It was always going to be a difficult ask of David Moyes’s Everton to come away from a visit to the Etihad Stadium with a result.However, the Toffees enjoyed a strong first-half performance, limi...
It was always going to be a difficult ask of David Moyes’s Everton to come away from a visit to the Etihad Stadium with a result.
However, the Toffees enjoyed a strong first-half performance, limiting the opposition to just three shots on target and creating several good chances of their own.
Despite the hundreds of millions of pounds of talent on show for Manchester City, the best player on the pitch in the first half wore black.
It was Iliman Ndiaye who, in the absence of Jack Grealish, put in an outstanding performance for Everton in the first half.
His defensive work was first-rate, chipping in with 15 defensive contributions, more than any other player in the match, often defending against tricky Jeremy Doku like a seasoned full-back.
His ability to dribble Everton out of their own half and get them on the attack singlehandedly relieved pressure off the Everton defence on several occasions.
Everton’s three real chances in the first half, and ultimately the game, came from Ndiaye’s positive front-foot play.
But his two best creative contributions, a cross and a through ball into Beto, resulted in efforts wide of the post.
In the 14th minute, Ndiaye made a brilliant run down the right wing before squaring a ball across the goal for Beto, who, sliding in, could only get studs on the ball. Any more contact on the effort would have taken the ball into an open goal.
In the 32nd minute, Ndiaye played a well-weighted through ball to Beto, who did well to find space, but flashed his shot wide of the post. It was blown offside, but upon replay, a VAR review would have been very tight.
When they could have been protecting a one or two-goal lead, Everton went in at half-time on level terms with Manchester City.
City quickly punished Everton’s missed chances, Erling Haaland scoring with his first effort of the match, a header under Jordan Pickford in the 58th minute from Nico O’Reilly’s lofted cross.
Just five minutes later, his second shot made it 2-0, a first-time strike glancing off James Tarkowski’s heel and past Pickford.
The contrast is obvious. In a game where they needed to take their chances, Beto couldn’t convert on either of his two opportunities. While on the opposite side of the pitch, Haaland scored twice from an xG of 1.02.
After Jean Phillipe-Mateta’s three-goal performance against Bournemouth today, Beto will now have the worst record of goals to xG of strikers in the Premier League.
Getting in the right areas is important for any striker, which he is doing, but the lack of goals is currently costing Everton points despite solid performances.
For David Moyes and his side, it was a strong performance against a very good team, and it leaves plenty of positives to take into their match against Tottenham Hotspur next weekend.
Category: General Sports
