Erling Haaland was ready for the match between Manchester City and Everton, but both his team and he lost steam in the second half.
The Erling Haaland Show rolled on but Manchester City wasted the opportunity to put pressure on Arsenal with another home setback.
City’s No.9 bagged his 21st league goal of a remarkable season and the numbers do not do justice to the all-around action that Haaland provides to this team and its fans that has transformed the Etihad in minimal time. But that achievement could not help the team to three points that could prove important at the end of the season as a Demarai Gray stunner provided a reply from Everton that the Blues could not recover from.
It would be grossly unfair to dismiss a team that has won two league titles with a false nine as a one-man team, and there were many things for the Blues to enjoy on their New Year’s Eve. Rodri was mostly masterful to keep City in control of a game that threatened to boil over at points, Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez combined well for the first goal, while youngster Rico Lewis was supremely confident again in possession on just his second Premier League start.
Also read: City player ratings as Rodri and Haaland good
Ultimately though, they were not enough in a performance that gravitated around City’s No.9 and lost its spark in the second half as he was starved of the ball. Haaland was stopped and so was his team.
If Julian Alvarez was celebrated before kick-off as the World Cup winner returned early to the squad, from the first minute it was about Haaland. Pep Guardiola sent Phil Foden and Alvarez to warm up as Haaland went down with some concern from a Ben Godfrey tackle and needed treatment on the pitch.
That set the tone for a fiery first half that saw five yellow cards dished out by Andrew Madley (and there could have been more) as both teams were quick to show their anger at what they saw as bad challenges. Everton in particular was furious that Haaland was not sent off for a full-throttle slide – arguably at a faster pace than he clocked at Leeds as he continues to build his fitness up – that caught Vitaliy Mykolenko and led to most of Frank Lampard’s side charging either at the City striker or the referee to make their feelings known.
By that stage, City was already in the lead thanks to goal number 21 for Haaland in the league. Excellent work from Grealish found Mahrez in the box, and parted the pink sea to center for the Norwegian; Jordan Pickford’s attempts to keep the shot out took the ball past Conor Coady on the line, who could have kept the ball out.
Haaland is just the third player in City’s history to notch 21 league goals in a single campaign after Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero, and nobody has ever managed that many in this competition before New Year’s Day. When you factor in the league stopped for six weeks to fit a World Cup in, it is a mindblowing achievement.
The crowd celebrated wildly, and a pumped-up Haaland called for even more as he whipped the stands up to keep the noise. It didn’t stop there, with the striker pointing to the skies and punching the air after winning a free-kick towards the end of the half and then cupping his hand to his ear as the fans chanted his name.
It was the sort of wild and wonderful performance that City was accused of lacking over the last two seasons, and it was interesting to hear his former coach Jesse March observe after the Leeds game that his teammates have responded to the charisma that Haaland brings. Here was more evidence.
Of course, the downside of everything being about Haaland is that all eyes turned to him when Everton grabbed the equalizer with 25 minutes to go. A sloppy pass from Rodri, loose defending from Manu Akanji, and a wonderful shot from Demarai Gray all combined to wipe out City’s scoreline advantage and leave them facing successive league games at the Etihad without a win.
Suddenly it was Everton pumped up, and Amadou Onana calling for more from the away section as they sensed an unlikely victory in the way that Brentford had snatched their (deserved) three points at the death before the break for the World Cup. This game, sandwiched between trips to Elland Road and Stamford Bridge, looked the easiest of the Christmas games for City on paper.
With Pickford saving from Mahrez and no space for Haaland, three subs were summoned for the final five minutes – or 16 once you incorporated the lengthy amount of time added on for Everton’s timewasting and the lineman’s battery malfunctioning. Could the fresh legs of Alvarez, Phil Foden, and City’s Villa hero Ilkay Gundogan salvage three points to ensure the team head into the New Year with momentum?
No, they couldn’t. Foden threatened a brilliant winner but the tough reality for Guardiola was that Pickford wasn’t as tested as he should have been as the players struggled to keep their footing in torrential rain despite having 11 minutes to get the crucial goal.
The city remains two points clear of Newcastle in second place after Eddie Howe’s men were held at home to Leeds, but the opportunity to put pressure on Arsenal ahead of their evening trip to Brighton had been missed. With more challenging games to come in the New Year, the Blues will have to do it the hard way if they are to get their noses in front in the title race.
Whatever happens, you can guarantee Haaland will be central to the action.
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