HUMILIATION!
Everton’s kids dish out Pep’s worst beating
PEP GUARDIOLA all but surrendered Manchester City’s hopes of winning the Premier League after his worst afternoon as a manager.
Guardiola admitted Chelsea’s 10-point advantage looks insurmountable after this crushing defeat at Goodison Park — the Catalan’s worst domestic result.
Asked if their title challenge was over, Guardiola said: ‘The first one (position), yeah. The first one is a 10-point gap and that is a lot of course. The second one is three points, so we have to see.
‘This is the first time I’ve conceded a lot of goals. It’s never happened before. That’s why I have to know the reason why. I spoke with the players for the last three weeks to forget about the table. Focus on the next game and do our best.’
Everton’s goals came from Romelu Lukaku, Kevin Mirallas and teenagers Tom Davies and Ademola Lookman, and boss Ronald Koeman said: ‘I like to bring in young players. If they bring the performance, I will be the first to put them in.’
HE LOOKED to be in a trance. As the old ground shook as it does on these giddy occasions, Pep Guardiola sat with his arms folded, mouth slightly open and stared into space.
It was a striking image. Manchester City’s players shuffled back into position, having just conceded the dam-busting second goal of a ruinous day, while the fans in the away end shuffled with a deep sense of foreboding. All Guardiola could do was look vacantly into the distance.
Perhaps he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. But, crucially, he couldn’t stop it unfolding. Here was a man who appeared to be in a state of shock. To his horror, this expensively- assembled squad were melting and their dreams of winning the Premier League were disintegrating.
Everton, full of energy and youthful exuberance and a determination to wreak havoc, inflicted a 90-minute nightmare on Guardiola, their 4-0 triumph being the standout moment of Ronald Koeman’s tenure and the heaviest defeat Everton have inflicted on Manchester’s Blues since 1986.
True, Everton had to weather an early storm, torm, but by the finalnal whistle they were re not flattered by a scoreline that will l have left those who did not watch this extraordinary contest doing double-takes; they ran all over City’s ambitionss as the visitors s hoisted a white flag. ag. Koeman and his players deserve every plaudit, from Romelu Lukaku and Kevinin MirallasMirallas, who scored the first two goals, to the teenagers Ademola Lookman and Tom Davies — the game’s outstanding performer — whose late strikes completed the rout.
Here was a performance to leave Evertonians dreaming of a bright future but here was another game when City folded, showing a startling lack of character and leadership. They were spineless — and do not doubt how much they are in need of major surgery.
Yet the paradox of this story is that for much of the opening 45 minutes, they attacked. They had 70 per cent possession in that period; passes zipped around Everton’s half at pinball speed with Kevin De Bruyne imperiously directing operations.
Whether it was a long ball or a short pass, De Bruyne did it with elan. He was the only one from this debacle who could not be faulted, trying his hardest to get City into a position where their territorial dominance would lead to the goals they craved.
They were inches away from making it count. One De Bruyne cross eluded Sergio Aguero, who had slid into the six-yard area, by a fraction. The way he clamped his hands to face confirmed how close he was to giving City the lead.
There were other moments, too. Raheem Sterling had strong calls for a penalty waved away after he was felled byb a combination of LeightonLeigh Baines and Joel Robles. He was furifurious but it was onlonly after seeing TV rereplays you apprecciated what a case hhe had.
Bacary Sagna also came within a whisker of finding a way through when De Bruyne jinked dodown the left flank, exexchanged passes and fired in a cross but hhis header was cleared off the line by Davies. It was one of many standouttdt moments from the 18-year-old.
By that point, City had conceded. Everton hadn’t been overly dynamic but they had shown enough to suggest that applying the right kind of pressure, pressing and intensity would bear fruit. So it proved.
Guardiola would rather walk away from football than abandon his principles but there is a time and a place for trying those cute five-yard exchanges and that time is not when Goodison Park begins to growl and bay for those in royal blue to start swarming forward.
Notice had already been served of how vulnerable City could be — Claudio Bravo’s first pass picked out an Everton shirt, and there was an awkward failure to control a ball from John Stones that led hearts to flutter — and in the 35th minute they took full advantage.
It all stemmed from Gael Clichy giving the ball away. Davies seized on it, ushered Mirallas forward and he squared for Lukaku, whose smart finish was his 12th goal of the campaign.
So here was the test. In an unforgiving venue, with the pressure ratcheted up, what could City produce? What plan did Guardiola have to turn a complicated position into the victory that he required? Quite simply, he didn’t. As City looked for a way back, Everton destroyed them on the counter, Mirallas sending Goodison into a frenzy 69 seconds after the restart when he thrashed in a right-footed drive after being teed up by Ross Barkley, whose contribution should not be overlooked.
City played a part in their own downfall, with Yaya Toure — a passenger throughout — failing on three occasions to stop the ball getting through to Mirallas. Too many of Guardiola’s players went missing and Everton sensed an opportunity to cause mayhem.
And they did. Davies capped his outstanding display with a wonderful run and goal, clipping the ball over the despairing Bravo after a return pass by Barkley.
Soon Lookman — just on as a substitute — raced clear to smash in an angled drive and show why Everton paid Charlton £11million for him.
He was engulfed by every member of the Everton team but as they hurtled to celebrate him, Guardiola could also be seen, spinning on his heels and running a hand across his head. This was his most damaging day in England.
His first season — certainly in the league — may now be irreparable.