We had to wait until 25 minutes into the second half for Manchester City would take advantage of Everton and those jumps that coach Pep Guardiola made while clenching his fists in front of the substitutes’ bench said much more. The Norwegian Erling Haaland He returned to the goal after 74 days, unlocked a game that was complicated and then sealed the victory with his double with five left to make it 2-0 on matchday 24 of the season. Premier League.
Thus, Manchester City continues in the fight for the English league title and puts pressure on Liverpool, which beat Burnley 3-1 and is the leader, and Arsenal, who visits West Ham this Sunday. With this victory, City has accumulated six consecutive in the tournament and totals 52 points, two less than Liverpool and three above Arsenal. The Citizens are also excited because they have a pending match.
It was not an easy game for Guardiola’s team, especially in the first half, in which Everton showed themselves to be a very organized and disciplined team in defense. For this reason, City had a hard time finding the way to the goal. He did it after a corner taken from the right by Julián Álvarez: The ball fell to Haaland at the far post after some rebounds and the scorer took a powerful right hand in the air that opened the scoring and ended his drought.
El primer gol de Haaland
His last goal had been against Liverpool, in a 1-1 draw on November 25, for the Premier League. This time it was a double. With the score against, Everton went for the tie and City took advantage of it to end the duel on a counterattack. Nathan Aké recovered in defense, quickly gave the ball to the Belgian Kevin de Bruyne and he threw deep for Haaland, who outspeeded his marker and beat the exit of goalkeeper James Tarkowski with a cross shot. It was a hell of a run.
Haaland’s second goal
With this doublet, Haaland establishes himself as the top scorer in the Premier League with 16 goals and, more importantly for his team, he seems fully recovered from the injury that kept him off the field for almost two months, which made his dry spell more extensive. Now is sharp again, three days before the dispute of the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 before Copenhagen.
Guardiola’s team arrives at the European event in a great moment, after winning all the games played in 2024. The last match that City lost was on December 6, 1-0 against Emiliano “Dibu’s” Aston Villa Martinez.
Julián Álvarez was a starter, worked depending on the team and was replaced 31 minutes into the second stage. In his place came De Bruyne, who set up Haaland for the decisive goal.
After the game, Guardiola referred to that second stage in which they managed to defeat Everton. “In the end, The changes in the second half gave us another rhythm and, obviously, Erling Haaland is back. Having this player, when the ball comes out of a corner… and his definition is fantastic,” said the coach.
“We didn’t concede a shot on goal in the first half, but they were incredibly well organised. In that first part our body language was not good. In the second we were more positive. If you want to give your best, your body language must be correct and in the end we got three very important points,” Pep contextualized, before the first questions in the stadium.
And he completed: “Kevin De Bruyne is fresh in mind and legs since he returned and that’s why sometimes I don’t want to put him in from the first minute and his impact is greater late in the game than at the beginning.”
The summary of Manchester City – Everton
The synthesis
The positions
Themes
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Super Saturday on TV. Boca, great games in Europe, the Six Nations rugby and the semifinals of the Córdoba Open
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City won. The hattrick of a youthful gem, the goal with an Argentine touch and the two bombs that saved Julián
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