Everton 1-3 Manchester City: 5 Talking Points and Tactical Analysis | Premier League 2019/20

Manchester City got the better of Everton 3-1 in an entertaining encounter at Goodison Park.

The visitors raced off the blocks and applied immediate pressure on the hosts’ defence and midfield. However, they had to wait until the 24th minute to get on the score-sheet.

Gabriel Jesus did so after he headed in Kevin de Bruyne’s delicious delivery from the right-sided channel.

Nine minutes later, Dominic Calvert-Lewin drew parity when he prodded Seamus Coleman’s attempted dink over the line.

In the second half, City tried to dominate the ball and they nudged ahead courtesy a magnificent Riyad Mahrez free-kick.

Seven minutes later, Raheem Sterling got in on the act and finished the game off as a contest.

Here is a look at the talking points from the game:

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#5 Seamus Coleman raises the Goodison roof in the first half

Coleman triggered an Everton fightback in the first half

Everton and Manchester City arrived at Goodison on the back of contrasting league fortunes. While the Toffees had lost two on the spin, the Cityzens had stuck 8 goals past Watford a week prior. Thus, all signs pointed towards another rout for the defending champions.

And, for the opening 20 minutes of the first half, that particular trend was quite evident as the visitors incessantly kept banging at the Everton defensive door.

Subsequently, the Cityzens barged through in the 24th minute when de Bruyne’s sumptuous cross was nodded home by Jesus.

At that juncture, several around Goodison felt that the defending champions would only go from strength to strength, meaning that Everton faced a daunting task in the remainder of the match.

However, rather than retreating into their shell, the Toffees came out blazing after the concession of the opener, thereby putting City under strife.

The hosts started moving the ball a lot quicker and were a lot more adventurous in possession. Their midfielders looked for forward passes rather than square passes and in the process, posed an entirely new set of questions to the visitors.

Everton’s perseverance paid off when the ball broke kindly to Coleman on the right channel inside the penalty area. The full-back got his head up and sublimely chipped the onrushing goalkeeper.

Though Calvert-Lewin ultimately poked the ball over the line, the goal belonged to the Everton defender, who was rewarded for his bravery.

Thus, in a matter of minutes, the Toffees had transformed a dreary and dull Goodison into something more vibrant. Thereafter, each tackle was greeted with massive cheers while the players also seemed to possess the wind in their sails.

Consequently, City found it tougher to impose themselves on the game and were reduced to speculative efforts from distance in the rest of the half.

Over the years, Goodison Park has developed a reputation of being quite a moody ground, wherein the spectators get into the game marvellously when Everton has gotten the bit between its teeth but has also been guilty of providing moans and groans when things start getting pear-shaped.

On Saturday too, both those aspects came to the fore, especially in the first half. And, that, just summed up Everton’s patchy start to the season.

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#4 Raheem Sterling fails to sparkle on Merseyside

Sterling managed a goal but was far from his best

In the past couple of months, there has been plenty of chatter about Raheem Sterling being among the most elite of top brackets among footballers. To put things into perspective, some have even classified the Englishman as just a rung below the mercurial Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

And, for a major chunk of the current season, the forward has vindicated those claims. However, one reckons that Saturday evening at Goodison Park might not feature on that particular list.

For large parts of the match, the Englishman looked a shade sluggish, often coming up second best in 50-50 challenges. Additionally, he rarely got the better of Coleman on the flanks, meaning that he had to cut inside on most occasions, thereby significantly blunting his offensive threat.

More disappointingly though, Sterling’s end product against Everton went uncharacteristically awry.

At times, the winger found himself in promising situations. Yet, he either failed to beat the first man or was unable to pick out an advancing teammate.

On other instances, when Sterling was sent through on goal, he fluffed his lines.

Early in the second half, Mahrez slipped in the Englishman delightfully. However, when eyeball to eyeball with Jordan Pickford, the winger placed his shot horribly wide.

And, though Sterling made the net bulge and made several unselfish runs to free up his fellow attackers, he still fell quite short of the astronomical standards he has set for himself.

So far this term, there haven’t been a lot of blemishes the Englishman has had to chalk off his slate.

While the match against Everton would represent an anomaly, all world-class players go through such games, wherein they stamp their authority in the succeeding games.

And, if Sterling manages that, then probably, he would’ve further stoked the fire of being mentioned in the same breath as a diminutive Argentine and a goal-scoring Portuguese.

#3 Riyad Mahrez dazzles under the Goodison lights

Mahrez was sensational against Everton

A summer ago, Manchester City splashed the cash to acquire Riyad Mahrez from Leicester City. At that time, several felt that the purchase was a touch superfluous, considering that Brahim Diaz and Phil Foden’s playing time would’ve reduced enormously.

To an extent, those criticisms rang true for quite a part of the 2018-19 season, a term which the Algerian didn’t set ablaze.

However, as the campaign traversed into its final stretch, the forward started influencing games a tad more, meaning that the earlier doubters were being proved otherwise.

The aforementioned run of games culminated with Mahrez scoring a crucial goal at Brighton on the final day which eventually allowed City to clinch the title.

Thus, numerous people expected the Algerian to continue on that upward trend and scale further peaks in 2019-20. And, it’s fair to say that the forward hasn’t disappointed on those counts.

The Algerian has been buzzing ever since the term started and has provided another dimension to the City attack, a prospect many felt was improbable.

Against Everton, Mahrez displayed similar characteristics as he turned in a remarkable performance.

Deployed on the right flank, the Algerian caused Lucas Digne problems throughout the evening as the former alternated between cutting inside and getting to the by-line.

The forward capped off his display with a sizzling free-kick in the 71st minute when he curled the ball past the wall and beyond the outstretched palms of Pickford.

He created several chances for his teammates too and had Ilkay Gundogan and Sterling not been so profligate, the Algerian could’ve bagged himself a couple of assists.

Ever since Pep Guardiola moved to the blue half of Manchester, he has managed to unearth a gem in each of his title-winning seasons.

While the Spaniard’s full-backs enormously improved in 2017-18, Bernardo Silva’s usage as a central midfielder captured the footballing fraternity’s imagination in 2018-19.

And, one feels that Mahrez’s reinvigoration and integration into the side could prove to be THE masterstroke of this term.

#2 Everton encounter a brick wall aka Ederson

Ederson popped up with a couple of crucial saves

The first half between Everton and Manchester City saw the game ebb and flow quite a bit, with both sides enjoying decent spells. After the break, the hosts looked a lot more accomplished on the ball and signalled their offensive intentions pretty early.

However, the Toffees failed to muster any clear-cut opportunities for the first 20 minutes of the second period.

Yet, as soon as City went ahead, there seemed to be more intent and purpose about Everton’s play, meaning that they put the visitors’ rear-guard under the cosh much more.

Inevitably, they fashioned a couple of gilt-edged chances for themselves. Unfortunately, though, they failed to make the net ripple; not as a consequence of wayward finishing but rather due to the superlative Ederson.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin broke into space in the second half and went 1v1 against the Brazilian. However, the keeper cut down the striker’s angle instantly and diverted the ball for a corner.

A few minutes later, Ederson flung himself to his right to save a goal-bound header from Yerry Mina.

The saves allowed City to survive a massive scare and the visitors scored one of their own to put the result beyond doubt.

Since his arrival in Manchester, there have been times when Ederson gung-ho goalkeeping approach has come under the scanner. Yet, on countless occasions, he has risen to the plate and helped City navigate tricky obstacles.

And Saturday, was just another perfect case in point.

#1 Manchester City toil but eventually get the job done

Manchester City got the job done against Everton

Over the past couple of seasons, Manchester City have established themselves as one of the most eye-catching teams across Europe. Subsequently, they’ve scored tons of goals and made supporters gape at their offensive play in awe.

However, most impressively over that tenure, they’ve learnt to get the job done, despite not playing well.

Against Everton, the visitors failed to hit the heights several had expected them to. Their approach play looked a shade off the pace and their defence always seemed a disaster waiting to unravel. The away side also didn’t help themselves with some dire finishing.

Yet, they managed to come away from Goodison Park with three points firmly tucked in their pocket.

The defending champions turned the screw at opportune moments and that enabled them to distance themselves from Everton, who were chasing a goal.

Hence, the Cityzens had again lent weight to the notion that they’re one of the most complete sides on the planet. And, the result on Saturday becomes more significant, considering they were facing a potential 7 or 8-point deficit had they not stitched together a victory.

Throughout Guardiola’s coaching stint, he has garnered enormous accolades for playing the beautiful game in the most picturesque manner. Yet, the distinguishing facet of this City side could be their ability to win when encountering a sticky patch.

The said aspect shone through in the latter parts of last season and has come to the fore again.

After all, isn’t that what champions do?