Manchester City sink Everton to knock Liverpool off the top
MANCHESTER City seized first place in t he Premier League on Wednesday with a 2-0 win over Everton that moved the champions above Liverpool on goal difference.
Pep Guardiola’s side took t he lead through Aymeric Laporte’s header on t he stroke of half-time at Goodison Park.
Gabriel Jesus struck in t he closing seconds to sea l a v ictor y that moved Cit y level on points wit h Liverpool and a llowed them to return to the top of t he table.
Second-placed Liverpool have a game in hand on City, who were play ing Everton in a game brought for ward due to a fixture clash with the League Cup final against Chelsea later t his month.
It was a far from inspired performance from Cit y, but it was enough to turn the pressure back on Jurgen Klopp’s fa ltering team, who had occupied top spot since December 8.
Liverpool’s successive draws against Leicester and West Ham have a llowed Cit y back into t he tit le race just when it looked like t he Reds were set to ta ke control as t hey chase a first English crown since 1990.
The opening goal came from a freek ick, needlessly conceded by Idrissa Gueye and ta ken by David Silva.
The Spanish midfielder curled in a perfect deliver y which found Laporte unmarked, and only eight yards from goal, for a perfect header.
It was the 16th consecutive leag ue and cup game in which Guardiola’s side had scored a first half goal, a run dating back to t heir first leag ue defeat of t he season at Chelsea in early December.
And in t he context of t he tit le race, it may yet prove to be one of the more important, a lthough it took until deep into stoppage-time of t he second half for Cit y to claim t heir second.
Kevin De Bruyne played in Jesus, whose initia l run was blocked by Jordan Pick ford only for t he ball to sit up k indly for t he Bra zilian to head into an open goal.
That was a cruel finale for Marco Silva’s out-of-form team, who had battled admirably in t he first half and not given up a single shot on target to t hat point.
In fact Bra zilian Bernard came close to opening the scoring when he met a cross from opposite winger Theo Walcott and delivered a shot which Ederson was required to turn around his post.
Pressure on Liverpool
Cit y had looked certain to ta ke the lead after 19 minutes when Ilkay Gundogan slid in to meet David Silva’s excellent cross, but succeeded only in scooping his shot against t he Everton crossbar.
Laporte had a lso missed a f ree header at t he far post in a spell of early Cit y pressure but, by t he time he redeemed himself at the end of the half, Everton appeared to have weathered t he worst of it.
Indeed, by t he half-hour mark, Guardiola cut an increasingly frustrated figure on the touchline, arms waving at ever y over-hit pass and misplaced and overhit through ball.
But t he first goal, and its timing, eased the pressure on Cit y and turned it, in no uncertain terms, on Everton’s cross-town r iva ls Liverpool.
After t he resta rt, Cit y sought t he goal t hat would k ill of f Everton’s t hreat.
Yet, as had been the case in t he first half, a ll too of ten promising play broke down in the final third.
Pick ford failed to deal wit h a deflected Gundogan cross, with Sergio Aguero shooting wide with an overhead attempt, before Guardiola brought on substitute Raheem Sterling in an effort to introduce a more clinica l edge.
It a lmost worked, as the England for ward saw a shot deflected onto t he roof of t he net follow ing a spell of uncertain defending from Everton and a couple of failed clearances.
There was a late scare for Cit y when a mista ke by Kyle Walker gifted the ball to Richarlison who should have played in Cenk Tosun only to see his pass easily cut out by Ederson.