Moments missed from Everton's 2-0 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium
Everton held Manchester City at arm’s length for almost an hour at the Etihad Stadium. And, indeed, they had the better chances before being sank by Erling Haaland’s quickfire double in their 2-0 defeat.
But you knew that already. However, what about the moments you may have missed?
From the penalty a former referees chief felt Everton should have been awarded, to a subtle change in kick-off tactics, here are some of the potential incidents you may not have spotted...
Handling Everton penalties
Everton started the season by giving away penalties for handballs in each of their first two games. The decision to award what proved to be a late match-winning spot-kick for Leeds United was particularly controversial with captain James Tarkowski, who the decision was given against, telling the ECHO: “I was confident when he was giving the decision that it was going to get overturned. I asked the question to the referee: ‘If my arm is by my side, is it a penalty?’ to which he said: ‘No,’ so I don’t understand how it’s been given.”
Then, the following Sunday, in the Blues' first competitive fixture at Hill Dickinson Stadium, home debutant Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall conceded a spot-kick for a similar offence.
However, when a shot by James Garner was blocked by Manchester City substitute Bernardo Silva’s arm on Saturday, referee Tony Harrington waved away the visitors’ claims, with his decision incurring the wrath of ex-refereeing chief Keith Hackett.
Former FIFA-listed referee Hackett, who took charge of Everton’s 1-0 win over Liverpool at Wembley in the 1984 Charity Shield before replacing Philip Don as the general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Board, told Goodison News: “I have written on many occasions that the handball law is poorly written and open to a level of subjectivity that leads to an inconsistent application.
“There is no doubt in my mind that the player had his arm in a position to make his body larger with the view of stopping the ball.
“It is a decision that should have seen VAR intervention, and the referee invited to review at the pitch-side monitor. It should have seen the award of a penalty kick.
“Everton again on the wrong end of a decision.”
Jack in the box
After joining Manchester City from home city club Aston Villa – where he had been since the age of six – to become the first £100m English footballer in 2021, Jack Grealish graced the Etihad for four years and even though he has now found a new football love at Everton, he remains a hugely popular figure in these parts.
It remains to be seen whether Grealish will take to the Etihad pitch to face Man City next season as an Everton player by completing a permanent switch to Merseyside, but of course he was ineligible for this encounter due to Premier League rules not allowing on-loan squad members to face their parent clubs.
The absence of Grealish’s presence on the turf was a loss all-round to the encounter, fresh from him netting his first goal for the Blues last time out with their dramatic, stoppage-time winner in the 2-1 comeback victory over Crystal Palace.
However, the man who also picked up the first Premier League Player of the Month award for the first time in his career in the week of his 30th birthday after providing four assists in his first two starts in the competition with David Moyes’ side, was still very much in demand on the day.
Grealish was invited to watch the action unfold from the plush surroundings of the Puma Box, an exclusive section of the stadium for City’s kit manufacturers and looked relaxed when filmed taking in the game in footage relayed to the press box monitors.
Ricky remembered
Nicknamed “The People’s Champion,” one of Man City’s most famous fans was remembered in the first game at the Etihad since his funeral with a hoarding that rather than containing an advertising message, simply read: 'There’s only one Ricky Hatton'.
The former world champion boxer, who died last month aged 46, was laid to rest following a service at Manchester Cathedral on October 10, with one last stop at the Etihad afterwards.
As Michael Ball, who knew Hatton from his time playing for City, told the ECHO following his passing: “He was a man of the people. He wasn’t just a Manchester guy, I think the whole of Britain adored him because of the way he was, as a working class guy, doing really well in his sport and he was really down to earth.”
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Different start
One of the most unique and unusual moments of Everton’s pre-season, for those of us who followed the team around the USA for the Premier League Summer Series, was the sound of was the train horn sound effect that blasted out when Garner kicked off the Blues’ final fixture in the competition against Manchester United at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The same noise, which is a nod to the city being founded in 1837 at the end of the Western and Atlantic Railroad Line, is used when local Major League Soccer side Atlanta United find the net or NFL outfit Atlanta Falcons score a touchdown.
It sticks in the mind of this correspondent because Garner usually takes the kick-offs when he’s in the Everton team, as he was here, but instead the responsbility to get proceedings underway fell to his central midfield colleague Idrissa Gueye in what was a subtle change of tactics from the visitors.