Manchester City stroll to victory against uninspiring Everton

Everton’s winless run extended to six matches as they slumped to a 3-0 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Goals from Raheem Sterling, Rodri and Bernardo Silva ensured the Citizens returned back to winning ways on home soil.

The task of leaving the blue side of Manchester with three points has been one the last five Everton managers have failed at. David Moyes was the last to do so when he left the Etihad with a 2-1 win back in 2010.

From the first whistle, Rafael Benitez’s side found themselves on the back foot. Joao Cancelo’s dangerously deflected shot was almost turned in by 19-year-old Cole Palmer on his first Premier League start.

At the opposite end of the appearance chart, Sterling, who was celebrating his 300th league appearance, whipped in a cross from the right which was just too high for Phil Foden who could only head the ball over.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Yerry Mina and more recently Tom Davies makeup Everton’s injury list, and with the Merseyside derby only two weeks away, it looks worrying unlikely Demarai Gray will be fit.

After running at Kyle Walker for the first time in the match, the Everton winger pulled up with a muscle injury which ended his game after 17 minutes.

The hosts should have taken the lead on the half-hour mark but Bernardo Silva saw his dinked effort saved by Jordan Pickford before Ilkay Gundogan’s looping header deflected off the crossbar.

City continued to bombard Everton’s goal and minutes later Pickford was called into action. England’s number one got down well to save Palmer’s low driven shot and was quick to deny Sterling on the follow-up.

With Everton’s injury and suspension list growing, Benitez will now be without Richarlison for their trip to Brentford next weekend. The Brazilian was shown his fifth yellow card for a poorly timed tackle on Walker.

The hosts were awarded a penalty 10 minutes before the break when Michael Keane was adjudged to have brought Sterling down illegally. The contact from the Everton centre-back appeared to be outside the area and after a look on the pitchside monitor, Stuart Atwell overruled the decision.

City found the breakthrough two minutes before the interval when Cancelo picked Sterling out with a sublime outside of the foot pass with the England international fantastically sidefooting his effort past Pickford.

? "Absolutely sublime!"

The assist by Joao Cancelo ?

The finish by Raheem Sterling ?

Watch Manchester City vs Everton live on Sky Sports Premier League ? pic.twitter.com/7I0dnoZ6Nb

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 21, 2021

Everton’s only shot on target in the game came in stoppage time when Andros Townsend was brought down on the edge of the box following a mistimed tackle from Aymeric Laporte which warranted the defender a yellow.

Townsend stepped up to take the free-kick but his powerfully struck left-footed effort was comfortably held by Ederson.

A lack of intensity and attacking threat from Everton made life easy for City, who for most of the match barely left first gear. Rodri doubled City’s lead 10 minutes after the restart with a thunderous strike which left Pickford with no chance.

Allan’s attempted clearance went straight into the direction of the City midfielder, who from the best part of 25 yards out, smacked the ball first time into the top left corner.

The hosts continued to control play and create openings however when presented with a golden opportunity, substitute Riyad Mahrez could only drag his effort wide of the post.

City should have added a third after 77 minutes when once again they caught Everton out with a ball in behind. Walker’s low driven cross was put on a plate for the unmarked Sterling whose heavy touch allowed Pickford to smother the ball away.

The reigning champions added a third with four minutes to go when Palmer’s effort deflected kindly into the path of Silva who calmly directed the ball between Pickford’s legs to score his second goal in as many matches.

Guardiola brought 19-year-old James McAtee on for his league debut in the remaining minutes and the attacking midfielder was unfortunate not to add a fourth when his effort smashed into the side netting.

Everton then handed 18-year-old Tyler Onyango his Premier League debut in injury time. The promising midfielder, who made his Toffees debut in last season’s FA Cup, had been sidelined for six months after sustaining an ankle fracture and ligament injury against Manchester City in the FA Youth Cup.

The final whistle signified a sixth successive league match in which Benitez’s side have failed to win, and if the same occurs at Brentford, it will be the first time Everton have not won in seven league outings since 2016.

City join neighbours Manchester United in being the only other team to defeat the Toffees in nine consecutive league matches as they remain three points behind Chelsea who sit top of the table.

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