Grealish doubled City’s lead with his first ever FA Cup goal after Riyad Mahrez opened the scoring on the hour mark.
The 26-year-old’s England teammate produced a delightful pass to split the hosts’ backline and send him through on goal to coolly slot into the net.
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Grealish admitted the pass had shades of seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi.
“It was unbelievable,” he reflected.
“It’s funny because before the game I was on the coach and I sit next to him and we were on Twitter and we saw a video of Messi, and he came up to me after the goal and said it’s just like we were watching before the game.
“Just like Messi! Me and Phil have that link up.
“We had most of the chances. We had a lot of the ball in the first half and we’ve come up against that a lot, teams sitting deep against us.
“We eventually broke down Everton and we’ve done that again tonight.”
Grealish’s goal took his tally to four in his debut season at the Etihad Stadium and he admitted he is hungry to get his name on the scoresheet more often.
“I expect more, I want to get a lot more,” he said.
“I’ve been speaking with the manager and he’s been helping me. I want to get goals and assists but he said it’s not all about that.
“He’s trusted me in a lot of big games which I feel I’ve done alright in. Hopefully that’ll come now in the big part of the season.
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Our No.10 also had plenty of praise for Ukraine international Oleksandr Zinchenko, who captained the team after a tough few days for him personally and for his nation.
“It’s been quite emotional,” revealed Grealish.
“He’s such a big character in the squad. If you ask me he is so underrated as a player.
“We’ve had to be there for him. It’s a difficult time for him and everyone associated with Ukraine. Fair play to him. I think he did brilliant.”
