Everton’s winless run against Manchester City continues as Pep Guardiola’s side scored twice in the final ten minutes to secure victory.
Not since a 4-0 victory during the 2016/17 season have the Toffees tasted success against the Etihad side, although they did come close to sealing a draw at Goodison this afternoon.
David Moyes’ men held out resolutely throughout the match, but in the end, City’s quality shone through as goals from Nico O’Reilly and Mateo Kovacic stole the three points.
With Premier League survival sealed, Moyes can now experiment over the final few matches of the campaign.
Against City, several players starred, whereas others struggled to make much of an impact.
Everton’s best and worst players against Man City
Before coming off with an injury, James Tarkowski enjoyed a solid display. He won 100% of his total duels contested, along with losing possession just four times. Would Everton have lost if he had still been on the pitch? Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Elsewhere, Abdoulaye Doucoure looked solid after netting a late winner last week. He succeeded with all four of his dribble attempts while winning 50% of his total duels during the game.
These two were the standouts, but a few of the starting XI struggled to contribute much. Jack Harrison delivered yet another poor performance on the right wing. He failed to deliver a single accurate cross from five attempts, lost possession 13 times and made just one key pass.
Accurate passes
Ruben Dias (97)
Key passes
İlkay Gündoğan and Omar Marmoush (2)
Tackles
James Garner (6)
Ground duels won
James Garner (7)
Successful dribble attempts
Omar Marmoush (5)
Armando Broja was by far the worst performer in an Everton shirt at Goodison today, however, that’s for sure.
Why Armando Broja must be axed by David Moyes
The on-loan striker had made just nine Premier League appearances prior to the City clash as he has been hampered by injury issues.
Indeed, he was making only his third start for the Toffees at Goodison today, but he failed to offer much threat in the final third.
Throughout his 63 minutes on the pitch, Broja completed just four passes while taking 22 touches, 30 fewer than Jordan Pickford in goal. The Albanian even failed to register a single shot at goal while winning just a single ground duel and losing the ball 14 times.
Moyes must axe the striker, as he offers no major threat when chosen to start as a centre-forward.
Journalist Chris Beesley of the Liverpool Echo gave the striker a match rating of 5/10, stating that he ‘worked hard to try and make an impression but needed to be stronger as little stuck before he was hooked again’, yet this simply wasn’t good enough for Moyes.
His loan deal expires at the end of the current season, and given his current form, he will return to Chelsea ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.
Chalkboard
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