Alex Iwobi brilliance not enough as champions Man City power past Everton

Everton’s Alex Iwobi gave a good account of himself but it was too little as goals from Jesus, Mahrez, and Sterling gave Manchester City a 3-1 win at Goodison Park on Saturday night.

Alex Iwobi had a solid hand in creating Everton’s first goal but the Toffees could not hold on for even a point as the champions eked out another fine win to condemn the home side to their fourth loss of the campaign.

Pep Guardiola’s men started brightly and were deserving of the opener when it arrived.

De Bruyne whipped a lovely ball into the penalty area for Jesus, who dived onto the end of it to head it past Pickford and into the back of the net.

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Everton rallied after the goal and had a couple of chances, before finally getting their goal. Iwobi played a good ball into Coleman, who chipped the ball over Ederson, with Calvert-Lewin smashing the ball in on the line.

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It was the first time Calvert-Lewin had scored in back-to-back Premier League appearances in his career, and back-to-back league games for the first time since October 2015 whilst playing for Northampton in League Two.

That equalizer ensured the game ended 1-1 at Goodison Park at the break, despite Manchester City being the better side and looking strong, with Everton struggling to get a touch on the ball at times.

Man City resumed the second half as they started the first – on the front foot – and should have retaken the lead after creating quite a few chances, with Sterling and Ede Bruyne being the chief culprit.

The home side could only keep the champions at bay for so long and with barely a quarter of an hour left of play, the Toffees’ defence caved in yet again as Mahrez found perfection to fire City into a 2-1 lead.

The Algerian winger curled a terrific free-kick around the wall and into the bottom right-hand corner of the net. Everton fans might think Pickford should have done better, as the ball flew into his corner but no one could take anything from the goalscorer.

Everton had chances to equalize with Lewin missing a one-on-one with Elderson.

And City made him pay for that miss when the away team extended their lead. Substitute Aguero laid the ball out wide to Mahrez before getting back on the ball and firing a low cross into the box, which Pickford saved with his feet. However, the ball fell straight to Sterling who smashed the ball against the crossbar and it bounced down and over the line. Question mark trailed the goal but goal-line technology intervened and showed the ball went over the line and the goal was awarded.

The win helped Manchester City cut the gap with league leaders Liverpool to five points after the Reds momentarily went eight points clear following their narrow 1-0 triumph over Sheffield United earlier on Saturday.