After a humiliating defeat against Crystal Palace, Manchester City knew to avoid back-to-back defeats in front of fans with Pep Guardiola at the helm they would have to dispatch a solid Everton side. Carving the ‘Toffees’ open was proving to be a difficult task for City, but when Sterling stood a teasing ball up to the far post for Phil Foden, it seemed for all the world like City would take the lead. The flashpoint of the first half undoubtedly came when Michael Keane hung a leg out in the area and Sterling appeared to tumble over it and Stuart Attwell pointed to the spot. However, after consultation with VAR, Atwell was ordered to visit the pitchside monitor and decided to overturn his original decision in favour of Everton. It looked as if Everton were going to make it to the break level with City, until a beautifully weighted pass from João Cancelo floated over the ‘Toffees’ defence and was slotted home by Sterling’s perfectly timed run between the two centre-backs.
Right after the interval Everton came out with a big push forward in search of an important equaliser, but after a couple of minutes Man City took control of the game looking to replicate their 79% possession from the first half. This control was rewarded with a goal of the season contender from Rodri ten minutes into the half. A poor clearance from the visitors bundled its way out of the box and the oncoming Spanish midfielder had no hesitation as he smashed the ball past Jordan Pickford from 25-yards out to double the lead. The third goal came five minutes from time when Cole Palmer’s deflected shot was placed home by the well placed Silva.
Pep’s side attempted to pile more missionary on Rafa Benítez’s side, who after their promising start, are struggling for form having not won in six games. ‘The Sky Blues’ picked up an important victory to keep the gap between them and league leaders Chelsea to three points.
