Everton: Three key takeaways from the loss against Manchester City
Everton suffered a 3-1 loss at home to Manchester City.
It was a tough but expected result for Everton fans as they suffered a 3-1 defeat to the soon-to-be Premier League champions Manchester City. It was a confusing lineup from Carlo Ancelotti. It seemed like the Italian is prioritising the Merseyside Derby, which was highlighted by Allan being rested even though Ancelotti confirmed he is fit.
City were able to control a majority of the game and at points made it look easy. Toffees’ fans knew it would be difficult, and that’s exactly what it was. Still, Everton defended well for the majority of the first half, with Ben Godfrey impressing again.
He was able to withstand the barrage from players like Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez, keeping the Toffees in the game until the 32nd minute, where Phil Foden scored a very preventable volley which gave the Citizens the lead.
The Toffees seemed to wake up after the City goal, with Ancelotti’s side starting to control the game. After a cross from Seamus Coleman, Lucas Digne took a shot that ricocheted off the post and was tapped in by Richarlison to put Everton back into the game. The Toffees were able to keep a solid defence for the rest of the first half, giving fans hope that Everton could pick up a good result against the eventual league champions.
Then the second half happened. City were able to take back control of the game, but Everton could still defend competently; this was until the defence crumbled, allowing Mahrez to turn onto his stronger left foot and curl in an absolute wonder strike which gave Pep Guardiola’s side the lead at Goodison Park.
It only took another 15 minutes for Silva to put the Citizens 3-1 up; at this point, Everton had lost all fight after taking Tom Davies off the pitch. City easily passed around the Toffees defence and arguably should’ve gone 4-1 up, but Mahrez put the shot wide after dancing through the Everton defence.