Here’s Andy Hunter’s match report from Goodison:
FULL TIME: Everton 1-3 Manchester City
Does a 3-1 victory ever constitute a thrashing? It does now. City were utterly dominant, the bosses of Everton from the get-go. They were sensational, with David Silva and Leroy Sane the star turns. Mind, to a man they were magnificent. Everton shouldn’t self-flagellate too much, because few could live with City in this mood. Pep Guardiola’s side can win the title against Manchester United next weekend. A penny for the thoughts of Jose Mourinho, who will have been furiously taking notes while watching this masterclass. Repeat that last sentence for Jurgen Klopp, whose team have quite the Champions League poser to solve in midweek. Wow.
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90 min: Sane tries to dribble upfield from his own goalline. He’s very nearly dispossessed and embarrassed by Niasse. A bit over-confident, despite all his brilliance. Anyway, he gets away with it. There will be three added minutes. Everton have been dreaming of this moment for the last hour and a half.
88 min: Fernandinho tries to Rooney one in from the halfway line. It’s off target, while Pickford had spotted the danger anyway, and would have got back in time.
87 min: Danilo comes on for Laporte.
86 min: Good running by Walker down the right, but the corner he earns comes to nothing.
84 min: Everton finally string a few passes together. This is much better. Eventually Walcott flings in a cross from the right. Niasse throws himself at it, and flashes a spectacular header goalward. Ederson reads it well, though, and the striker’s offside anyway. Thing is, it’s not as though Everton haven’t asked any questions of City at all. You do wonder if they could have been a little more proactive, certainly since Bolasie pulled one back. Because in football, you never know.
82 min: More City passing.
80 min: Keane launches long. Walcott tries to flick a header on for Coleman, out on the right, but the ball flies out for a goal kick. “The comparison between Sterling and Walcott in this match isn’t particularly encouraging for Walcott,” suggests Charles Antaki. “It’s true that he’s seen almost nothing of the ball, and I know that this is a parochial interest, but Arsenal fans will note with sympathetic acknowledgement that trees remain rooted at his new club.”
79 min: Tosun - whose last act was to grapple with Kompany in a futile battle to make ground in the City half - is replaced by Niasse.
77 min: De Bruyne is replaced by Gundogan. Some bench City have, huh?
76 min: City have enjoyed 89% possession in the last five minutes. As good as they have been, they’ve been helped by Everton sitting back. The home side have made little attempt to search for a second that might get the visitors thinking.
75 min: Fernandinho tries to curl one into the top left. He’s inches away. Pickford wouldn’t have got there. And then Calvert-Lewin is replaced by Baningime.
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73 min: City continue to stroke it around the middle. The clock ticks on. This is a very measured, grown-up response to conceding that goal. No panic whatsoever.
71 min: Walker and Jesus play a long-range one-two down the right. It’s this close to opening Everton up. Not quite.
69 min: Fernandinho dribbles down the middle, and suddenly the Everton defence opens up in the Red Sea style. He should enter the area and bang a shot on goal, but loses his nerve and flicks to the left for Sane. Or was the pass meant for David Silva? Either way, it’s a dreadful ball, and it whistles out of play for a goal kick.
68 min: City cleverly take the sting out of the game with some ball-hogging in the middle of the park. They’re going nowhere, but that’s not the point. This is smart game management, and Goodison has lost a little of its recently rediscovered roar already.
66 min: Kompany clanks the ball out of play down the right for a corner for Everton. That was totally unnecessary. City can’t be nervous after all this, can they? Well, maybe. The corner’s hit long, and Tosun slams a header wide left from close range. He should have done better. Thing is, if Everton score another ... well, it’s something everyone in Goodison has worked out, because there’s quite a noise in the old place now!
64 min: City respond by replacing Sterling with Bernardo Silva.
GOAL! Everton 1-3 Manchester City (Bolasie 63)
Out of nothing, and against the run of play, Everton score! Bolasie takes up possession to the left of the City D, and decides to buy a raffle ticket. He hammers a low shot through Walker’s legs, off the base of the left-hand post, across the face of the goal, and into the other corner! Just the two goals in it, all of a sudden!
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61 min: Sterling threatens to break down the inside left channel but Keane does very well to stay strong and hold him off.
59 min: Sane and Sterling combine down the left. Sterling’s low cross isn’t anticipated by anyone in purple. City recycle possession. Fernandinho chips down the right to release Jesus into the box. The flag goes up for offside, though that was very tight. Jesus’s attempt to squirt the ball past Pickford and into the bottom left from a narrow angle flies across the face of goal anyway.
58 min: Tosun goes racing after a slack Walker pass down the Everton left. A chance to cause City some bother, but he hesitates and allows Otamendi to pick his pocket.
57 min: Rooney - who has been anonymous except when fuming - is replaced by Davies.
56 min: Ferdandinho has a dig from 25 yards. The shot takes a big deflection, and Pickford does very well to change direction and ensure the ball doesn’t nestle into the bottom right. That’s a fine reaction save.
55 min: De Bruyne spreads a glorious pass down the right for Walker, who pulls back from the byline for Jesus. Once again, the striker can’t quite get on the end of it. We’re talking inches every time, though.
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53 min: City continue to attack Everton from all angles. Silva lobs a ball up for Sane near the Everton left-hand post. Sane heads down but can’t quite tee up Jesus. Then Walker has a romp down the right. His low cross is knocked behind by Jagielka, just before Jesus can get there. The corner comes to nothing, but Silva is soon conducting once again, very nearly finding Jesus with a cute flick through the middle. It’s relentless.
51 min: City restore the old order with some more metronomic passing in the middle.
49 min: This could be quite an interesting half of football. Everton are clearly trying to restore some pride; going at it too hard, though, might result in further pain. Tosun bustles to earn a corner down the right. But from it, City threaten to break clear upfield. Jesus looks like departing into the Everton half at speed; Jagielka makes what was in effect a last-man tackle 70 yards from his own goal.
48 min: Jesus, out on the left, tries to slip a pass inside which would have released Sane on goal. His pass hits Jagielka’s heel. Everton breathe again.
47 min: City spend the first couple of minutes of the second half hogging the ball again. Goodison is very quiet right now.
And we’re off again! City - who enjoyed 82% of possession in the first half - restart the party. (Everton made 59 passes.) No changes.
Half-time reading: That will have been a long 45 minutes for Everton fans. And on that subject ...
HALF TIME: Everton 0-3 Manchester City
A few boos around Goodison, but Everton can’t beat themselves up about this. City are going to be crowned champions of England very soon, and they’ve been simply sensational. Nobody could live with this.
44 min: Fernandinho attempts to float a chip down the inside left to release Silva. The pass is just a little bit too strong. Silva was inches away from being clear on goal.
42 min: More bedlam in the Everton box, Laporte nearly setting up Jesus near the right-hand post. Everton really need to hear the half-time whistle. Tell the truth, they really need to hear the full-time whistle, it’s been one of those days for them so far.
40 min: The corner’s hit long. Laporte tries to recycle possession near the right-hand corner flag. Pickford races out of his area to blooter clear. He’s nudged over by Laporte, and springs up. He offers Laporte a square go. A slight over-reaction, given there was little in the challenge, which came at the end of a fair footrace. But Everton will be collectively fuming at present, so it’s understandable if not strictly legal. The linesman steps in to calm everything down.
39 min: City win a corner on the left, Sane running hard at Everton again. From the set piece, De Bruyne one-twos with Sane and strides into the area from the left. He shoots towards the bottom left. Coleman deflects it out for another corner.
GOAL! Everton 0-3 Manchester City (Sterling 37)
On the halfway line, Sane flicks a ball down the left wing to release Silva into acres. He drives towards the Everton box, then rolls a pass across the front of goal. It eludes Jesus but not Sterling, who races in behind and slams a sidefoot home. Too easy, though Everton were looking for the offside flag for the initial pass.
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36 min: A rare period of possession for Everton, and in the City half as well. Rooney encourages Coleman to drive down the right but his cross is easily cleared. Bolasie has a look on the left, but his centre is brought under control by Ederson.
34 min: Sterling dribbles at ludicrous pace towards the Everton box. He thinks about shooting but defers to Silva, who from the left-hand side of the D very nearly steers a magnificent diagonal drive into the bottom right.
32 min: Jesus plays a sweet backflick down the inside-right channel to release Sterling on a run towards the box. Sterling shoots, his effort deflected over the bar by the outstretched leg of Jagielka. The corner comes to nothing.
30 min: Sane nutmegs Rooney. De Bruyne then flicks the ball past him. Rooney barges into his back, a little frustration threatening to boil over. He pulls back from the brink, but there’s a suggestion that one or two Everton players aren’t enjoying being given the runaround.
29 min: Jagielka and Schneiderlin take turns to put in a couple of crowd-pleasing challenges. Anything to get the crowd going. The referee tells Schneiderlin to calm down a bit.
27 min: This is attack versus defence. Silva is running the show. Sane is a constant threat as well. The pair combine to set up Sterling on the penalty spot. Sterling hacks wildly over the bar.
25 min: Ederson races out of his goal and confuses Laporte. The pair nearly let Calvert-Lewin zip past them down the right, but Laporte remembers where he is before the Everton man can get clear, and mops up the mess.
24 min: City have so far played 164 passes to Everton’s 22.
23 min: Jesus picks up the ball in acres of space, 40 yards from the Everton goal. He loses his balance, which is fortunate for Everton, because had be kept himself steady, he’d have played Sterling clear down the inside-right channel with the simplest of balls.
22 min: De Bruyne causes all manner of bother down the right. A corner is the end result. From the set piece, Otamendi rasps a volley wide right of the target. City are playing some sensational stuff right now. Penny for Sam Allardyce’s thoughts. Penny for Jurgen Klopp’s, come to that.
20 min: For all City’s domination, this game could easily be 2-2. Then again, it could easily be 0-4 as well, because now Silva plays a nutmeg pass through Coleman’s legs to release Sane, who crosses to Walker. The full back scuffs his shot, when it looked easier to score from ten yards.
18 min: Walcott tries to make something happen for Everton by running left-to-right across the face of the City box. He’s unceremoniously bundled to the turf by Laporte. This is a free kick in a very interesting position, just to the right of the D. Baines takes, and looks to curl one over the wall and into the top right. It’s inches wide. Such a wonderful effort. Everton really needed it to fly in.
17 min: One corner leads to another. From the second, Silva saunters left to right across the front of the Everton box, then tees up Sterling, who looks to curl low and hard into the bottom right. It’s wide, but not by much. Pickford was rooted to the spot.
16 min: City stroke it around the middle of the park, just because they can. Everton are being run ragged. Sane, Laporte and Silva triangulate down the left. It’s so quick, crisp and pretty. Silva tries to beat Pickford at the near post. His battered shot is turned out for a corner.
14 min: A free kick for Everton out on the left. Baines hoicks it into the mixer, hoping to find Tosun, but that’s easy pickings for Ederson.
GOAL! Everton 0-2 Manchester City (Jesus 12)
Calvert-Lewin bursts down the Everton right from a throw. He crosses for Bolasie who must score from six yards. But he heads over. A few seconds later, Sane is helping a ball down the inside-right channel for De Bruyne. De Bruyne loops into the middle. Jesus blasts a header home from six yards, giving Pickford no chance. Everton should be level, but now look. Jesus indeed.
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10 min: City are pressing fast and hard, all over the pitch. Sometimes too fast and hard: Walker clips Baines in an over-eager frenzy, then Sane sticks out a hand to intercept at all costs down the Everton right. A chance for Rooney to whip in a free kick. Jagielka rises at the far post, but can only eyebrow an effort well wide left. But small acorns and all that.
8 min: City continue to stroke it around in the regal manner. On the touchline, Pep Guardiola is moaning quite a lot at his men. He’s clearly not happy with something. A hard taskmaster. A little snapshot which explains quite a lot.
6 min: A shot of Wayne Rooney reacting to that blooter. A look of drained resignation. It could be a long evening for Everton if City are in this mood. The home side have hardly had a touch since kick-off.
GOAL! Everton 0-1 Manchester City (Sane 4)
This is simply wonderful! City ping it around, as they do. Then Silva plays a mid-distance one-two with Laporte down the left. He reaches the byline and crosses for Sane, 12 yards out and level with the right-hand post. Sane shapes and pearls a volley into the right-hand side of the net. Pickford had no chance, that was a belter of a connection. And it all looked so easy ... though if it was so easy, everyone would be doing it.
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2 min: Sane cuts in from the left but can’t find Jesus in the area with a cheeky flick down the channel. The City fans are cranking out a rendition of We’re Gonna Win The League. The “they ain’t gonna believe us” bit isn’t delivered with too much passion or feeling, mind. They know everyone knows, and has done for some time.
And we’re off! The home heroes get the ball rolling. And it’s pumped out of play within five seconds or so. The only way is up.
The teams are out! Everton wear their famous blue, so Manchester City are forced into second-choice purple. A rare old atmosphere at Goodison. We’ll be off in a minute!
Pep talks! “Last season was one game. We lost. They were so clinical. We were not good enough. But it is a long time ago, it makes no sense to compare the games. We have improved since then. We still have eight games to play and need six or eight points, so if as soon as possible we can get them, good. If not, we keep going.”
Big Sam speaks! “I’ve just been trying to work their line-up out. It seems to be a back three, with Laporte coming in, which we didn’t quite expect! But whatever they play is absolute quality, and we just have to try to do our best to stop them. We have to protect our home record, which is very good, against the best team in the league. The object of the exercise is about defending well, but what possession we have is most interesting to me. We cannot waste it. It will be limited but if we don’t use it we’ll find it difficult. The best game from the team will give them a few problems; anything less and they’ll struggle.”
Both of these teams are coming off the back of victories at Stoke. Everton make two changes to the team that won 2-1 at the Bet 365 Stadium a fortnight ago: Morgan Schneiderlin, making his first start since the Arsenal humiliation, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin take the places of the hamstrung Idrissa Gueye and Tom Davies, who drops to the bench.
Manchester City won 2-0 in the Potteries three weeks back. They just make the one change to the side named that day: Aymeric Laporte comes in at the expense of Alexander Zinchenko, who is named as a sub this evening. John Stones sits it out due to concussion protocols, while Sergio Aguero is still nursing a sore knee.
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The teams
Everton: Pickford, Coleman, Jagielka, Keane, Baines, Schneiderlin, Rooney, Walcott, Calvert-Lewin, Bolasie, Tosun.
Subs: Martina, Niasse, Funes Mori, Davies, Vlasic, Robles, Baningime.
Manchester City: Ederson, Otamendi, Kompany, Laporte, Walker, De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Silva, Sane, Sterling, Gabriel Jesus.
Subs: Bravo, Danilo, Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Adarabioyo, Zinchenko, Nmecha.
Referee: Paul Tierney (Lancashire).
Preamble
Next Saturday evening, the 2017-18 Premier League champions elect can secure their long-awaited, much-anticipated prize with a victory over, of all people, Manchester United. But their snook-cocking dream can only become reality if they first win at Everton tonight. No pressure, then!
You’d fancy City in pretty much any other fixture. We’re at the cusp of April, yet Pep Guardiola’s side have only lost two meaningful matches all season: at Liverpool in the league, and at Wigan in the cup. They’ve won 26 of the 30 league games they’ve so far played. It’s absurd. They’re relentless. They’re amazing.
But they’re also facing Everton. Sam Allardyce’s team may not be in the greatest nick, having lost six of their last 11 Premier League games, a run which includes a 4-0 skelping by Spurs and a 5-1 hammering at Arsenal. But they have won their last two - and they’ve caused major problems for Guardiola’s City in the past: a 1-1 draw early in the season at the Etihand, a giddy 4-0 rout here at Goodison last January. All told, City haven’t beaten Everton in their last four Premier League matches.
So they represent something of a poser for Pep. Can the runaway league leaders solve the puzzle, and set up an epochal showdown with their neighbours next weekend? They’ll need to see off some awkward adversaries. A fascinating battle awaits. It’s on!
Kick off: 5.30pm BST.
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