Five talking points from Man City's comfortable victory over Everton

Persistence Aguero steals the show

If at once you don’t succeed, try and try again. Sergio Aguero did just that. There were moments in the first half when it looked like Aguero was going to have one of those days where he left his shooting boots in the locker room. On more than one occasion in the first half, Aguero fluffed his lines but he never gave up.

Just before half time, another slide rule pass meant that Aguero was through again, but this time he made no mistake as he finished to give City a 2-1 lead going into halftime. Again in the 69^th minute, when City were awarded a soft penalty, it was Aguero who stepped up to the plate. And as much as he would like to claim the goal, it cannoned off the post and went back in off Howard. And what started like a long night for Aguero, ended with him arguably be being City’s best player on the pitch.

Manchester City face a tough road ahead

After a tumultuous week which saw them lose back-to-back games in the Premier League and Champions League, City gave themselves some solace by beating Everton and turning the tide in their favor. And although they deserved the victory for all their attacking endeavors, there was still a sense of fragility at the back. With Kompany limping off the pitch early in the first half, it looks like they will be without their captain for a tough run of games.

Whilst the victory against Everton at home, will certainly boost morale, City now play a run of four straight away games and their away form so far, has been far from impressive. The next home game for City will be against Norwich and before they face the canaries, must improve on their away form, or they might well be in big trouble.

City win midfield battle as Silva shines

In their last game against Bayern Munich, City were found out in midfield as the Bayern players ran rings around them. But the game against the toffees, showed that it was merely a one off and they could still dominate midfield and that performance wasn’t the end of the world.

David Silva was back to his best and showed that when he is on song, there are few better players on show. The Spaniard dominated the midfield and played some delicious through balls and along with Aguero was City’s best player on the pitch. Against such sumptuous skills, the Everton midfield didn’t stand a chance and although J McCarthy played well, it was his tracking back that caught the attention rather than his forays forward.

Everton flatter to deceive

After a brilliant start to the season which saw them in the top four after six games, Everton came into this fixture with history on their side and on a brilliant run of form as well. But the game against City proved that Everton are from the finished article and there is still plenty of work for them to do, before they can get into the top four, or even Europe for that matter.

Everton started the game brightly and took the lead through Lukaku, and were in the game right until Aguero scored just on the stroke of half time to give City the lead. When Everton came out in the second half, they looked like a different side altogether. Their heads dropped and Seamus Coleman was the sole shining light in another otherwise dismal second half performance, in which they never really looked like scoring. Their passing, on which, they had built their game on, this season, was off the mark.

City break Everton jinx, but Pellegrini still has some decisions to make

Manchester City came into this game, having just won two of their last 12 meetings against Everton, who were the only unbeaten team in the Premier League. City’s victory meant that not only had they broken the jinx, but also ended the only unbeaten record still standing, in the League.

Whilst they won and did so, quite convincingly in the end, there are plenty of questions for Pellegrini to answer. Least of which is whether Joe Hart still merits a place in the starting XI. On too many occasions this season, he has been found wanting and the England international might well have done better with Lukaku’s shot, which led to Everton’s goal. The lack of options might have forced Pellegrini’s hand, but if things continue the way they are, he might very well have no option but to go in with someone else.