Everton 4-0 Manchester City: Premier League – as it happened via The Guardian
Manchester City started promisingly but disintegrated as Everton excelled, with Tom Davies and Ademola Lookman scoring their first goals
3.37pm GMT
That’s all from me. Jacob Steinberg will pick up the baton for the second leg of the Manchester v Merseyside double-header. Bye!
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Manchester United v Liverpool: Premier League – live!
3.33pm GMT
Everton’s two teenage talents talk, starting with Tom Davies, who says Lukaku is also claiming the third goal.
No chance he’s getting that one off me. That’s definitely mine. It’s my dream. To actually go out there and do it, it’s unbelievable. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet. It’s surreal, being with the first team in general but today to beat City and do it comfortably, it’s a great day.
The gaffer just said, play behind Rom. I was lucky to anticipate the ball and just put it in the back of the net, yeah. I just thought, it’s my chance to score a first Premier League goal. And I did.
3.30pm GMT
What an entertaining match. Everton were fully committed and excellently motivated, and after initially struggling to cope with City’s – and De Bruyne’s, in particular – passing, blossomed once they got their noses in front. City’s reaction to adversity, meanwhile, was extremely concerning.
3.26pm GMT
The City perspective on the match, in three letters.
FT | Everton 4-0 City
Ugh.
pic.twitter.com/HICCqdj8Os
3.25pm GMT
And that’s yer lot! Everton’s players go straight to Lookman, who delivered the most delicious cherry to top what was already an impressive cake. That’s Pep Guardiola’s worst ever league defeat in management.
3.24pm GMT
Lookman’s scored on his debut! And, more enjoyable still for Everton, it came from a Stones howler! Stones, out on the left, tried to clear the ball into touch but kicked it into Coleman’s hip instead, and it rebounded inside to Lookman, who took a touch and shot through Bravo’s legs!
3.22pm GMT
90+2 mins: Lukaku goes down, with Otamendi behind him. The Belgian gets up and pushes Otamendi in the chest, and the City defender falls over holding his face, as if he’d been headbutted. Pure silliness. The referee books them both.
3.20pm GMT
90+1 mins: There’ll be about four minutes of stoppage time.
3.18pm GMT
90 mins: Everton’s final change, and another debut: Barkley comes off, and Lookman comes on. He looks extraordinarily youthful.
3.17pm GMT
88 mins: Some prolonged Everton pressure comes to an end when Barkley passes straight to Aguero. And then it restarts when Aguero miscontrols it straight back to Barkley again.
3.14pm GMT
85 mins: Chance for Lukaku, who’s fed by Barkley and chips over Bravo, but can’t get his shot on target.
3.13pm GMT
84 mins: Davies is fouled by a frustrated Sterling, gets a bit angry, and lots of players sprint to the spot for some mildly aggressive posturing.
3.12pm GMT
82 mins: That’s Davies’ first league goal for Everton. It really was excellent work from the lanky-haired midfield tyro.
13 – Claudio Bravo has conceded from 13 of the last 21 shots on target he has faced in the Premier League. Update.
@Everton different class Blues, Davies
3.09pm GMT
The game’s won now! And this is a splendid goal from Davies! He wins the ball, sprints down the right, cuts inside past Touré and Clichy, passes to his left, keeps running, gets it back and chips beautifully over Bravo and towards goal. Lukaku tries to touch it in, but just misses it – Davies’ goal!
3.07pm GMT
77 mins: City have another free kick, after Schneiderlin trips Sterling. Robles catches De Bruyne’s resulting shot.
3.04pm GMT
75 mins: Silva is booked for fouling Davies, who took possession when the Spaniard stumbled. City have been ragged this half. They may yet rescue the match, but the last half-hour has been extremely unimpressive.
3.02pm GMT
73 mins: Another Everton substitution, Gareth Barry going off after what must have been one of his best performances of the season, and James McCarthy coming on.
3.01pm GMT
72 min: Aguero has a shot! The exclamation mark is there more because there haven’t been many today, rather than because it nearly went in. Robles dives to his right to push it wide.
2.59pm GMT
69 mins: Everton’s midfield has been excellent today. Davies brings them much more energy than they’ve shown at times this season.
2.56pm GMT
67 mins: Barkley wins a free-kick in the centre circle, after being fouled by Otamendi. The fans go wild.
2.54pm GMT
65 mins: Schneiderlin is the Everton No2. So much for “if you know your history”.
2.53pm GMT
64 mins: And a substitution, and a debut, for Everton: Mirallas is off, and Schneiderlin is on.
2.52pm GMT
62 mins: A change for City, who take off Zabaleta and bring on Iheanacho.
2.50pm GMT
60 mins: Everton’s fans are booing enthusiastically, feeling they aren’t being given any free-kicks and City are being rewarded every time they tumble. Lukaku’s is the latest fall to be ignored.
2.46pm GMT
57 mins: Mirallas goes to ground, clutching his left calf, after Zabaleta clips him with his studs in what appeared a fairly innocent challenge.
2.45pm GMT
56 mins: City win another free-kick, on the left wing this time, and Mason Holgate gets booked for conceding it. They cross it into the box, and it goes out again the other side.
2.43pm GMT
54 mins: A few seconds later Barkley rests a hand on Zabaleta’s shoulder, the City player goes down and City get another free kick. Barkley rolls around on the floor as if physically injured by the referee’s decision-making.
2.42pm GMT
53 mins: Otamendi tries to take on Barkley, decides he’s probably unlikely to succeed and falls over for no good reason. The linesman charitably waves a flag, and City get a free kick.
2.40pm GMT
51 mins: Sterling has the ball in the net, but De Bruyne’s pass to him had been slightly overhit, and went an inch or two out of play before Sterling rescued it.
2.39pm GMT
49 mins: De Bruyne had sent a shot wide after 27 seconds of the half, hinting at a determination in City’s ranks to get back on level terms as quickly as possible. That plan didn’t exactly work out.
2.37pm GMT
The lead is doubled! Lukaku tries to play Mirallas through, but Stones slides in to stop the pass. It rolls to Barkley, who does pick Mirallas out, and his low shot across goal from the edge of the area nestles inside the post!
2.34pm GMT
46 mins: Lukaku keeps everyone waiting, before becoming the last player out of the tunnel, a good minute behind anyone else. Eventually he deigns to grace us with his presence, and off we go.
2.34pm GMT
The players retake the field. A big 45 minutes lie ahead, of potentially massive importance in City’s season. They will get it under way.
2.31pm GMT
Meanwhile in Holland, Patrick Kluivert’s son Justin has just made his debut for Ajax. Nothing to do with this game, but interesting for the old-timers.
2.19pm GMT
45+3 mins: And that’s all, for now! Everton have been the more dangerous team since they scored, though hadn’t really threatened until they did. Which is kind of the wrong way round, really.
2.18pm GMT
45+2 mins: One City full-back, Clichy, crosses deep from the left, and the other, Sagna, sends a looping header towards the far post, where Davies heads off the line!
2.16pm GMT
45+1 mins: Into stoppage time we roll, and there’ll be at least two minutes of it. Probably more, given it’s started with Roblem rolling about holding his head, after taking a glancing blow from Williams’ shoulder.
2.15pm GMT
45 mins: Lukaku is found in space on the right, but rather than crossing to Mirallas or playing back to the advancing-in-space Barkley, he tries to take on Otamendi and fails.
2.14pm GMT
44 mins: This is quite a stat.
4 – In four of their last seven Premier League games, Manchester City have conceded with the first shot they've faced. Stunned.
2.13pm GMT
42 mins: Since the goal City have been flustered and imprecise, and Everton have largely kept them well away from their penalty area.
2.11pm GMT
40 mins: Barkley does very nicely in midfield, ghosting past a couple of challenges, before finding Coleman in loads of space on the right, but his cross is disappointing, and Bravo catches.
2.08pm GMT
38 mins: Oooh! Aguero only
just fails to get his studs on the end of another low cross from the left. Just as well, perhaps, as he’d clearly dragged down Funes Mori in the build-up, and the referee hadn’t spotted it.
2.08pm GMT
37 mins: Mirallas spears in a looping, high cross from the byline, leading to an almighty scramble as Baines tries to prevent four defenders from clearing it. Which he does, for a while.
2.05pm GMT
The home side take the lead! City give away the ball in a dangerous position again, Davies intercepts and plays in Mirallas, who rolls the ball across to Lukaku, who sidefoots in from 15 yards!
2.04pm GMT
32 mins: Aguero passes to Zabaleta, who is offside, but while play briefly continues Zabaleta passes to De Bruyne, who is more offside. I’m not sure which one the linesman gave, but one of them for sure. Mark Taylor has fully translated Michael Britten’s Chinese: “It should be OK if it’s an adult, consenting horse,” he reassures me. “Anyway, Trump is going to be president soon, and, as Nixon said, it’s not illegal if the president does it.”
2.01pm GMT
30 mins: De Bruyne, playing in a deep leftish-midfield role, has been responsible for nearly all the outstanding attacking moments so far.
1.59pm GMT
27 mins: Another fabulous De Bruyne pass, this time to find Silva bursting into the area, entirely alone. Robles sprints off his line to get in Silva’s face and deny him room to shoot, and then all sorts of defenders arrive and the chance is gone.
1.57pm GMT
26 mins: That was apparently the game’s first shot.
1.56pm GMT
26 mins: Chance for Sterling! De Bruyne, I think, picks him out with a fabulous pass from deep, over the Everton defence and onto Sterling’s instep, but the volley is too close to Robles, who catches.
1.55pm GMT
24 mins: One from the training ground, that: De Bruyne dummies the free-kick, Silva sends it low towards Aguero, and Williams spots what’s about to happen, gets there first and hammers clear.
1.54pm GMT
24 mins: Holgate trips Aguero about six inches outside the penalty area, on the left.
1.53pm GMT
23 mins: City ping the ball about in very lovely but not very dangerous style, Barry eventually intercepting the nth consecutive rat-a-tat pass.
1.50pm GMT
19 mins: Bravo miscontrols yet another hurried backpass, but fortunately the ball rolls closer to him than to Mirallas. “Just to let you know, Chris Bascombe’s tweet contains a minor error,” writes Michael Britten. “It should be 马克·克拉顿堡 not just 克·克拉顿堡, given that 马克 is how the name Mark is traditionally written in Chinese.” Thanks. I trust neither you nor Chris Bascombe is cunningly hoodwinking me into printing horribly offensive nastiness in foreign languages I don’t understand.
1.47pm GMT
16 mins: De Bruyne keeps sliding over low crosses. Williams slides in to clear the latest, with Aguero waiting to pounce.
1.45pm GMT
13 mins: I think that probably was a penalty. If Baines hadn’t been there, it would surely have been given. And the fact that he was there should really make any difference to the decision. But the referee may have decided that the chance had gone, even before Sterling went down, and thus no harm no foul. It wasn’t, though, so totally and obviously clear-cut to launch into full-blown referee condemnation mode.
1.43pm GMT
12 mins: Sterling misses a sitter, and wants a penalty! He’s totally on his own in the middle as De Bruyne is set free on the left, and is picked out by the Belgian’s pull-back. He tries to take the ball round the keeper, Baines slides in to block it, and Sterling goes over Robles’ trailing leg!
1.42pm GMT
11 mins: City turn attack into defence with one slightly overhit pass from Aguero to Zabaleta, and his poor control. Barkley’s cross is deflected behind, though, and the corner comes to nothing.
1.41pm GMT
9 mins: Everton have a goal disallowed, after a lovely move cuts City apart! Lukaku’s reverse pass found an overlapping Coleman, and he cut back to Mirallas, who was left with a tap-in. But the full-back was indeed offside when Lukaku passed the ball – had the pass only been executed a moment sooner, that would have been an excellent opener.
1.39pm GMT
8 mins: Everton are pressing and harrying City well as they attempt to play their way out of defence, allowing them to win possession in promising areas several times already. The latest turnover led to a free-kick and, eventually, a Barry cross that went out of play.
1.37pm GMT
6 mins: Sterling takes possession in midfield and spins away from two defenders, only for Tom Davies to appear from nowhere and take out his legs. One of those early free-kicks that might have brought a booking later in the game.
1.35pm GMT
4 mins: Funes Mori chips the ball over the City defence to meet the run of Barkley, and the home fans roar their approval. And then they spot the linesman’s flag.
1.32pm GMT
2 mins: City get down the left, and De Bruyne crosses low towards Aguero, but Gareth Barry slides in to dispossess cleanly.
1.31pm GMT
1 min: Peeeep! Everton get the game started, with a hefty hoof into the City area.
1.30pm GMT
Before kick-off, a minute’s applause in memory of both Graham Taylor and long-time Everton club secretary Jim Greenwood.
1.29pm GMT
Worth every yuan, in my opinion. An outstanding official, most of the time.
Referee here at Goodison Park is Mark Clattenburg. Or as he now likes to call himself 克·克拉顿堡
1.26pm GMT
Z Cars rings out, and the players walk out of the tunnel. Sport oncoming!
1.08pm GMT
And Guardiola does too:
We had a long week, eight, nine days, so we decided to keep going with the same team we played at West Ham. Hopefully they will get a good result. For the last month, two months, and before I arrived here, [people] told me [in the Premier League] the big clubs always lose against the other teams, but this year the top five, six teams they are so, so strong. Not just in terms of their results, they are playing so well.
It will be the second time in our lives [that he and Koeman manage against each other], but it’s always a pleasure to see friends, and of course we are going to try to win, but I’m happy to see him again.
1.07pm GMT
Ronald Koeman has a pre-match chat, starting by discussing his side’s shape, with a back three looking likely.
I think that the team is chosen by, doesn’t matter how City are playing, which system they start. We can cope with all the systems with these XI players. If they play as at West Ham last week, a 4-4-2 with a diamond, we have three at the back. If not, we can change.
Everybody knows Schneiderlin is a big player, a key player for the team, and he will show that. He had two training sessions, and I think everybody saw his qualities. He’s really a very good signing.
1.00pm GMT
Other reunions today: Gareth Barry, former City midfielder, plays his 4,329,517th top-flight match today. And the managers are great pals, as Guardiola said earlier this week:
When I started playing at Barcelona I said many times, and will repeat it a thousand times, how important his advice was for me, especially on the pitch. We spoke many times when I was in Munich and now we’re together [in England] we congratulate each other when we win. I am glad to be his friend.
12.58pm GMT
Sky have concentrated almost entirely on the game that’s kicking off in three hours, instead of the one that starts in 30 minutes. They’re currently broadcasting an interview with Daniel Sturridge. Humbug.
12.50pm GMT
City pick the same outfield 10 that started the FA Cup thrashing of West Ham last Friday, so John Stones is in the XI on his first return to Goodison Park. They were exceptionally good at the London Stadium, with Silva and Agüero particularly stonking. Everton start Mason Holgate, for just the second time since August.
12.35pm GMT
Schneiderlin, like fellow new-boy Ademola Lookman, is on the Everton bench. Here are the teams in full:
Everton: Robles, Holgate, Ashley Williams, Funes Mori, Coleman, Davies, Barry, Baines, Barkley, Mirallas, Lukaku.
Subs: Schneiderlin, Jagielka, Lennon, McCarthy, Valencia, Stekelenburg, Lookman.
Man City: Bravo, Sagna, Otamendi, Stones, Clichy, Zabaleta, Touré, Silva, De Bruyne, Sterling, Agüero.
Subs: Kolarov, Caballero, Jesus Navas, Delph, Sané, Iheanacho, García.
Referee: Mark Clattenburg.
12.32pm GMT
Hello world!
So, all eyes on Morgan Schneiderlin, handily sent to Everton by Manchester United just in time for him to star against their cross-town arch-rivals. But what’s this? He’s not actually playing? Fate, you hound!
#EFC (v
@ManCity): Joel, Baines, Williams, Funes Mori, Holgate, Coleman, Barry (c), Davies, Mirallas, Barkley, Lukaku.
#AllForOne
TEAM NEWS with
@haysworldwide #efcvcity #mcfc pic.twitter.com/qeVbZd4kqF
10.26am GMT
Simon will be here shortly. But for now, read
Paul Doyle’s feature on how Morgan Schneiderlin could be the answer Everton need in midfield.
Roy Keane was not spouting hooey. Not completely. His
denunciation of Everton in November, when he blithely chucked scorn at the club’s complaints about the strain being placed on their Republic of Ireland internationals, was more than a touch garbled and wholly undiplomatic but it happened to allude to a home truth about Everton. “Maybe their players need to toughen up a bit,” he said.
Ronald Koeman has been saying something similar, albeit with greater precision, since he
took over at Goodison Park in the summer. After every defeat he has lamented his side’s lack of aggression, their inability to unsettle opponents, but his
signing of Morgan Schneiderlin for £20m from Manchester United said it best: his Everton team must not be so easy to play against; Roberto Martínez’s cuddly toys are going in a skip.
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Morgan Schneiderlin can be midfield answer Ronald Koeman needs at Everton | Paul Doyle
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