Manchester City travelled to Goodison Park to clash heads with Everton earlier this evening hoping to close the gap to Liverpool at the top of the Premier League standings. The Citizens made a dominant start to the encounter and scored in the 24th minute via Gabriel Jesus’ header. However, the Toffees equalised just nine minutes later, courtesy of Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s goal.
Pep Guardiola’s men kept pushing for a winner and finally managed to get themselves ahead in the 70th minute when Riyad Mahrez found the back of the net with a well-placed freekick. Raheem Sterling put the icing on the cake in the 83rd minute to cap off an excellent 3-1 away win for the Citizens.
Let’s take a look at how each Man City player fared during the match against the Toffees.
GK: Ederson – 7/10
The Brazilian goalie made two excellent saves in the second half to restrict the Toffees from scoring more than one goal during the game.
RB: Kyle Walker – 6/10
The English full-back was a decent outlet for Man City in the first half. However, he had to defend deep inside his own half after the half-time break and had a few nervy moments at the back.
CB: Nicolás Otamendi – 6/10
The Argentine defender did not make any mistakes when passing the ball out from defence today. However, he struggled to win most of his headers while going up against Calvert-Lewin.
CB: Fernandinho – 5.5/10
The Brazilian talent was at fault for allowing Everton a way back into the contest when he failed to clear his lines in the lead-up to Calvert-Lewin’s goal in the first half. However, he did just about enough in the second to see out a brilliant 3-1 win at Goodison Park.
LB: Oleksandr Zinchenko – 7/10
He had one of his better games for the Citizens today. Zinchenko defended well and managed to neutralise the threat of Richarlison. He also distributed the ball accurately to pull off an impressive display at the left-back position.
CM: Kevin De Bruyne – 8/10
The Belgian midfield ace created a lot of problems for the Everton defenders. He whipped in some dangerous into the Toffees penalty box and got an assist to show for his efforts.
CM: Rodri – 7/10
The summer arrival kept possession ticking for Man City in midfield and provided adequate defensive protection for Guardiola’s backline.
CM: IIkay Gündogan – 5/10
The German midfielder missed a sitter in the first half. He got into some promising positions but failed to find the cutting edge in the final third.
RW: Riyad Mahrez – 8.5/10
The Algerian played his part in the lead-up to Jesus’ goal in the 24th minute. He also helped his team regain their advantage in the second half when he scored with a wonderful freekick to take the match away from the Toffees. It was a man of the match worthy performance from Mahrez today.
ST: Gabriel Jesus – 7/10
The Brazilian forward met with De Bruyne’s inch-point accurate cross to score the opening goal of the game with his head. However, he struggled to make an impact in the second half and was rightfully replaced by Aguero.
LW: Raheem Sterling – 5/10
The English winger could have scored a hattrick during the game, but he was woeful with his finishing in the offensive end of the pitch. Sterling was not decisive enough to give his team the lead. However, he did score in the 84th minute to make the points secure for the away side.
Substitutes:
ST: Sergio Aguero – 6/10
The Argentine striker made an excellent solo run in the Everton half before unleashing a powerful shot which went over the crossbar.
CM: Bernardo Silva – N/A
He did not have enough time to make an impact.
CM: David Silva – N/A
The Spaniard came on to run the clock down for the visitors.
