WHAT A GRAY DAY FOR CITY!
Haaland left seething as Everton turn up the heat
EVERTON’S last trophy team back in 1995 were affectionately known as the Dogs of War. They’d have been proud of the way Frank Lampard’s relegation battlers took a point off the champions.
Manchester City, and particularly Erling Haaland, were left frustrated by some Evertonian tactics: in your faces, leaving a foot in and nullifying City’s beautiful football with time wasting.
And the visitors scored a fantastic equaliser through Demarai Gray and defended heroically for all 101 minutes — a significant part of the over-time due to referee Andy Madley’s faulty headset.
‘Against City, it’s about character,’ said proud Everton manager Frank Lampard. ‘We can’t go toe-for-toe with them in our position. The idea was not to give spaces between the back four. It wasn’t a complicated gameplan but to do it consistently is tough. I didn’t want our heads to go down at any stage.’
Lampard has been written off in his career as tactically naïve but his backfive worked well yesterday. Ben Godfrey did not give Haaland a moment’s peace even though the Norwegian managed to score his 27th City goal in only 21 games. Haaland spent most of the game seething after being caught by Godfrey in the first minute. His reckless lunge at Vitality Mykolenko was one of seven yellow cards, but could have been red.
He later caught James Tarkowski with a flailing arm as the Everton defender came to challenge him from behind.
While Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola made it clear he didn’t want to publicly criticise Madley, he cut a frustrated figure on the touchline.
‘I know what happened,’ he said with a glare. ‘Erling was a bit angry about the first action of the game on his ankle but he deserved the yellow card. I told him to be careful because we can’t play 10 against 11.
‘I don’t want a relationship with the referees. I don’t want to be in the meetings with them — I don’t care. They do their job, it is fine. We made a fantastic game. I would love to create a million chances but it’s not possible when there are so many defenders.
‘It is the strategy of the opponent and up to the referee to decide.’
In terms of the future, a point apiece isn’t going to define where the teams finish in May.
Guardiola never believed the puff that his team would be champions by 15 points and it’s clear they are going to have to fight with Arsenal to complete a hat-trick of titles with tough fixtures ahead starting with Chelsea. A point means Everton aren’t going to end the calendar year in the bottom three which would have put immediate pressure on the manager.
The die was cast in the opening minute when Godfrey landed on Haaland and the striker needed lengthy treatment before continuing. It lit the touchpaper as City were suckered into a physical confrontation that suited the visitors. Kevin de Bruyne’s challenge on Belgian team-mate Amadou Onana was late and high.
Haaland was impatient with the close marking he received. When he was finally awarded a free-kick for a challenge by Godfrey, he sarcastically raised his arms in the air as if acclaiming a goal.
The Norwegian’s temper finally snapped after John Stones had headed against the post from De Bruyne’s free-kick.
Haaland chased the loose ball like a man possessed and recklessly lunged at the back of Mykolenko’s leg. Lampard agreed a yellow was just about right. ‘A bit of a lunge but not massive force,’ he said. But it was living dangerously.
Bernardo Silva was also booked for a dive when he wriggled by Nathan Patterson.
Briefly escaping Everton’s frantic clutches, City scored a goal of beauty to lead after 24 minutes.
Rodri broke up an Everton move and Jack Grealish and De Bruyne combined to get the ball to Riyad Mahrez on the right. He beat Mykolenko and once inside the penalty area pulled back to Haaland who inevitably scored albeit with a slice of fortune as Jordan Pickford’s touch took the ball away from Conor Coady on the goal-line.
The north-west derby remained spiky and Everton made things awkward for City.
The second half was stop-start and affected City’s rhythm. Madley’s communications gear broke down and took six minutes to fix. Grealish, Patterson and Rodri needed treatment as tackles reined in and Everton capitalised on the disruptions in spectacular style.
Rodri played an uncharacteristically loose pass to Everton’s Idrissa Gueye who fed Gray. He initially slipped but showed great resourcefulness to regain balance, cut inside and rifled into the top corner for his first league goal since August.
It was the visitors’ only shot on target and Guardiola’s reaction was to scratch his fingers on the top of his bald head in anguish. ‘The shot was unstoppable — Demarai has that in him,’ said Lampard.
City pushed on and Pickford made a brilliant save to deny Mahrez before Guardiola sent on lkay Gundogan, Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez. Eleven minutes of injurytime failed to produce a winner with Rodri missing contact with Mahrez’s cross.