Man City’s new talismanic duo lead statement Premier League comeback at Everton

Five days earlier, goals from Julian Alvarez and Phil Foden had rendered Manchester City officially the best team on the planet. Having swapped Saudi Arabia for Merseyside, they struck again to give them the status as the fourth finest side in the Premier League, at least according to the table. And for that slender prize, City could be grateful. Trailing at Goodison Park, with a solitary victory in their previous six league games, they had a new badge on their shirt, denoting their Club World Cup win, but were staring at an eight-point deficit to the Premier League summit.

Then came a comeback with a pair of familiar scorers, a win augmented by Bernardo Silva’s glorious finish into an empty net. For a side still shorn of Erling Haaland, who missed a sixth consecutive match and may not even be fit for the trip to Newcastle on 13 January, there had been a need for a catalyst.

Not for the first time of late, Foden stepped forward. He had inspired last month’s fightback win against RB Leipzig and he conjured an equaliser from nowhere on a night that ended with him striking the post with a thunderbolt. Alvarez’s strike came from the penalty spot but, while he had struck twice against Fluminense, he had been on a two-month goal drought in domestic encounters. That ended and the only harm City eventually suffered at Goodison Park was the loss of the injured John Stones, hurt making a wonderful recovery challenge on Beto.

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If damage limitation has been a theme of their last 10 days, their rivals have helped. Arsenal, Aston Villa and Liverpool had all dropped points when City were overseas. It seemed as though the champions would follow suit on their return: Jack Harrison, a player they owned and sold for a profit, albeit one who never made an appearance for them, put Everton ahead.

But there are one-sided rivalries in football and then there is Pep Guardiola against Sean Dyche. They have now met 17 times, with a lone draw and 16 victories for the Catalan. The aggregate score in the last 12 encounters stands at 40-2. Dyche is unaccustomed to anything other than thrashings and a lead represented a rarity for him.

It required something special from Foden to alter the course of events when a fourth away defeat of the season for City started to feel distinctly plausible. He unleashed a wonderfully crisp strike from 20 yards, beating Jordan Pickford at his near post. Yet it was struck with such power and precision that it was hard to fault the goalkeeper. Foden almost scored a second a minute later, angling a low shot just wide from Alvarez’s cross.

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The Argentinian joined him on the scoresheet a few minutes later. Nathan Ake’s shot on the turn hit Amadou Onana. City’s appeals were vociferous but Alvarez’s penalty was unconvincing, struck down the middle, hitting Pickford’s legs as he dived out of the way. Pickford had been booked for trying to put Alvarez off, but his embarrassment did not end there. He slammed a clearance into Jarrad Branthwaite, who failed to control it and, from an acute angle, Silva curled a shot into the unguarded net.

The mocking taunts of “England’s No 1” came from the City fans. And yet it was Pickford’s heroics that had put Everton in a winning position to begin with. City had begun the brighter, with Jack Grealish lively and Goodison Park muted.

But Pickford had made a magnificent double save from a City counterattack, first to deny Matheus Nunes and then Alvarez. He reacted sharply when Grealish prodded a low shot. His resistance had begun early with a fourth-minute stop to deny Alvarez. It continued in the second half when he saved the Argentinian’s free kick.

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By then, Everton had a lead, their goal coming from an unlikely architect. Fresh from collecting the Golden Ball at the Club World Cup, Rodri stumbled and only succeeded in passing the ball to Dwight McNeil. He centred for Harrison to tuck in a finish. One goal almost became two for the Leeds loanee: it took a flying save by Ederson to prevent Harrison from scoring a second, tipping his rising shot away.

Harrison’s impact did not end there. The substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin ought to have levelled, shooting wide from the winger’s cross. Instead, Dyche ended with the familiar feeling of defeat to Guardiola, the City supporters chorusing “champions again” with renewed buoyancy.

An Evertonian had his own trophy to parade on the pitch. In a year when City claimed five major honours, a friend of Guardiola’s arrived with a prize even the Spaniard may covet, with Tommy Fleetwood bringing the Ryder Cup with him. The Premier League trophy, however, may remain in Guardiola’s possession.