Everton 1-3 Man City: Post-match verdict
Our reporter Michael Plant gives his thoughts after Manchester City earn a 3-1 victory over Everton at Goodison Park.
Transcript
00:00 I'm in a very wet and windy Goodison Park where tonight Manchester City earned a 3-1
00:04 victory in the Premier League over Evan. It wasn't straightforward for the champions
00:08 to play in their first game since returning from Saudi Arabia where they won 1-1.
00:12 City clearly wanted the best and actually in half time trailed 1-0 thanks to Jack Harrison's
00:18 first half strike. City going in at half time, I mean they were facing potentially just one
00:23 win in seven Premier League games had they not come out in the second half and offered
00:27 quite a gutsy, determined display with goalers from Filpo, Julian Alvarez from the spot and
00:33 Bernardo Silva. As I said City were really one of the best, I thought they were sloppy
00:36 in terms of possession. Rodri, Mamela Khaji players, they are usually sort of carrying
00:40 the ball with the ball at their feet, giving the ball away far too often for the champions
00:44 tonight. And actually this game could have been very different because with 15 minutes
00:48 left Evan had a great chance by a dominant Calvert-Noon and he really should have put
00:52 Evan level again but somehow managed to miss the target altogether. But really good opening
00:57 down the right flank for Evan. But I think City will be delighted with three points that
01:03 keeps them certainly within touching distance of the top of the table, Liverpool and Arsenal
01:07 to play tomorrow night. It was Phil Foden who I think was the standard performer for
01:11 the champions, he scored an absolutely superb goal to get City back on level terms at the
01:16 start of the second half. A fantastic low driven powerful shot that gave Jordan Pickford
01:20 no chance in the away goal. And that was really the catalyst to get City back into the game.
01:25 Very soon after they were awarded a penalty when Nathan Ake's shot hit the hand of Amadou
01:31 Anana. I thought kind of potentially a little bit harsh to award a penalty for that, his
01:34 arm was up and just kind of happened to strike it but a penalty was given against the Everton
01:39 midfielder. Alvarez stood up and very tamely, slow.
01:41 From there City made it a difficult game as much as ever. They limited the number of chances
01:50 and opportunities, that's probably the best thing you can say for them. But City I think
01:54 a year ago would have felt that them coming here in Goodison would have been a relatively
01:58 straightforward affair and it's not that way. I think City just want to play at their very
02:01 best levels, they're missing chances, they're too sloppy at the back, they're not defending
02:06 them at the same level of confidence as they've come accustomed to with the champions. And
02:11 while they'll be delighted to come away with three points here at Goodison, I think they
02:14 really will be disappointed if they come away with three points. At times, the next on board
02:20 of City is Jeremy De Gea. That's the home game against Sheffield today, they've got to
02:23 finish on 20-23, an important opportunity to potentially draw another three points. It
02:29 doesn't look like Erling Havertz is going to be involved in that game, he's missed tonight's
02:32 game, injury, and a match on a World Expo this past fall. Jeremy De Gea was also on the
02:37 floor, Noah was, I'm talking about Kevin Morris, and actually in City's injury there's a
02:44 bit of an attitude this evening with John Stones going off with an injury, tackle Beto
02:49 Vonnegut, clean on goal, he had a really good last-ditch tackle, he injured himself in the
02:52 process, haven't taken off, Jos Guardiola coming on to replace him, but that's another
02:56 injury issue for City going into the final match of 20-23. But as I say, an important
03:01 three points tonight for City, they're OK, had some good moments, but certainly far off
03:05 their best at the moment.