Manchester City 3, Everton 0
Goals by Raheem Sterling, Rodri, and Bernardo Silva sealed a routine victory for Manchester City over Everton on a day when James McAtee was handed his Premier League debut.
City made three changes from the side that comprehensively beat Manchester United at Old Trafford in what turned out to be Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s penultimate game in charge.
Ruben Dias, Gabriel Jesus, and Kevin De Bruyne were replaced by Aymeric Laporte, Cole Palmer, and Raheem Sterling.
And City fans were quick off the mark with a chant to mock Reds caretaker manager Michael Carrick as City got to business against Everton.
The Toffees lost Demarai Gray after just 16 minutes of high pressing and City had a plethora of chances including shots by Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling.
Michael Keane then seemed to bring down Raheem Sterling as he ran into the box after 34 minutes, a lengthy VAR check saw referee Stuart Attwell go to the pitch side monitor and then rescind his decision to the derision of Pep Guardiola and City fans.
Embed from Getty ImagesCity made the breakthrough after a poor Everton clearance was intercepted by Joao Cancelo who quickly turned the tables on Everton with a through ball hit with the outside of his boot by the Portuguese which can to Sterling so quickly he had no time to think about other than to stick his own foot out to divert it past Jordan Pickford.
Rodri smashed City’s second – a 25 yard rocket – after 55 minutes when Allan’s loose clearance fell to him.
And Sterling should have made it 3-0 when Kyle Walker’s square pass fell to him but he shot straight at Pickford but the job of making this routine win safe fell to Bernardo Silva who stabbed him from close range when Palmer’s deflected shot fell tom him 6 yards out with 4 minutes to go.
Immediately afterwards James McAtee got his Premier League bow, replacing Palmer, as City saw out a very routine win.
PLAYER RATINGS – Manchester City 3, Everton 0
Ederson: 6. Virtual first half spectator until he collected Townsend’s free kick, had a little more to do in the second half.
Kyle Walker: 7. Beat Alex Iwobi to the ball in one of Everton’s few attacks, got forward too.
John Stones: 7. Heavily involved in the buildup – defensively solid when required.
Aymeric Laporte: 6. Booked for stopping Alex Iwobi otherwise a solid afternoon. Subbed off for Nathan Ake.
Joao Cancelo: 8. Early shot deflected wide. Sumptuous assist for Raheem Sterling’s goal and Everton had no answer for his runs inside.
Rodri: 8. Solid presence in midfield. And one of his trademark 25 yard missiles had everyone out of their seats after he intercepted Allan’s half clearance and thrashed a curling effort past Jordan Pickford.
Ilkay Gundogan: 7. Header came off the bar as he got forward. Set piece delivery somewhat wayward though.
Bernardo Silva: 7. Below his high recent standards but still good, put himself about in attack and defence and got a poacher’s goal at the end when Cole Palmer’s shot was deflected into his path.
Raheem Sterling: 7. Played wide right, got into some good positions failed to win a penalty after going down under a challenge by Michael Keane. Scored an instinctive strike after 44 minutes but should have had another when Kyle Walker’s cross found in space but with Jordan Pickford closing him down.
Phil Foden: 7. Played wide left and looked bright, some great balls into the box and got on the end of several good balls. Hurt early on and taken off as soon as City went 2-0 up.
Cole Palmer: 7. Played at false 9 and almost got on the end of a deflected Joao Cancelo shot, took some time to get into the game but had a long shot spilled by Jordan Pickford and other efforts from distance, some of his passes were excellent. His final act was a deflected shot which fell into the path of Bernardo Silva for City’s 3rd goal.
Riyad Mahrez (on for Phil Foden, 58): 6. Shot wide after coming on, provided set piece options.
Nathan Ake (on for Aymeric Laporte, 76): Too late to mark.
James McAtee (on for Cole Palmer, 87): Too late to mark but an eye-catching ball retention run.
GOALS – Manchester City 3, Everton 0
Man City 1, Everton 0: 44. Raheem Sterling stuck a leg out and diverted a great through ball hit with the outside of his right boot by Joao Cancelo past Jordan Pickford.
Man City 2, Everton 0: 55. Rodri finally scored one of the 25 yard thunderbolts he has been threatening to all season after Allan’s half clearance fell to him – the ball swerved past Jordan Pickford from long range and had everyone out of their seats.
Man City 3, Everton 0: 86. Bernardo Silva finished off Everton with a tap in from 6 yards after Cole Palmer’s shot was deflected into the path of the Portuguese after a lung busting run by Ilkay Gundogan to put him through.
MATCH STATS – Manchester City 3, Everton 0
Man City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Laporte (Ake 76), Cancelo, Rodri, Gundogan (C), Bernardo Silva, Sterling, Palmer (McAtee 87), Foden (Mahrez 58)
Man City subs not used: Steffen, Carson, Dias, Jesus, Zinchenko, Fernandinho
Booking: Laporte 45+3 (foul on Alex Iwobi)
Goals: Sterling 44; Rodri 55; Bernardo Silva 86
Everton: Pickford, Coleman (C), Godfrey, Keane, Digne, Gordon, Delph (Rondon 63), Allan (Onyango 90), Gray (Iwobi 16), Townsend, Richarlison
Everton subs not used: Begovic, Kenny, Tosun, Gbamin, Branthwaite, Simms
Booking: Richarlison 31 (bad foul on Kyle Walker)
Referee: Stuart Attwell