Man City 1 Everton 2 (Cahill, Baines)

Dixie Land wrote:

BB wrote:

Garry Adams wrote:

BB wrote:

Armchair Evertonian wrote:

Possession

* Man City 60%
* Everton 40%

Attempts on target

* Man City 15
* Everton 3

Attempts off target

* Man City 10
* Everton 1

Corners

* Man City 11
* Everton 0

Fouls

* Man City 7
* Everton 13

We were battered to be fair but swings and roundabouts - we've hammered enough teams and got nothing so tonight was our turn. And most of their efforts were from long range anyway.

We weren't battered. We knocked the other guy out twice, and then sat on the ropes for 10 rounds soaking up punishment. Anything not to lose.

It might be a win, but I don't follow Everton to get 3 points like that. I follow them because they get stuck in and don't let big teams push us about without a fight.

This is why I shout at Moyes so much. To him, it's 3 points, but to me, it's 70 minutes of thinking WTF?

We both want the same thing, but as a fan, I want to be entertained, and that was not entertaining, but frustrating. Their goal also cost me 8 points.

Dixie for fan of the night.

So are you saying we gave up without a fight tonight?

No. That's what you're saying. What I said was fairly clear.

So are you saying "It might be a win, but I don't follow Everton to get 3 points like that. I follow them because they get stuck in and don't let big teams push us about without a fight"???

Bluejags wrote:Heart - Effort - Bollox (and a little luck), that performance finally put some real pride back in the jersey. Yes, on another night we might have been on the end of a hammering, but we were more up for it then Citeh tonight. We dispensed with all the thermals and just got stuck into them early on. Most of the time, football is simple. Its about wanting it more then the other lot, willing to get stuck in and win the physical battle first then taking chances when they come regardless of who's on the pitch. I remember last year when we lost to Birmingham in the cup. We were on a great run at the time, playing great football but on the day, they just wanted it more and took their chances early on and defended like demons for the rest of the game, very much like tonight's game by us. If I was a Citeh fan, I would have been disappointed at the desire of some of their players, especially the two pre-madonnas up front.

We rode our luck at times but we deserved it. Howard and Distin outstanding..

Made 4 Gwladys wrote:Look who was impressed with Everton tonight

anticipate_the_pass wrote:

Bluejags wrote:Heart - Effort - Bollox (and a little luck), that performance finally put some real pride back in the jersey. Yes, on another night we might have been on the end of a hammering, but we were more up for it then Citeh tonight. We dispensed with all the thermals and just got stuck into them early on. Most of the time, football is simple. Its about wanting it more then the other lot, willing to get stuck in and win the physical battle first then taking chances when they come regardless of who's on the pitch. I remember last year when we lost to Birmingham in the cup. We were on a great run at the time, playing great football but on the day, they just wanted it more and took their chances early on and defended like demons for the rest of the game, very much like tonight's game by us. If I was a Citeh fan, I would have been disappointed at the desire of some of their players, especially the two pre-madonnas up front.

We rode our luck at times but we deserved it. Howard and Distin outstanding..

yeah, this game had all the drama. I watched it at home live on ESPN, I didn't really fell nervous at any time, it was a great team performance along with the little bit o' luck

Goodison_Gringo wrote:I don't usually bother reading other fan sites but after we play City each year I do enjoy a read of the comments on the Manchester Evening News; http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/sport/football/manchester_city/s/1401198_manchester_city_1_everton_2#comments

Once again they didn't disappoint. I love their sense of injustice. I thought we were the bitter ones?

Goodison_Gringo wrote:I don't usually bother reading other fan sites but after we play City each year I do enjoy a read of the comments on the Manchester Evening News; http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/sport/football/manchester_city/s/1401198_manchester_city_1_everton_2#comments

Once again they didn't disappoint. I love their sense of injustice. I thought we were the bitter ones?

Bluejags wrote:

Goodison_Gringo wrote:I don't usually bother reading other fan sites but after we play City each year I do enjoy a read of the comments on the Manchester Evening News; http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/sport/football/manchester_city/s/1401198_manchester_city_1_everton_2#comments

Once again they didn't disappoint. I love their sense of injustice. I thought we were the bitter ones?

You would think they have actually won something in the last 30 years!

Bluejags wrote:Heart - Effort - Bollox (and a little luck), that performance finally put some real pride back in the jersey. Yes, on another night we might have been on the end of a hammering, but we were more up for it then Citeh tonight. We dispensed with all the thermals and just got stuck into them early on. Most of the time, football is simple. Its about wanting it more then the other lot, willing to get stuck in and win the physical battle first then taking chances when they come regardless of who's on the pitch. I remember last year when we lost to Birmingham in the cup. We were on a great run at the time, playing great football but on the day, they just wanted it more and took their chances early on and defended like demons for the rest of the game, very much like tonight's game by us. If I was a Citeh fan, I would have been disappointed at the desire of some of their players, especially the two pre-madonnas up front.

We rode our luck at times but we deserved it. Howard and Distin outstanding..

BBC Radio 5 live's Mark Lawrenson: "The body language of the Manchester City players isn't good, hasn't been all night. I've just been looking around and most of the Everton players are wearing short-sleeves..."

BB wrote:

Armchair Evertonian wrote:BB and Hairy, you both make a good point. But look at the players and resources available to Mancini and look at what Moyes has to work with. We may have gone to Eastlands and dominated in previous seasons but that was at full strength with Pienaar and (an on form) Arteta, plus strikers who looked like scoring. Given where we were after the West Brom and Wigan games we can take an enormous amount of pride and satisfaction from tonight's result. We're nowhere near top form but we ground out a result, just like Wigan did against us last week.

If City started to dominate us, I could understand putting 11 men behind the ball, but they weren't. We were dominating them for the first 20 minutes, and we went 2-0 up.

THEN ................

We said come on City .... come and attack us for the next 74 minutes. It's that, that frustrates me. If I was Anichebe I'd belt Moyes in the mouth for getting me sent off, because that's what happens when you let the opposition bend you over. They pressure the refs and the refs give in.

BB wrote:

Armchair Evertonian wrote:BB and Hairy, you both make a good point. But look at the players and resources available to Mancini and look at what Moyes has to work with. We may have gone to Eastlands and dominated in previous seasons but that was at full strength with Pienaar and (an on form) Arteta, plus strikers who looked like scoring. Given where we were after the West Brom and Wigan games we can take an enormous amount of pride and satisfaction from tonight's result. We're nowhere near top form but we ground out a result, just like Wigan did against us last week.

If City started to dominate us, I could understand putting 11 men behind the ball, but they weren't. We were dominating them for the first 20 minutes, and we went 2-0 up.

THEN ................

We said come on City .... come and attack us for the next 74 minutes. It's that, that frustrates me. If I was Anichebe I'd belt Moyes in the mouth for getting me sent off, because that's what happens when you let the opposition bend you over. They pressure the refs and the refs give in.

The Griffin wrote:We were always rubbish at Main Road but don't have a bad record at Eastlands - since 2005 we have won 4 and lost 2 of our games there with no draws.

With Tevez throwing yet another moody to disrupt their dressing room and their players being weighed down with gloves and scarves I can see us winning this one.

2-0 Everton - don't care who scores

Our club will probably do nothing about it because the FA are as corrupt as Fifa, this show respect for referee's campaign is a complete joke as we are just allowing referee's to walk over us and get away with anything and everything.

I have replayed the full 90 odd minutes of the game versus Everton and there is clear video evidence of Everton fielding 11 goalkeepers and a referee as corrupt as a leaking battery.

Hold your heads high City fans because there is nothing to feel down for, our players maybe guilty of an extremely poor first half handing two goals on a golden plate for Everton but they tried and tried their best to come back.

Sure we did not deserve to lose and Everton robbed us in broad daylight but that is whats wrong with parts of Great Britain highlighting Everton itself and all we can do is move on.

On the up side they gain nothing more than three points from it, we can only hope they get caught in a relegation fight for their lower than despicable team of Thierry Henry's and have a miserable end of year.

Referee Peter Walton has to go down in history as the worst ever Premier League referee after failing to award City rightful penalties, atleast three of the six handballs were as clear as clear glass. Atleast two Everton players should have been sent off, the other being Fellaini when he showed his studs on a City player a second time in the game.

If cheating is what makes them happy then so be it, video footage clearly shows who is right and who was wrong so we will leave it at that.

Moving on I wish all City fans a very Merry Christmas and hope it brings us what we need, see you all on Boxing Day and here's to a happy ending to the Newcastle game.

So much for a merry Christmas and a happy first birthday for Roberto Mancini. The City manager took a well aimed kick at the Lucozade bottles after Everton’s second to sum up another night of frustration against the Toffees.

Rather than sitting top of the league, such a game brings back fears of whether we will finish above one of last season’s top four to secure a Champions League place. We sit third, but with our rivals now having games in hand, our position is less convincing.

It all began so brightly with the news that Carlos Tevez had withdrawn his transfer request and was committed to the club, following a meeting with Khaldoon al Mubarak. The captain was once again able to lead the team out to a warm reception from the crowd.

Mancini’s team selection saw Kolarov returned to left-back with Zabaleta winning the battle for the right-back slot. Milner replaced de Jong in central midfield as a reward for his recent efforts in that position.

After comfortably knocking the ball about in the opening minutes, to concede an early goal was a disaster. Mancini knows from last season’s experiences just how difficult to break down Everton can be when they have something to hang on to.

The softness of the goal made it particularly infuriating with Kolarov turning his back on Coleman as he crossed, and Cahill criminally being left unmarked. There was to be no such generosity from the Everton back line.

Following a clash of heads, the seemingly epic absence of Zabaleta for treatment left Mancini raging on the touchline and brought back memories of our chaotic past. With a second goal conceded, created where Zabaleta would have been, Boateng was finally set to come on when Zabaleta reappeared with a partially mummified head.

Pablo continued to be on the receiving end of some strong challenges throughout the match. The Argentine didn’t complain but nor did he offer the skill required to get behind Baines. There was a case for bringing on Boateng to give a little more skill and subtlety to our attacking on the right flank.

While it is tempting to blame conceding two soft goals on the absence of de Jong, they both came from the flanks and Nigel would have been unlikely to prevent either. He may well have had something to say about them though.

Everton are normally feisty and difficult to subdue in midfield, so it was timely of Gareth Barry to step up to the plate. Spreading the play and constantly looking to get us on the front foot, Gareth ensured de Jong wasn’t missed as much as had been feared.

Two goals behind gave us a mountain to climb against our most unforgiving of opponents and the fear of it being insurmountable was palpable. So it proved, but it could have been different as enough chances were created.

Shots rained in for a spell in the first half, and we ought to have had one back before half-time. We managed one in the second half, but it should have been two or more.

Everton’s defending saw them block 16 attempts on goal – a Premier League record this season. Tim Howard did well, but most of our shots were from distance and optimistic. There was a failure to create chances within the penalty area.

This illustrates the current limitation of Mancini’s side. When teams defend deep, narrow and don’t allow space between the lines, we can become frustrated. It was also seen in the goalless draw at home to Birmingham. Tevez doesn’t have space to operate and we remain the only Premier League not to score a headed goal this season.

Rarely do our forwards get on the end of crosses, as balls now being played in by Kolarov are demonstrating. The case for 6′ 2” Dzeko looks ever more compelling after matches like this. We need an alternative to Tevez, and Balotelli isn’t the answer at present.

In fairness to Mancini, Silva and Yaya are now settling into the Premier League and offering more creative options, even if the Spaniard had a relatively poor game here. He had good chances to equalise at 1-0 and 2-1, and failed to get a shot on target for either.

Tevez had a shot deflected over by Howard after Balotelli hit the post, and was thwarted again by the Everton keeper in the dying minutes. Leighton Baines had earlier provided the kind of controlled finish we lacked throughout.

Anichebe’s sending off gave us added hope but changed little in Everton’s set-up. By that time were already looking to close the game out and continued to defend as resolutely as before. Likewise the sending off of Kolo Toure changed nothing and simply added to the sense of farce.

Unlike last year’s defeat, we did create chances and with improved finishing or a better final ball could have won the game. In this regard at least, progress was evident. It’s not enough mind.

As with the Carling Cup semi-final last season, and the penultimate fixture against Spurs, we haven’t been able to make the transition to a side that wins the big games. With Khaldoon al Mubarak watching from the stands, Mancini’s fury was constantly apparent.

Had this been United, Arsenal or Chelsea then they might have turned the game round. We couldn’t and this, more than the conceding of the goals, shows we have yet to become a top team.

Presented with the chance to lead the table at Christmas, the big three would most likely have taken it. We didn’t and winning important games is something Mancini needs to change.