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Everton manager Ronald Koeman had stated very clearly before the game that the Blue would need to defend as a team to come away with anything from the Etihad. In the end, they flustered Manchester City enough to come away with a very hard-earned point, and it was the players that motivated each other at halftime, says striker Romelu Lukaku.
The Belgian striker scored a very well-taken goal to put the Toffees ahead halfway through the second half, but saw the visitors then pegged back with a Nolito equalizer.
"When you're under pressure like that against the best team in the League at the moment you have to be tough mentally and defend well.
"Be as a team.
"That's what told eachother at half time - we had to encourage eachother and be positive.
"We had to be patient, defend well and try to take our chances."
He talked about his goal relieving the pressure -
"When we got the lead I thought if we could get the second it'd be a totally different game.
"But you have to be focused and we lacked a bit of focus when they scored. After that we defended well for the rest of the game."
Lukaku also commented on Koeman’s tactical change to take advantage of the three-man backline -
"In the first half we tried three up front for the first 20 minutes and it didn't work out.
"Then when we played two up front and a diamond in midfield we were good on the counter attack.
"But I think we have to be lucky with one point. City were good - they have top quality players. We have to be happy with the draw and keep going."