After losing two games in a row after the international break, Everton were facing a third with the arrival of Manchester City to Hill Dickinson. On paper, it was just a daunting 90 minutes with City doing their usual end of season dash to the finish as the Citizens have not lost a match in the Premier League since early January. Everton had the chance to help out Mikel Arteta by stopping the sky blue wave from becoming a tsunami.
Team News
Moyes made three changes to the starting line-up from last week, with
Beto fit again and in for Thierno Barry and Merlin Rohl in for Dwight McNeil. Tim Iroegbunam was the other surprise after Idrissa Gueye was missing from the squad.
After a very unusual 9 day hiatus following their FA Cup win, Pep made eight changes with only Wembley match-winner Nico Gonzalez, Matheus Nunes and Rayan Cherki keeping their places. Rodri was missing as he continued his rehab, but former, and potentially future Eveton player John Stones is on the bench. It was a full strength City looking to get the win and move back into first place.
Match Report
A big match with Michael Oliver in the middle of it all. It looked like Rohl was lining up on the right with Garner in his usual spot. A lovely “Forever Everton” was delivered by the crowd as the match kicked off. Early City possession built slowly up the pitch with only a semblance of pressure from the Blues. No sympathy was given to a writhing Cherkhi after he went down under no pressure from KDH.
Dewsbury-Hall was then driving forward but the swarming grey shirts stymied his progress. An early corner was delivered short but O’Brien defended well. The first shot for City curled over the bar much to the pleasure of the home crowd.
City were happy to pass it around with Doku frequently being the point of attack. City were racking up the corners but the backline was holding firm. Haaland’s first touch was well marshalled by Garner who drew a foul. The possession was almost 90% for the first 15 minutes. Doku broke in, slid it to O’Reilly who couldn’t get the ball onto Haaland’s toe. Seconds later it was O’Reilly who went close. Cherkhi then recorded the first shot that Pickford saved.
The very low block was making it difficult to find any space in the back. 91 passes in the final third for City compared to 1 for Everton which summarised it for the first 20 minutes. Semenyo was the next Citizen to shoot over the bar. Everton kept possession for a couple of minutes which ended with KDH having his shot blocked by Nunes. The corner was headed by Keane but cleared away.
Beto went in on Khusanov and the defender decided to go down for some unknown reason. A nice ball from O’Brien sent Rohl down the wing and his cross was just tipped by Donnarumma which prevented a tap in. City were back on the ball after an 8 minute spell of Everton pressure. Tarkowski and Khusanov needed a chat with the ref before Tarks was then laughing it up with Haaland.
With five to go, the game had settled down with City getting back on the ball with no real product. They had only one shot on net before Cherkhi laid a ball into Doku who was not closed down quick enough so he curled a lovely shot into the far corner. Pickford had no chance.
The crowd went crazy when Keane took down Doku and was given a yellow card by Oliver. Of course, it was checked by VAR but they could not upgrade it to a red. The crowd gave it to Doku when he did not leave the pitch but Oliver escorted him to the sideline. Tim Iroegbunam went in for three hard challenges which caused Oliver to say enough and his whistle blew.
A quick start from City saw O’Reilly shank a shot wide. Everton drove two balls forward but each time Beto was in position, his shot was blocked. Beto was then given a yellow card for a late challenge on Guehi. Semenyo was then on the turf requiring attention. Everton pushed forward and KDH took a pop but it was too high.
Tarks was given a yellow for pulling Haaland back. The Norwegian’s smirk was enough to tell everyone what was going on. KDH tried unsuccessfully to get by Khusanov which led to Haaland breaking away but being manhandled by Garner. The crowd responded and Everton broke forward. Beto got the ball into Ndiaye who forced a smart save from Donnarumma.
The usual Beto for Barry switch was made at 63 minutes. He immediately flicked the ball onto Ndiaye who was in one on one with Donnarumma but the big Italian smothered the shot. Everton had twice as many attempts on goal in the second half up to that point. KDH then tried a shot from his own half to catch out Donnarumma but his shot was wide.
Iroegbunam slipped a ball into Barry but the ball was wide of him. Guehi tapped the ball back to Donnarumma but it was short so Barry jumped on it and dispatched it into the City goal. The flag went up for offside but Oliver deemed that it was a separate phase of play so the goal stood. Everton get a call for once and it was a big one. Twenty minutes to go. Barry did a dance and Evertonians were loving it.
City tried to come to life but Everton were not slowing down. Iroegbunam went down and as City dawdled, Ndiaye broke in again and it needed a saving tackle from Guehi to prevent a goal. The resulting corner was taken by by Garner and it was met by O’Brien who headed it into the roof of the net. Donnarumma got a yellow for complaining about the challenge from Tarkowski but his protestations were ignored. Hill Dickinson was in rapture with 17 minutes to go.
Gueyi drove forward but had the ball nicked by Iroegbunam. A pass into Ndiaye saw him drive into the box but again he shot it at Donnarumma. Foden was brought on by City as “Everton We Love You” rang out around the stadium. City tried to get one back and a foul on the edge of the box was lined up by Cherkhi but his shot was well wide.
Merlin Rohl got a rousing reception for his dogged tracking of Doku. A quick throw in by O’Brien saw Rohl get past the City backline and his pass touched Kovacic but was deflected onto the boot of Barry who tapped it home. Ecstacy……. Barry was on a hat trick.
The kickoff saw Cherkhi slice the backline and Haaland chipped it over a sprawling Pickford and it was 3-2. The game was going bonkers. It was Everton’s turn to go forward and Barry forced another corner but it was less successful than the previous one. Doku drove forward and O’Brien needed to prevent the breakaway. As the free kick was being taken, VAR checked a possible penalty for Everton but that was denied.
Foden then took a pop but his shot was well wide. City continued to press but the Blue shirts were working very hard to prevent any real chances. Moyes was conferring with Leighton Baines about another switch which led to Patterson getting ready as six minutes of extra time was announced. A cross into Haaland was met by a Pickford punch.
Alcaraz and Patterson were brought on for Rohl and Dewsbury-Hall. Alcaraz immediately earned a throw in and was able to slow the game down. Another brilliant tackle by Mykolenko stopped a Nunes breakaway. City were scrambling as the minutes ticked away. Iroegbunam blocked a cross and ended up hitting the advertising board. Harrison Armstrong replaced him. Two corners for City saw Donnarumma come up for them. Guehi let it go for Doku who then replayed his first goal and tied the score. It was virtually the last kick as Michael Oliver blew the whistle and broke Evertonian hearts.
Everton’s Man of the Match
Thierno Barry: Too often this season, the predictable switch of Beto to Barry has been mostly devoid of any significant impact. Today, that switch changed the game. Everton were getting on the ball but Beto was not getting any space to work. When Barry entered the match he was able to get wide, go through the middle and come back to get into the play. His movement was the difference and his finishing was superb. He was only on the pitch for half an hour but it was a performance that deserved a victory.
Instant Reaction
After a very defensive first half, the half time talk from Moyes really changed the match. The effort from the boys was incredible and the finishing from Barry and O’Brien set us up for a possible victory. That was not to be as City’s quality shone through in just a couple of moments. Everton ended the match with an xG of 2.77 which is the highest against City by anyone this season. The chances to Ndiaye were not finished off which would have been the icing on the cake.
The race for Europe continues to be a thing for Everton. Results this weekend did not change many things as the gap between 12th and 6th remained at just 5 points. Most importantly, the point moved Everton to within 4 points of 6th. With only three matches left, it’s not over and Everton still have Palace, Sunderland and Spurs. Tonight’s spirited second half performance was excellent and Moyes needs to get the same effort as they head to Palace next week. COYB!
Although I selected Barry as the player of the match, the forced inclusion of Merlin Rohl was the big story for me. The young German’s selection was intriguing and in the end was a bit of Moyes magic as he had an excellent game from start to finish. Rohl had barely kicked a ball since starting in the away win against Aston Villa in January. His inclusion probably had to do with the wing play of Doku who had been on fire recently and although Doku scored two, Rohl was not culpable on either one. For me he has earned the chance to continue next week. Although, what I have learned is that it is impossible to know what Moyes will do from day to day.
The absence of Braiden Graham on the Everton bench was a disappointment many Evertonians who had hoped to see included with the lack of goals from our strikers this season. He had been training with the first team and Graham had been involved in all four goals as the U21s beat Brentford 4-2 on Friday night. His two goals included a panenka from the penalty spot. There is a lot of chatter about this young striker but Moyes is playing the long game. Not even a seat on the bench.
