Foden the difference as Pickford heroics not enough to stop Man City juggernaut

A late Phil Foden goal was enough for Manchester City to take all three points from Everton after Jordan Pickford had led a valiant rearguard action.

The England man bundled the ball over the line after a mix up in the home side’s defence. It was cruel on Pickford, who put on a world-class display to keep out City’s attacking force. There was late drama when Everton thought they should have had a penalty but it was another three points in City’s challenge for back-to-back titles.

Frank Lampard made just one change to his starting XI that lost to Southampton, with Abdoulaye Doucoure replacing the injured Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

City chief Pep Guardiola also changed just one, as John Stones replaced Kyle Walker. Ahead of the game City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko and Everton’s Vitaliy Mykolenko shared an embrace on the pitch.

The two Ukrainian players, both starting on the bench, received warm applause from fans of both clubs.

It was Everton who made the brighter start, with the crowd urging their heroes to attack. Both Seamus Coleman and Donny van de Beek made probing runs but the champions held firm.

The Toffees were riding the wave of the vociferous home support but were given a warning on 18 minutes. Foden skipped past Jonjoe Kenny and it needed a timely interception by Michael Keane to clear the danger.

And in the 27th minute Everton felt they should have been awarded a penalty as Allan went down under a challenge from Joao Cancelo.

He's one of our own! 🌟

🍬 0-1 🔵 #ManCity pic.twitter.com/wFHHcwglKF

— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 26, 2022

Referee Paul Tierney was having none it and replays proved the official correct. City began to move up through the gears and Kevin de Bruyne tested Pickford on the half-hour mark.

The England keeper made no mistake while Kenny hit the side netting just 60 seconds later after excellent work by Allan. Alex Iwobi found the Brazilian but he shot straight at Ederson from close range.

Bernardo Silva forced a save out of Pickford as the half came to an end. Lampard will have been pleased with what he witnessed in the first 45 minutes as he knows how dangerous City can be.

City struggles continue before late strike

Guardiola will have urged his men to show more in the second period. But they emerged from the interval with a similar mindset.

The free-flowing football that has served them so well in recent years was missing. And Everton were more than a match for their illustrious opponents.

But they needed a double save from Pickford on 56 minutes to keep the scores level. First he saved from Foden before keeping out Cancelo’s effort with ease.

De Bruyne showed his and City’s frustration when Foden chose to pass to Raheem Sterling instead of shooting. But the visitors began to boss proceedings by the hour mark.

With wave after wave of attacks to repel, Pickford was a busy man. But he was equal to Stones 25-yard effort.

And the 27-year-old was called on to make another double save just moments later. He kept out De Bruyne’s low shot before scrambling to his feet and thwarting Bernardo Silva.

It was backs-to-the-wall stuff from Everton as City mounted multiple attacks. And Pickford was proving an immovable object on the occasions they did breach the defence.

Guardiola rolled the dice with 12 minutes left on the clock. Gabriel Jesus and Riyad Mahrez replaced Ilkay Gundogan and Sterling.

And just a few minutes later the Spaniard got his reward. Keane failed to deal with Silva’s cross and Foden was on hand to poke the ball home from close range on 82 minutes.

It seemed as though Everton would be awarded a penalty five minutes before the end as the ball appeared to hit Rodri’s arm inside the box.

VAR was called on but, having viewed the evidence, the appeals were turned down, much to the dismay of most inside Goodison Park.

There was just time for Stones to dislocate his finger before the referee blew the final whistle.