IT’S ROUGH
THE mini fist-pump and almost angry, subdued, celebration as Gabriel Jesus gave the scoreline some late, late gloss said it all.
It was not quite ugly but the win that returned Manchester City to the Premier League’s summit was hardly a thing of beauty.
And Pep Guardiola knew it. He also knew this sort of performance fits one of football’s hoary old clichés – grinding out wins when not playing well is the hallmark of champions.
Liverpool could not do it at the London Stadium on Monday, City did it at Goodison Park last night.
Now the pressure is back on Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp when Bournemouth come to town on Saturday.
And that is what will matter to Guardiola, along with coaxing a more fluent display from his squad when Chelsea visit the Etihad on Sunday.
Perhaps it was down to the unusually subdued atmosphere under the Goodison Park lights but this was a Guardiola team that struggled for intensity.
After a bravura performance against Arsenal on Sunday, it was slightly jarring to see Raheem Sterling only on the bench, although the demotion of Kevin de Bruyne was about managing his body after his interrupted season.
Their absence for most of the game, though, was felt.
It did not stop City dominating possession and territory but their precision in passing was not as surgical as normal. By their rarefied standards, it was all a bit sloppy. It verged, for a Guardiola side, on the slapdash.
There was probably not a first-half pass that Sane did not have to collect on his chest, and David
Silva was curiously indecisive in his distribution.
The champions were hardly a measure of defensive composure even though Everton incursions were hardly frequent. Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones were extended by Dominic Calvert-lewin, and Kyle Walker has not looked anything like his best for some time.
Despite their indifferent recent form – indifferent being generous – this was a juicy chance for Everton to recapture some momentum, which is why the concession just before half-time must have been particularly galling for manager Marco Silva.
Galling but grimly familiar,