Pep Guardiola knew this fixture was going to be hard but felt his side would show the benefit of a full week off in which to prepare. Manchester City had enjoyed that five-goal romp at West Ham United in the FA Cup on January 6th, whereas Everton had played on the Saturday and been dumped out of the only competition remaining open to them by Leicester City.
Cue glumness at Goodison, with complaints that Everton's season had ended in early January and hints from Ronald Koeman that some transfer action in the window might be a good idea if the team was to be any stronger for the next campaign.
Yet it was City, still with everything to play for, who looked stale here. Everton were fresh, inventive, up for it. Their midfield was bolstered by the introduction of £20 million Morgan Schneiderlin in the second half but by that point the home side were already two goals to the good.
While City’s star-studded midfield struggled to find a way through Everton’s back three and Sergio Agüero endured an afternoon without the ball, an 18-year-old local was making a name for himself and delighting his home crowd while dispatching another body blow to Guardiola’s hopes of securing a top-four place in his first season in England.
Tom Davies made his first start of the season a mere fortnight ago, but Koeman evidently liked what he saw and against City it was possible to see why. Undaunted by Yaya Touré, David Silva, Kevin de Bruyne and all the other illustrious names in front of him, Davies played with a confidence and maturity beyond his years. His pass to Kevin Mirallas to allow Romelu Lukaku to open the scoring was sublime, perfectly measured and weighted and responsible for taking out two or thee City defenders.
Right at the end of the first half he stuck a foot in to dispossess Silva and set an attack in motion that could have brought Lukaku a second goal. Then, to complete a busy 45 minutes, he turned up on his own line to prevent an equaliser when Bacary Sagna’s header needed to be cleared.
Winning streak
The best was saved until last, however. In the second half, with the game already won at 2-0 and City beginning to wish they were somewhere else, Davies collected the ball in his own half and set off on a run down the right wing. Taking on Gaël Clichy and Touré and turning inside to beat them both, Davies played in Lukaku, picked up a return pass from Ross Barkley and calmly stroked the ball over Claudio Bravo to register his first goal for the club.
That was quite a moment, yet Everton were still not finished. Although the new signing, Ademola Lookman, was only sent on for the last few minutes of stoppage time, just to introduce the former Charlton Athletic player to his new surroundings, the 19-year-old found the visiting defence in such disarray that he helped himself to a debut goal at the Gwladys Street end.
That turned a convincing victory into a rout and the wild celebrations were fuelled by elements of surprise as well as relief. This was Everton’s biggest win over City in three decades and before the game absolutely no one was expecting that. Before the game Everton would have gladly settled for a draw or perhaps a narrow defeat and a mistake or two from John Stones.
The City defender was predictably booed on his return to Goodison but was playing well and displaying his usual coolness under pressure until the game got away from the visitors in the second half. Everton’s precise passing and enthusiastic support play bypassed Stones for the third goal – and for the fourth the defender was unlucky when his attempted clearance struck Séamus Coleman and rebounded kindly for Lookman to take advantage.
For all Everton’s unexpected excellence, it remains unlikely that they will crack the top six this season, although on this evidence City could soon be making a place available. Guardiola’s side never got their game going. Pablo Zabaleta did not bring much to midfield and Touré and de Bruyne seemed to be playing too deep, moving the ball around quite neatly but usually too far from the Everton goal to cause the home side any alarm.
On the defensive
Guardiola argued his side suffered through not taking the chances they created in the first half, which was true up to a point. Better finishing from Raheem Sterling from de Bruyne invitations on two occasions before Everton scored might have put the home side under more pressure and altered the outcome of the game, although City still need to work out why Agüero is not getting on the end of their best chances or why opponents seem to find it so easy to open up their defence so completely.
Guardiola thought the game was a little like the 1-1 draw against Everton at the Etihad Stadium in October, which was odd because on that occasion his side would have won but for missing two penalties.
Everton did give notice three months ago that under Koeman they are capable of staying compact in defence and making the most of isolated opportunities to counter but that was not what happened here. Everton’s opportunities were far from isolated, as the scoreline suggests.
“We punished them,” Koeman said. Guardiola, who also expressed dismay at the scoreline, did not disagree. “It might have been different if Sagna had scored at the end of the first half but Davies was in the way,” the City manager said.
Of Everton’s two teenage goalscorers, Davies is the younger by eight months but he can consider himself to have truly arrived if Guardiola knows his name already.
