Everton 1-1 Manchester City: 5 Thoughts

Everton's resilience was refreshing

Coming into 2015, Everton had only come from behind to rescue points twice this season, against Liverpool and Sunderland, but they've now done it twice more in the space of a week. What's more, the Blues thoroughly deserved their comeback against Manchester City, and looking back they were perhaps unfortunate not to beat the champions on Saturday.

The result was still ultimately a good one, but it was the fight, the energy and the belief shown by the players that should be the greatest take-away from the 1-1 draw at Goodison. Let's hope it carries over to the Boleyn Ground on Tuesday.

Fiery Besic is beginning to find his feet

Goal aside, I think my favourite moment from yesterday's game came off the ball in the second half. City cleared out of defence and David Silva nipped in to pick up the ball. He just beat Muhamed Besic to it and the Bosnian ended up fouling his opponent as a result. Besic then proceeded to absolutely wallop the Goodison turf a good few times, not because he felt Silva had dived, but out of sheer frustration with himself.

Besic was otherwise excellent, but that reaction said a lot about his character and the standard to which he holds himself. After a (very) shaky start, he's beginning to iron out the errors in his game, and looks to be flourishing at the base of the Blues' midfield. In an Everton side that has been lacking a bit of fire recently, Besic's passion stands out.

Naismith's example shows what McGeady could become

Around this time last season, Steven Naismith was still maligned by Evertonians for the most part, confined to the bench and not featuring regularly in a side that was flying high in the Premier League. It took almost two seasons for the Toffees' latest cult hero to finally prove his worth to the team, and Roberto Martinez is now reaping the benefits of a confident, goalscoring Naismith.

So when people write off Aiden McGeady, who admittedly had another poor game against City, it pays to look at Naismith to see what can happen over the course of a season. The winger is far from the only Everton player to have underperformed this season, and has dazzled intermittently, so there is certainly potential for improvement. With an otherwise injury-prone winger corps of Mirallas, Pienaar and Atsu, McGeady is likely to see more chances in the second half of the season. Don't be too surprised if he makes the most of them.

What has happened to Seamus Coleman?

There have been more than a few contributing factors to Everton's downturn in form this season but one of the most significant has to be the decline of Seamus Coleman. After a season and a half of pretty consistent excellence, the right back has looked listless for most of this campaign, showing only flashes of the ability that made him the league's premier full back only last year.

The lack of a consistent partner on the right wing probably has something to do with it, but the lack of adventure in Coleman's game and the basic errors that have crept in speak to a lack of confidence at the very least. If Everton's fortunes are to improve in the second half of the campaign, we'll need to see a whole lot more from the club's reigning Player of the Year.

There are bigger games to come

The point against City is a significant one, no doubt about it, but it's also just that - one point. It's in the games throughout the next few weeks that Everton will really be tested, against deceptively difficult opposition: a buoyant West Ham in the FA Cup followed by two teams with shiny new managers in place - West Brom and Crystal Palace.

And then there's just the small matter of the Merseyside derby...