strong presence in the defensive midfield anchor role, breaking up attacks and putting himself about with purpose (so much so that he was booked for showing his studs in a crunching tackle with Tevez) and though Jack Rodwell didn't assume much of an attacking or playmaker role, the Blues still managed to fashion two nice goals from the left flank, thanks to Baines.

On the right, Coleman's only real contribution all evening going forward was the assist for Cahill's goal and Neville rarely ventured forward so the final analysis centres more on the defence and an impressive team performance than any lauding of the Blues' attacking play.

In terms of the season, Everton avoided an eighth game without a win, a milestone they haven't reached for 18 years, and it could yet provide a belated catalyst to reignite their dimming European hopes. Certainly, an unexpected win away at title-chasing opposition should provide a shot in the arm for morale, but Cahill's loomimg absence in the New Year will continue to provide cause for concern, unless Moyes has a rabbit to pull out of the hat early in the transfer window.

Player Ratings:
Howard 9*, Neville 7, Jagielka 8 (Hibbert 7), Distin 9, Baines 7, Fellaini 8, Rodwell 7, Coleman 6 (Saha 7), Osman 6 (Bilyaletdinov 7), Cahill 8, Anichebe 6

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