City held to draw by stubborn Everton

Men's Team

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Pep Guardiola’s defending champions had most of the ball but couldn’t take advantage against a resilient and dogged Toffees.

Our only goal came after 14 minutes when Bernardo Silva swept home from a tight angle.

Iliman Ndiaye then levelled out of the blue for the visitors before the first half was out.

Erling Haaland had the chance to put us back ahead early in the second period but saw his penalty saved by Jordan Pickford.

City pushed until the end but weren’t able to force a winner against Sean Dyche’s side.

It means we won 18 of our 27 home matches in all competitions in 2024, scoring 65 goals.

What happened

As with every final home game of the calendar year, the afternoon began with our annual pre-match ceremony to remember all connected with the club who have passed away over the previous 12 months.

Once play got under way, City went straight on the front foot and could have had the lead inside three minutes when Josko Gvardiol’s towering header clattered into the near post.

Everton set up in a defensive 4-5-1 formation, with City dominating possession and territory.

And our pressure told in the 14th minute, when Jeremy Doku cut in from the left and played a pass in behind for Bernardo Silva to flick beyond Jordan Pickford on the slide.

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We didn’t hold up there, quickly looking to add a second.

That could have come as Erling Haaland rounded Pickford but, with the angle rapidly narrowing, he dug out a shot that was blocked by the covering Jarrad Branthwaite.

Bernardo could and perhaps should have doubled the lead just after the half hour mark when Haaland and Foden linked up on the edge of the box to supply the tireless Portuguese midfielder.

His shot, taken with the outside of his left foot, instead flew just wide of the far post.

Despite City’s dominance, there was obvious frustration from Bernardo and Pep Guardiola on the touchline that the game wasn’t already beyond the visitors.

The need to be clinical was emphasised a few moments later, as a rare Everton foray forward ended with their standout player Iliman Ndiaye arrowing a shot into the top corner from 15 yards out.

City piled on the pressure in the closing stages of the first half, but determined last ditch defending in front of the Everton goal kept the scores level at the break.

We started the second half as we had the first and Savinho was at the heart of our best work.

The Brazilian winger first gave Vitaliy Mykolenko twisted blood before crossing in for Haaland, who couldn’t head on target, before a powerful half volley was blocked.

When a player is in that mood, you give them the ball over and over. With his third run at the Everton defence in as many minutes, the 20-year-old was felled by Mykolenko and referee Simon Hooper awarded a penalty.

Haaland stepped up but Pickford guessed correctly and when the rebound was crossed in for our No.9 to nod home, he was stood in an offside position.

Everton rallied and could have taken the lead themselves as the game entered its final quarter when Abdoulaye Doucoure’s volley was deflected inches wide of Stefan Ortega Moreno‘s post.

Hearts were in mouths all around the Etihad again in the 83rd minute when midfielder Orel Mangala stepped on to the ball 20 yards out and hit a low shot that Manuel Akanji deflected wide.

The match ended frantically, with both sides attacking at pace but lacking the finishing touch to take all three points.

Teams

CITY XI: Ortega Moreno, Lewis, Akanji, Ake (Simpson-Pusey 85), Gvardiol, Kovacic (Gundogan 85), Bernardo (C), Savinho, Foden, Doku (De Bruyne 75), Haaland

Subs: Carson, Brits, Mubama, Alleyne, O’Reilly, McAtee

EVERTON XI: Pickford, Coleman (c) (Patterson 90), Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Mangala, Gana, Doucoure, Ndiaye (Lindstrom 81), Harrison, Calvert-Lewin (Broja 70)

Subs: Virginia, Keane, Beto, O’Brien, Chermiti, Armstrong

Pep Guardiola reaction

“We played really good but we are in the period right now that is what happens, we create, we concede the first time arrive. But yeah, keep going.

“The performance against that team was really good offensively and defensively. We shot a lot inside the 18 yard box but unfortunately couldn’t get the result we wanted.

“Now is time to recover and go there [Leicester] with the best mentality as possible. That is what we have to do.”

Manuel Akanji reaction

“I don’t think we deserved this result no, I think we did a lot more in the game than Everton.

“We created a lot of chances, but unfortunately we were only be able to score one goal and then we conceded a goal, out of basically nothing, but that’s how football is.

“I think this was a game that we were able to score three, four goals, but the shots didn’t want to go in.

“We need to believe until the last moment that we can win the match, but it wasn’t possible today.”

Man of the Match

Bernardo Silva - Always full of endeavour and a warrior on the pitch throughout his time at the Etihad.

Guardiola famously said he feels ‘safer’ with his No.20 involved and with City far from our free-flowing best at the moment, Bernardo‘s intangible qualities have made him even more necessary to the boss than usual.

A supremely gifted talent with the ball at his feet, it’s instead been his tireless energy that we’ve needed during a testing couple of months.

His goal here was a fine example of the potential rewards from lung-bursting runs into the box.

What it means

We have 28 points from 18 matches and, ahead of the rest of the Premier League playing over the next two days, move to sixth in the table.

What’s next

We travel to Leicester City for a 14:30 (UK) kick-off on Sunday 29 December in our final match of 2024.