Everton 0 Manchester City 2: match report

Two late goals secure vital victory for Blues at Goodison as race for Champions League intensifies

Manchester City travelled to Merseyside on Saturday afternoon to face Everton in the Premier League, looking for another big victory in the battle for Champions League football next season. The previous game saw the Blues come back from 2-0 down to win 5-2 at home against Crystal Palace. Ortega started in goal as it was earlier confirmed that Ederson suffered an injury in the Palace game. O’Reilly, Gvardiol, Dias and Nunes were in defence while Gundogan, Gonzalez, and De Bruyne were in midfield. Savio, Bernardo and Marmoush were the front three.

For a large portion of the game, City’s threat seemed initially minimal. Everton arguably had more control of the game in the first half. The closest chance for the Blues came when a half-cleared cross fell to De Bruyne who shot first time but his effort was blocked by O’brien. Everton earlier had a very big chance to give themselves the lead when a corner swung in was headed by Tarkowski right against the woodwork. Relief for City and frustration for the Toffees. These were the two only big chances of the first half and for a large portion of the game it had been seemingly pedestrian from both sides. Guardiola’s side looked in no way desperate despite threat if not qualifying for the Champions League looming.

The second half was when the match intensified and it was City on the back foot initially again with a big chance for Branthwaite who should’ve scored a header from close range but the shot was well saved by Ortega. Tarkowski was subbed off injured in favour for Michael Keane soon after. Doucoure’s shot from a tight angle was saved by Ortega and City were clinging on.

Momentum shifted around the 70th minute mark. A close range shot from Savio was saved easily by Pickford. Perhaps the most agonising of misses for City came when Marmoush was 1v1 with the keeper but failed to chip it over and fell. Many at that moment will have been thinking that must’ve been the chance for City given their relatively little opportunities to score prior to this moment. However, City continued the pressure and finally they would be the ones to capitalise when Nune’s cross found O’Reilly at the near post who merely had to tap the ball in to give City the lead late in the game. Given City’s tendency to throw away a lead at the death this season it was a tense final ten minutes, however it was too late for Everton and this was solidified when Kovacic put the game to bed with a long shot from a lay off from Gundogan in an almost carbon copy of the goal he scored last week against Crystal Palace.

The result is a huge victory for the Blues who are now 4th and in a Champions League space. They managed to keep calm under pressure in the end and ultimately prevailed. Their next game will be another tough encounter against Aston Villa on Tuesday night, who sit only 1 point behind the Blues and beat Newcastle 4-1 shortly after this game to prove that nothing has been decided yet. City may need their best performance of the remainder of the season on Tuesday night against a formidable Villa side.