Football

Everton vs Manchester City Player Ratings: Ilkay Gundogan Puts City in Touching Distance of Premier League Title

May 14, 2023 4:21 pm
Everton vs Manchester City Player Ratings: Ilkay Gundogan Puts City in Touching Distance of Premier League Title
Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan celebrates scoring their side's third goal of the game during the Premier League match at Goodison Park, Liverpool. Picture date: Sunday May 14, 2023. - Photo by Icon sport

  • Manchester City overcome a nervy start to beat Everton 3-0 at Goodison Park.
  • Ilkay Gundogan and Erling Haaland scored two quick goals at the end of the first half to put City firmly in control before Gundogan sealed the win after the break.
  • Everton remain one point clear of the relegation zone while City just need five more points to win the league.

Everton Player Ratings: The Toffees battle hard but become unstuck against the Champions

Jordan Pickford 5/10 – Couldn’t have done anything about the opener City’s other two goals were fairly central and he will be disappointed to have seen them both go in.

Nathan Patterson 6/10 – Kept Foden quiet for the majority of the game but was poor going forward.

Yerry Mina 7/10 – Kept Haaland quiet for the vast majority of the game and was Everton’s most assured defender.

James Tarkowski 6/10 – His defending appeared desperate at times but it’s difficult to blame him, or anyone outfield, for any of the City goals.

Mason Holgate 5/10 – Was nervy throughout and lack decisiveness.

Idrissa Gueye 5/10 – Sloppy on the ball and lacked energy.

James Garner 7/10 – Carried Gueye in midfield and was full of running and spirit. Slipped in Calvert-Lewin at 0-0 with a nice pass – looks like a tidy player.

Abdoulaye Doucoure 6/10 – His touch let him down on several occasions but never stopped running for his team.

Alex Iwobi 5/10 – Went missing for large parts of the game.

Dwight McNeil 6/10 – Helped out defensively but failed to do much going the other way.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin 7/10 – Put in a really good display in the first half and held the ball up terrifically for his team. Everton fans will be hoping he wasn’t forced off with an injury.

Substitutes

Neil Maupay 5/10 – Failed to replicate Calvert-Lewin’s first-half display.

Conor Coady 6/10 – Was good on the ball but the game was already done and dusted when he came on.

Amadou Onana 6/10 – Perhaps should have started instead of Gueye in midfield.

Demarai Gray 6/10 – Came on too late to make an impact.

Manchester City Player Ratings: Gundogan at the double once again

Ederson 6/10 – Didn’t have to make too many saves but struggled from set pieces and played his team into trouble early on.

Kyle Walker 8/10 – Made some sensational recovery tackles when Everton were breaking in the first half and supported Mahrez well down the right flank.

Aymeric Laporte 7/10 – Didn’t put a foot wrong at the back and was excellent on the ball.

Ruben Dias 6/10 – Struggled with Calvert-Lewin at times and could have given away a penalty when the ball struck his arm in the second half.

Manuel Akanji 7/10 – Played well at left-back and kept Iwobi out of the game.

Rodri 7/10 – Controlled the game from the base of the City midfield. Never loses the ball and allows City to sustain attacks.

Ilkay Gundogan 9/10 – Came up with the goods once again when his team needed him. His opener will be in the conversation for goal of the season.

Riyad Mahrez 6/10 – Wasn’t the Algerian’s best game in a City shirt but ended up with an assist thanks to Gundogan’s brilliance.

Julian Alvarez 5/10 – A poor game by his standards.

Phil Foden 6/10 – Didn’t look as threatening as Grealish, which explains why he’s had to settle for a place on the bench for large parts of the season.

Erling Haaland 7/10 – Had barely touched the ball until he popped up with City’s second which is what the Norweigan is all about.

Substitutes

Bernardo Silva 6/10 – Came on late but showed some nice touches.

Jack Grealish 6/10 – Came on to be kicked all over the pitch for ten minutes.

Kalvin Phillips 6/10 – Came on too late to make an impact.

Sergio Gomez 6/10 – Came on too late to make an impact.

Everton vs Manchester City Match Summary and Highlights

Going into the game, many people were predicting that Everton would prove to be a hard nut to crack after their win against Brighton last weekend, and for 30 minutes, they were exactly that. They restricted City to very little and had a few openings of their own on the counterattack.

However, on the half-hour mark, Ilkay Gundogan produced a piece of individual brilliance that gave City the goal they were craving to open the game up. The ball was whipped into the box by Mahrez and Gundogan, who was facing the wrong way, took the ball on his knee before flicking it with the outside of his foot on the volley past a helpless Pickford.

Just two minutes later, City doubled their lead via an Erling Haaland header and the game was all but over when the teams went into half time. To put the game beyond any doubt, Gundogan scored a delightful free-kick six minutes after the break and City saw the game out professionally from there.

The Blues now just need five more points to win the Premier League title while Everton will be hoping that Liverpool can avoid defeat at Leicester on Monday night to keep them out of the relegation zone going into the final two games of the season.

Player of the Match: Ilkay Gundogan

After scoring two big goals last weekend against Leeds United, the German was at it again this weekend as he scored another two goals at Goodison Park. He got the ball rolling with a piece of magic in the first half and then put the cherry on top of the cake with a sublime free kick in the second. Gundogan seems to relish this time of year and he will likely remain an ever-present in the starting lineup in all of City’s remaining games as they chase the treble.

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