Manchester City did not make a mistake in the Premier League on Saturday night. Beautiful goals from Raheem Sterling and Rodri gave Pep Guardiola’s team a 2-0 lead against Everton; in the final phase Bernardo Silva determined the final score at 3-0. Getting through the win the Citizens on 26 points and narrow the gap with league-leader Chelsea to three points; Everton remains in eleventh place with 15 points. Nathan Ake started on the bench at Manchester City and came on the field fifteen minutes before the end.
Guardiola had to do without Kevin De Bruyne, who was quarantined because of a corona infection. Jack Grealish and Ferran Torres were also absent due to injuries. Everton’s colleague Rafael Benítez had to improvise even more for his starting eleven: Abdoulaye Doucouré, André Gomes, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Tom Davies and Yerry Mina were all in the infirmary; Mason Holgate was serving a three-game ban.
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Assistant of the year? ??João Cancelo actually puts the ball ???????????????????????? at Raheem Sterling and he then shoots in excellently: 1-0 ????#ZiggoSport #PremierLeague #MCIEVE pic.twitter.com/Uq6HQjCMYb
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) Nov 21, 2021
Everton had already failed to win five games in a row and a sixth was in the air from the first whistle. Chances rained on City in the first half, with attempts from João Cancelo, Phil Foden, Ilkay Gundogan (twice) and Sterling. The latter in particular was a scourge to the defense of the Toffees. In the 33rd minute, Sterling thought he could earn a penalty after an alleged foul by Michael Keane, but VAR decided otherwise. Moments later, the winger was able to score his goal, although the attention was not focused on him.
Cancelo dribbled into the enemy half two minutes before half-time and spooned the ball beautifully with the outside right over the Everton defense. Sterling was exactly in the right place and didn’t hesitate for a moment: 1-0. That remained the case for the first half, but soon after the interruption the public got more to eat. Allan’s weak defense in the 55th minute resulted in the ball ending up in front of Rodri, who swept the ball past the hopeless Jordan Pickford.
City kept combining to their heart’s content on half of the visitors and had two more opportunities through substitute Riyad Mahrez. Just before time, the same Mahrez handed the ball to Sterling on a silver platter, but he hit the ball completely wrong. A minute later, Bernardo Silva scored the third goal. The leather ping-ponged between the legs of Everton defenders and landed at the feet of the Portuguese, who pulled the trigger. It didn’t get any worse for the visitors.
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????????. ????????. ????????! ??A very hard line from Rodri flies right past Jordan Pickford ??#ZiggoSport #PremierLeague #MCIEVE pic.twitter.com/CrYfq0O7sN
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) Nov 21, 2021
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 26 | 29 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 26 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 24 | 25 |
| 4 | West Ham United | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 23 |
| 5 | Arsenal | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | -4 | 20 |
| 6 | Wolverhampton W. | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 19 |
| 7 | Manchester United | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | -1 | 17 |
| 8 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | -2 | 17 |
| 9 | Crystal Palace | 12 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 16 |
| 10 | Tottenham Hotspur | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | -7 | 16 |
| 11 | Everton | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | -3 | 15 |
| 12 | Leicester City | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | -5 | 15 |
| 13 | Southampton | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | -3 | 14 |
| 14 | Brentford | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 13 |
| 15 | Aston Villa | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | -4 | 13 |
| 16 | Watford | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | -4 | 13 |
| 17 | Leeds United | 11 | 2 | 5 | 4 | -7 | 11 |
| 18 | Burnley | 12 | 1 | 6 | 5 | -6 | 9 |
| 19 | Norwich City | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | -20 | 8 |
| 20 | Newcastle United | 12 | 0 | 6 | 6 | -12 | 6 |