Match Report

Everton had Amadou Onana back in the squad for this weekend’s trip to the Etihad Stadium to face reigning champions and treble winners, Manchester City, and held out extremely well for the first 70 minutes before Haaland struck.

Onana was fit enough for a place on the bench, with Patterson and Beto, while Godfrey and Calvert-Lewin are preferred by Sean Dyche to start this one at The Etihad. The manager himself had to watch from the stands, having three yellow cards for protesting just some of the atrocious refereeing decisions Everton have had to stomach this season.

The home side kicked off, with Branthwaite exuberantly jumping on McNeil to try and attain competitive elevation against Haaland.  Everton almost broke up City's first attack until Calvert-Lewin gave them the ball back and they won a corner that Pickford punched clear. 

City soon adopted their mind-numbing triangular passing possession game but Everton broke forward with a great diagonal ball to Mykolenko, and a cross came in, flying high over Calvert-Lewin. But the ball was worked to McNeil who played Godfrey in on Ederson, the collision necessitating some treatment.   

Everton tried the high press on City playing out, which was rather effective in slowing their advance. Branthwaite's unnecessary ball back to Pickford saw his hoof knocked down and Gana drawn into his first poor tackle. But Everton were doing a good job of keeping up the pressure until Calvert-Lewin decided to try a ridiculously feeble lob over Ederson that wasn't even on target. 

After 15 minutes, City had only gotten forward once, their second foray also getting pushed back into their own half again, so they resorted to the ball over the top, which Everton thwarted until they all-too-typically lost the ball from their own advanced throw-in.   

But still City had trouble getting near Everton's penalty area, Godfrey doing well to stop Doku. Foden's attempted shot from 20 yards was well blocked, and Tarkowski was next to tackle Foden superbly. A rare advanced touch for Haaland was immediately stifled but Everton again lost the ball in an advanced position and had to retreat.

Doku finally got past Godfrey but his low cross was cleared by Branthwaite. Dias should have been carded for impeding Calvert-Lewin, who headed McNeil's free-kick harmlessly to Ederson. 

Doku again got past Godfrey but Haaland could only head well over coming in late around the back. Everton continued to play a pretty effective containment game without making much of the rare moments when they had the ball. Young tried to feed Calvert-Lewin forward but the Everton man was too slow for his City marker.

Then City came forward a lot more quickly and won a corner that was well defended and eventually cleared, but they came back through Doku, who was getting a little closer each time. Everton turned over possession and went to counter but Calvert-Lewin played a hopeless sideways ball directly out of play and City went on to have their most threatening attack so far.  

But the Pinks defence held firm once again and even got the ball upfield for McNeil to present a difficult pass through to Calvert-Lewin that was well beyond his skill set to control.

Pickford risked it all to reach a ball for Nunes in the outer corner of his area, and was able to release McNeil down the left who was fully expecting Calvert-Lewin to be on the end of his excellent cross but our No 9 had started his run way too late. 

However, the ball came around to Harrison but he lashed a possible chance way beyond the far angle of Ederson's goal. More very solid albeit mostly defensive play from Everton continued to thwart City, but still without using what little ball they had to any meaningful effect. 

Nunes got free down the right but Branthwaite had the full measure of him. City tried the other side, through Doku and Ake, but Garner cleared it away. Mykolenko was unfortunate to be drawn in to foul Foden on the corner of the Everton area, the free-kick was met by Akanji but beyond the far post and gathered by Pickford.  

Alvarez picked Godfrey's pocket but could not find Akanji as 3 minutes were added before the break. City probed around and eventually, Stones forced a corner off Branthwaite that was worked into a very dangerous chance for Akanji to hit Tarkowski on his upper arm but well tucked in and no penalty.

Everton endured a couple more corners and went in all square with the defensive side of their gameplan very successfully stifling the City superstars.

Everton got forward from McNeil's restart, Calvert-Lewin rolling a weak shot from distance wide of Ederson's goal. City seemed to have a little bit more drive than in the first half, but still could not get past Tarkowski.  Alvarez shot miles wide. 

Doku got past Godfrey again and crossed with power but it was eventually gathered by Pickford, with Godfrey needing some treatment. Gana got a card for his late block on Foden as Godfrey went down again, in trouble with some sickness bug, Coleman on in his place. 

Everton defended the free-kick well as Pep Guardiola brought on Walker and De Bruyne. 

Everton worked the ball forward but Coleman's cross was too close to Dias. At the other end, Branthwaite stalled Alvarez superbly as the hour-mark passed with no goals scored or conceded. 

But City's best attack needed McNeil to sweep the cross behind with Walker lurking. A corner and all hands on deck, Calvert-Lewin heading the second ball clear, with Walker then fouling McNeil.

Doku was given too much space by Coleman, and City won a corner but Garner stopped it reaching Foden. De Bruyne tried a more direct approach to breaking Everton down but it was blocked away. 

Tarkowski was caught by De Bruyne but recovered quickly and City reformed again to stage the next foray, Rori firing high over the bar with McNeil floored by Stones. 

De Bruyne set off on a very speedy run but Garner's tackle at pace was top class. Still they came forward, winning a corner that was defended behind as it seemed to come off Calvert-Lewin.  The next one eventually fell nicely for Haaland who fairly drilled it through the bodies and off Pickford into the Everton net. Resistance is Futile. 

It was down to Everton to play chase the shadows as City now passed it around almost at will, having finally secured the breakthrough they needed as more subs were made with less than 15 minutes left. 

Everton tried to mount something of an attack but the Coleman cross didn't reach Beto. Coleman did better this time to stop Doku getting around him. Onana found Beto who was a mile offside and still couldn't score. 

Branthwaite had to stop Haaland advancing down the wing. Good work by Garner saw him try to set up Beto but Ederson was out very quickly. Everton advanced and tried to create something on the right but eventually lost the ball and City moved it quickly through De Bruyne to Haaland, who brushed Branthwaite aside and drove easily past Pickford for the second killer goal. 

Resistance is indeed futile. But Everton given 10 minutes of added time to turn it around. Beto started it with a great turn and finish… but he had strayed 2 yards offside. At the other end, Foden's shot was easily saved by Pickford.

Garner chased after Grealish and fouled him for a late yellow card. De Bruyne got behind the lines and lobbed Pickford but only onto the roof of the net as the final whistle went.

Manchester City: Ederson, Akanji (57' Walker), Dias, Stones, Ake, Rodri, Foden, Nunes (57' De Bruyne), Alvarez (77' Bernardo Silva), Doku (87' Grealish), Haaland.

Subs not Used: Ortega, Gvardiol, Bobb, Wright, Lewis.

Everton: Pickford, Godfrey (55' Coleman), Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Young (77' Onana), Gana [Y:54'] (88' Chermiti), Garner [Y:90+7'], McNeil (88' Dobbin), Harrison, Calvert-Lewin (77' Beto).

Subs not Used: Virginia, Patterson, Keane, Hunt.

Michael Kenrick

Matchday Updates

Everton kept the reigning Champions at bay for just over 70 minutes before Manchester City finally broke their resistance with an Erling Haaland double.

The Norwegian scored his first Premier League goal since late November with City’s first shot on target in this lunchtime kick-off and then wrapped things up on the breakaway late on while the Toffees barely threatened Ederson at the other end.

With Sean Dyche mic’d up with his coaching staff and watching on from the stands as he served a one-game touchline ban, Everton made a decent start and created the early openings but let themselves down badly with the final ball.

Dwight McNeil eschewed the chance to repeat Demarai Gray’s heroics from distance in this fixture last season and tried to slip Ben Godfrey in instead, the makeshift full-back sliding in on the keeper who managed to hold onto the ball.

Then Jack Harrison looked to capitalise on a poor pass out from the opposition defence by playing in Dominic Calvert-Lewin but in a moment that summed up a woeful afternoon’s work from the striker, he ignored McNeil’s run to his left and dropped a lame attempt to chip Ederson wide of the target.

On the other side of the ball, the visitors were mostly excellent in the first half. Only Jeremy Doku, who twice skinned Godfrey down the hosts’ left, seemed able to make any inroads through Everton’s organised shape but his first cross was just too high for Haaland and his second was cleared away before it could find a sky blue jersey in the middle.

Everton’s best chance of the game fell to Harrison eight minutes before half-time when superb, determined work by Ashley Young down the right flank ended with his cross being diverted into the former’s path but with the chance to finesse a shot into the top corner with his left foot, he ballooned a poor shot into the stands.

James Tarkowski got away with a slip trying to play out from the back in one incident but put in an excellent block in a crowded penalty area in another on the stroke of half-time as the Toffees made it to the break all square.

The pattern continued into the second half and didn’t really change until Pep Guardiola introduced Kyle Walker and Kevin de Bruyne just before the hour mark.

Calvert-Lewin’s weak shot from distance had been the only attempt at goal to that point and Dyche had been forced into a change of his own when Godfrey, starting at right-back again, was forced off with apparent illness and replaced by Seamus Coleman but the dam eventually broke in the 71st minute.

Walker’s cross appeared to have been headed behind by a City head but referee John Brooks awarded a corner on their right, one which caused havoc in the box as Ruben Dias’s header bounced off Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite's clearance hit an opposition player. The ball fell to Haaland and he smashed it back across goal where Pickford got a hand to it but couldn’t prevent it from hitting the back of the net.

Dyche swapped Calvert-Lewin and Young for Beto and the returning Amadou Onana and the Blues were enjoying some promising possession down the right when a wayward pass from Harrison looking for Coleman was intercepted and the ball worked to De Bruyne.

He sent Haaland away into a race with Branthwaite which the striker won when the defender lost his footing and fell, leaving Haaland with the task of sweeping it wide of the stranded Jordan Pickford and inside the far post.

Everton had the ball in the net in stoppage time when Coleman won the ball of Jack Grealish in the middle and late substitute Lewis Dobbin found Beto who rattled it past Ederson but the Portuguese had been clearly offside.

De Bruyne almost put an unfair gloss on the scoreline when he tried to lob Pickford who had come well off his line to close him down but the Belgian’s effort dropped onto the roof of the net.

Overall, this was an entirely expected result, with the only surprising being that it took until the last quarter of the game before Guardiola’s much-vaunted treble-winners managed their first shot on target.

Everton set their stall out in predictable and effective fashion from a defensive point of view but they also had their chances in the early going to try and first blood. Unfortunately, their betrayed their depressing attacking limitations, with Calvert-Lewin particularly disappointing as the lone striker and on whom so much depended to get the team up the pitch.

No one expected anything from this fixture, of course, so attention now shifts to the altogether more important home clash with Crystal Palace in nine days’ time where it looks as though Onana will be in contention to start and the much-missed Abdoulaye Doucouré could make his return.

Lyndon Lloyd

Match Preview

Everton could have Amadou Onana back in the side for this weekend’s trip to the Etihad Stadium to face reigning champions and treble winners, Manchester City.

The Belgian missed the goalless draw at Fulham and last Saturday’s 2-2 with Tottenham with fluid on his knee from a knock he picked up in the cup tie against Luton but has returned to first team training and is likely to be in contention for a place in the team.

Abdoulaye Doucouré is also “back on the grass”, in Sean Dyche’s favoured, parlance but while the manager reported that the Frenchman is making good progress, Saturday’s game will come too soon for him.

A more likely target for Doucouré will be the more important home clash with struggling Crystal Palace under the lights at Goodison Park on 19 February.

Arnaut Danjuma and André Gomes are ruled out, but both Séamus Coleman and Ashley Young continue to build their fitness and both could start this weekend.

City, for their part, are close to full strength, with Erling Haaland, and Kevin de Bruyne back in the lineup while Phil Foden is in ominous form, having scored a hat-trick at Brentford on Monday night.

That win brought Pep Guardiola’s team to within two points of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League, so, with the bit very much between their teeth, City are unlikely to take their foot off the pedal to any degree against the Toffees.

Given the Manchester side’s dominance of domestic English football for match of the past decade, it is no surprise that Everton have not won on this ground in that time.

Indeed, you have to go back to December 2010 for the last time Everton came away from this part of Manchester with all three points but they did gut out a draw in this fixture last season, courtesy of a worldie from Damarai Gray, and Dyche will no doubt set his team out to defend stoutly just as Frank Lampard did that New Year’s Eve fixture at the end of 2022.

Then it’s just a case of hoping to carve something out on the break or from set-pieces in the hope of becoming one of the few sides to upset the Guardiola machine on their own turf.

Dyche, himself, will, of course, not be taking up his customary place in the manager's technical area having picked up a one-game touchline ban for picking up his third booking of the season.

He called for more understanding from the referees when it comes to coaches contesting decisions from the sidelines.

"I think there should be a bit more tolerance," Dyche said. "The fourth official is there and if deep down they are thinking the referee might have that one wrong, I don't see why you are booked for it.

"That's the moment when they should use a bit of their game understanding and say 'OK, he maybe got that one wrong but we need you to stay in the technical area'.

"I think that can be a calming down moment."

Kick-off: 12:30pm, Saturday 10 February, 2024
Referee: John Brooks
VAR: Michael Oliver
Last Time: Manchester City 1 - 1 Everton

Predicted Line-up: Pickford, Coleman, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Gueye, Garner, Young, McNeil, Harrison, Calvert-Lewin

Lyndon Lloyd

^* Unfortunately, we cannot control other sites' content policies and therefore cannot guarantee that links to external reports will remain active.