Everton Manchester City
Everton faced Manchester City on Thursday.
Zak Anderton
Thu 26 December 2024 14:36, UK
Everton fought back to earn another valuable point in a 1-1 draw against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday.
The Cityzens were the ones who opened the scoring thanks to a rather unfortunate deflection from the calf of Jarrad Branthwaite, which hit the ball just out of the reach of Jordan Pickford and saw Bernardo Silva open the scoring.
Just before the half-time whistle blew, however, Everton’s star man Iliman Ndiaye levelled the scoring after Abdoulaye Doucoure’s cross found him at the other side of the box, which he then brilliantly hammered into the net.
Things were going well until Vitalii Mykolenko decided it was a good idea to gift Pep Guardiola’s men a penalty after going into a challenge on Savinho just too late.
Fortunately for the Ukraine international, however, Jordan Pickford saved his bacon after he guessed which way Erling Haaland would look to aim his shot, this was one of the last major chance of the game and resulted in the score ending level.
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Here, Goodison News rates each player out of 10.
Jordan Pickford – 8
Couldn’t have done much about City’s opener due to the deflection from Branthwaite’s calf, found himself as Everton’s hero as he kept Haaland’s penalty from entering his net after perfectly guessing the side he’d aim for.
Seamus Coleman – 5 (Off for Nathan Patterson, 90′)
Wasn’t much of a match for Jeremy Doku, one of the reasons why the Belgian managed to get the ball to Bernardo Silva for Manchester City’s opener but he did manage to get forward to help out in attack once in a while.
James Tarkowski – 5
Was let off at the start of the game after he didn’t get in the air for Josko Gvardiol’s first chance which was kept out by the post, also could have done better with Silva’s opener, not his best game in an Everton shirt.
Jarrad Branthwaite – 6
Had an unfortunate part to play in City’s opener as Silva’s shot deflected off the bottom of his half and sent the ball just out of the reach of Pickford, was skinned by Silva a couple of times and should have probably done better throughout.
Vitalii Mykolenko – 4
Had a tough battle to face with Savinho on the right wing with the form he’s in, tried his best to keep him from creating anything but let him slip through a couple of times. Almost cost Everton the game after he left his foot in a tackle on Savinho.
Vitaliy Mykolenko
Everton defender Vitaliy Mykolenko [Credit: Imago]
Orel Mangala – 6
Had another commanding performance in the centre of the park, and often won the midfield battle against both Mateo Kovacic and Phil Foden and even had a couple of chances of his own.
Idrissa Gueye – 7
Heavily involved throughout the clash, was a strong link between the midfield and defence and it felt like he was everpresent with the amount of runs back and forth he made. Played a lot of really good long balls and helped advance Everton in attack more than once.
Abdoulaye Doucoure – 7
Solid game overall, tracked back when needed and provided a helping hand in attack when he was needed to, much better second-half showing and ensured the Toffees’ midfield wasn’t overpowered by City’s attack.
Iliman Ndiaye stars for Everton once again
Iliman Ndiaye – 9
Once again the Toffees’ best player, caused havoc on the left wing and was involved in a lot of Everton’s early attacks, even getting the leveller after an inch-perfect finish. Rico Lewis hardly seemed to challenge him and he’s more than earned his nickname of ‘Skilliman’.
Jack Harrison – 5
Had quite a decent impact on the right wing, and played in a couple of nice balls to Dominic Calvert-Lewin throughout the clash but it felt like the Cityzens had his number for most of the game, had a chance in the dying embers of the game to take all three points but failed to capitalise on it.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin – 5 (Off for Armando Broja, 70′)
Not as impactful as he likely would’ve wanted to be and should have buried a couple of chances he was given, was taken off the pitch early and once again failed to prove his worth in the final third.
Substitutes
Armando Broja – 6 (On for Calvert-Lewin, 70′)
Had little involvement in the game when he was brought on, and didn’t get all that many chances against the Cityzens.
Jesper Lindstrom – N/A (On for Iliman Ndiaye, 81′)
Nathan Patterson – N/A (On for Seamus Coleman, 90′)
In other Everton news, Sean Dyche has been mooted to take up a new role within the Friedkin Group’s umbrella.
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