Everton rued their missed chances at the Etihad as Erling Haaland struck twice to give Manchester City a 2-0 win.
Beto left fans frustrated after two glaring misses in the first half, and had they gone in, we could be looking at a different outcome.
The Premier League’s top scorer would then inevitably score a brace in the second half, and all three points would go to the home side.
Ultimately it was a disappointment for David Moyes’ side, but it was always going to be a difficult match for the Toffees.
Here are the player ratings from Saturday afternoon’s kick-off.
Iliman Ndiaye battles for the ball with Manchester City's Belgian midfielder #11 Jeremy Doku
Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images
Everton player ratings vs Manchester City
Jordan Pickford – 6
Will be disappointed to be beaten straight down the middle of the goal for Man City’s second. Unlucky at being unsighted by Tarkowski, and the ball having a slight deflection.
Made two strong stops in added time to prevent a Haaland hat-trick.
Jake O’Brien – 5
The right-hand-side partnership between O’Brien and Ndiaye fell apart for the opening goal, with Nico O’Reilly given plenty of space to cross the ball.
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Seemed to be an instruction from Moyes with O’Brien moving inside and Ndiaye left to cover the width.
James Tarkowski – 6
Poor defending from Tarkowski for Man City’s second as he struggled to block the shot, with it rolling through his legs instead.
His overall performance was solid other than that.
Michael Keane – 5
Quiet when it came to defending, with his partner seemingly mopping up everything that Manchester City threw at them.
He was barely involved in duels and made minimal tackles.
Vitaliy Mykolenko – 5
Had a tough afternoon up against Savinho, and the Brazilian often got the better of him.
James Garner – 6
Work rate cannot be questioned, and he would have preferred to see more of the ball, but when you play Manchester City, you do not get that luxury.
Idrissa Gana Gueye – 6
Tough match for Gueye, who had it all to do in retrieving the ball back against a strong City midfield.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – 6
Similar to his midfield teammates, he worked hard, pressed well, and was constantly running after the ball. However, it is a thankless adventure against Pep’s side.
Iliman Ndiaye – 7
The Senegalese forward was a bright spark in attack for Everton and should really have got an assist had it not been for Beto’s glaring miss in the first half.
The only criticism would be Ndiaye not being alert enough to track O’Reilly’s run for the opener.
Carlos Alcaraz – 5
In the absence of Grealish, it was a good chance for Alcaraz to make a case to start going forward. However, he was unable to make an impact.
Beto – 4
Everything is just not quite clicking for Beto at the moment, and he should have scored not once, but twice in the first half.
He made himself a handful against the City defence, but when you are playing up top in the Premier League, you have to score those chances.
Substitutes
Merlin Rohl – 6
Came on when Man City were in control, and it was difficult to have an impact with City having 73% possession in the final 45 minutes.
Tim Iroegbunam – 6
Provided fresh legs but could not help Everton gain control after coming on.
Thierno Barry – 6
He had very little service and saw little to none of the ball after coming on. Not really his fault.
Dwight McNeil – N/A
Came on in the 87th minute and was not given much time to impact proceedings.
Tyler Dibling – N/A
Came on in the 87th minute and was not given much time to impact proceedings.