PEP CAN PHIL
Guardiola: ‘We had to try again and again... and in the end he scored’
PHIL FODEN answered Pep Guardiola’s prayers just as it looked as if his team were drawing a blank in the city of their fiercest rivals.
Manchester City stuttered to victory and three vital points after being held by a resilient Everton.
And they were fortunate to escape having a penalty awarded against them when Rodri looked to have touched the ball with his arm.
But VAR intervened – much to Guardiola’s relief.
After dominating possession, his men eventually bounced back from their home defeat to Tottenham as they finally breached an impressive Toffees rearguard.
Everton’s hopes were dealt an early blow with the news that Dominic Calvert-Lewin had not shaken off a minor groin injury in time to claim a place in the squad.
Both sets of players gave a nod to the far bigger problems facing the world prior to kick-off, Everton’s players draping themselves in Ukrainian flags, while their City counterparts wore T-shirts bearing those colours.
The impact of that statement could be seen in the emotional faces of Vitaliy Mykolenko and Oleksandr Zinchenko, who both took a place on the respective benches.
Proceedings started as might be expected, with the visitors dominating possession and looking for a way through a massed defence.
But it took until the 29th minute for a first shot on target, which came when a weak Kevin De Bruyne left-footer was easily collected by Jordan Pickford.
That did not spark a change in fortunes, either, with Everton enjoying the best of the chances before the end of the half.
One of those saw Jonjoe Kenny drive into the side-netting inside the box after great work from Allan to pinch the ball in an advanced area.
Richarlison then forced Ederson into a save with a snapshot from close range after he had been coolly picked out by Alex Iwobi. City still
had time to offer a reminder of their threat just before the half-time whistle when they had the numerical advantage on the break after a spell of Everton pressure.
But a lung-busting run from Donny van de Beek meant he was on hand to make up the numbers and snuff out the danger.
The Everton crowd were lifted once again following the half-time break as Richarlison was played in for a one-on-one chance that he perhaps fortunately failed to convert, given the offside flag.
But it was not long until the visitors were piling the pressure on at the other end again, with only a sharp Pickford save keeping out a low Foden effort at the back stick before Joao Cancelo’s follow-up was also repelled.
England’s No.1 had to show off his shot-stopping skills again with 20 minutes remaining as he brilliantly got down to a low De
Bruyne effort and then pulled off a sensational one-handed save from the onrushing Bernardo Silva.
Everton breaks were becoming less frequent as Guardiola’s team began to turn the screw.
And City finally broke the deadlock in the 82nd minute when Foden put away a poacher’s goal after basic errors from defenders Mason Holgate and Michael Keane.
Afterwards, Guardiola (left) told Sky Sports: “We did everything to win. When you have that, the manager will be alongside the players, that is for sure.
“We have to try and try again and in the end Phil was there and scored.
“We earned the good fortune.”