Everton 4-0 Manchester City: Instant Reaction

It does not get any better than that. Despite not having much possession all day, Everton dominated Manchester City by a score of 4-0 at Goodison Park on Sunday. Opportunistic attack, resolute defense and a mental toughness all clicked together to best the petulant Cityzens.

Let’s talk about those four goals. Each of them was more beautiful than the one before it. First, Romelu Lukaku put the Blues ahead in the 37th minute. It was the result of a lovely through ball from Tom Davies to Kevin Mirallas. Then Mirallas found his fellow countryman in the middle of the park with a lovely ground pass. All Rom had to do was redirect it goal-ward and he did just that, past a diving Claudio Bravo.

Mirallas was the goalscorer for the second. Less than two minutes into the second half, Ross Barkley put a perfect ball into the box and Mirallas buried it into the back of the net. 2-0 Everton.

The goal you will see on replay for years to come is the one taken by Davies in the 79th minute. The youngster used some fancy footwork to beat two City defenders, then passed off to Barkley, got up and waited for Ross to give it back. And then he finished with a little dink over the keeper to put the game away.

And finally, Ademola Lookman finished the scoring with the last kick of the game. It was a somewhat busted play where the 18-year-old was left alone in the middle of the pitch. A poor attempt at a clearance from Nicolás Otamendi fell to Lookman and he put it between Bravo’s legs, making it 4-0. What a day!

From top to bottom, this was as perfect of a game of football as you can play. The Everton backline bent but didn’t break. The only time City looked like scoring was when Raheem Sterling was taken down in the box by Joel Robles. But even that was questionable. Apart from that, the “bigger club” created few chances and had to settle for a handful of poorly taken free kicks.

On the flip side, the Manchester City defense was in shambles. John Stones looks as if he has regressed since departing Everton in the summer. Bravo didn’t make a single save. And Otamendi, quite frankly, is an embarrassment. Everton ripped them open with through balls and creative dribbling. Was Everton just that good, or is City in serious trouble? Likely a little bit of both, if we’re honest.

The good things to say about the Toffees cannot be understated. Davies was phenomenal. He is the creative force on the team and deserves to be the first name in the starting XI each game right now.

Barkley was at his best today. He had two assists and showed a lot of confidence. Mirallas was impressive as well. He has really helped at a time where the team is lacking depth on the wings. And we got to see both Lookman and Schneiderlin make their debuts. It’s tough to draw any conclusions. Lookman got the goal and Schneiderlin was fine in limited minutes. They should only get better.

It’s a fun time to be an Evertonian.

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