Everton vs. Manchester City: Score, Grades and Reaction to Premier League Game
Everton held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw on Saturday at Goodison Park, denying the defending Premier League champions the chance to keep pace with leaders Chelsea at the top of the standings.
James Milner didn't make the bench for the visitors, but Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany were both cleared to make their returns after injury spells on the sidelines. Neither was fit to start, however.
The opening 10 minutes were played at a frantic pace, with both teams throwing bodies forward and being very aggressive in the centre of the pitch. The first real chance fell to the visitors, as David Silva played in Stevan Jovetic. Alone in front of the goalkeeper, the Montenegrin should have done better than curl the ball wide.
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The Citizens continued to work the ball well and tee up Jovetic, who missed again after great work from Silva.
City Watch thought Aguero would have done much better with both chances:
City's high press was giving the Toffees back four fits, but once the ball found its way in midfield, the hosts actually combined well. It hardly led to chances, however, with City remaining the most dangerous team. Jesus Navas nearly isolated Silva in front of goal on a counter-attack, but Everton recovered just in time.
Covering the match for BBC Radio 5 live, Phil Neville was impressed with the triangle of Jovetic, Silva and Samir Nasri despite the former's lack of finishing touch:
City dominated the latter part of the first half, but Everton finally got a good look on goal, with Romelu Lukaku driving a shot at Joe Hart. The England international spilled the ball, and Seamus Coleman nearly took advantage, clipping the cross-bar in the follow-up.
The official signaled for half-time with the score still 0-0, but as shared by Squawka Football, it had been a lively first half:
The Citizens were the better team for much of the first half, but the hosts came out with renewed intensity after half-time. Everton pressed forward, and City had no response, with Eliaquim Mangala booked just minutes in for bringing down Lukaku.
The Belgium international struggled for much of the first half but started to find his groove in the second, bringing the ball down for Ross Barkley and receiving it back before unleashing a strong shot at Hart.
The Liverpool Echo's Greg O'Keeffe liked what he was seeing from the former Chelsea man:
City overcame the difficult start and fought their way back into the match, which turned into an end-to-end affair after 60 minutes. The hosts wanted a penalty, as Mangala brought down Phil Jagielka inside the box, but referee Martin Atkinson didn't see enough to award the spot-kick.
Atkinson made himself even less popular with the home fans when he called back a goal in the 70th minute for an apparent foul from Steven Naismith. Goodison Park exploded when he also missed a handball from Pablo Zabaleta, which led to Fernandinho opening the score for the visitors with a superb header.
Fortunately for the official, Naismith scored the equaliser with a header of his own just minutes later, as shared by World Soccer Talk:
The Citizens introduced Frank Lampard in the final 10 minutes in an attempt to regain the lead, but despite a lot of pressure from the defending Premier League champions, the Toffees gave up few chances. The final score of 1-1 was justified and wildly celebrated by the Toffees.
Relevant Match Grades
David Silva: B+
Perhaps it's time to start talking about Silva in the Player of the Year discussion. The Spain international has been phenomenal these past few months and continued his run of strong performances on Saturday, putting tons of pressure on the Everton defence.
Eliaquim Mangala: C+
The young Frenchman won the battle against Lukaku in the first half, but only just. Strong and physical, he had no answer for the Everton pressure in the second half and showed his inexperience in the worst possible way.
Ross Barkley: B-
England international Barkley perhaps best represents the state of Everton right now. One of the country's most exciting attacking talents, he's simply playing too conservatively to do his skill set any justice. The youngster needs to take risks and stop being scared of making mistakes—City's Silva makes plenty, but that doesn't stop him from trying.
Post-Match Reaction
BBC Sport's Phil McNulty believed Everton fully deserved to grab a point against City:
As shared by the club's Twitter feed, the home crowd acknowledged the fine effort of the squad:
Neville even thought it was the Toffees' best match of the season:
"Brilliant game - best I've seen @everton play this season - fought hard and deserved the point!!
— Philip Neville (@fizzer18) January 10, 2015"
Everton manager Roberto Martinez was happy with his team's performance even though he would have preferred a win, per the club's official Twitter feed:
Post-Match Outlook
Everton snap a four-match losing streak at a crucial time, and a strong showing against the league's defending champions will give Martinez's young squad a boost of confidence moving forward. The European spots are well out of reach at this point, but with half a season still remaining, the time for a run of results is now.
City lose ground on Chelsea after the Blues beat Newcastle United 2-0, while rivals Manchester United will have a chance to close the gap on the Citizens to seven points when they take on Southampton on Sunday.
