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Manchester City beat Everton 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday (November 22) to climb back into second place in the standings.
Goals from Raheem Sterling, Rodri and Bernardo Silva condemned the hapless Toffees to a fourth defeat in their last five games.
The Sky Blues initially struggled to make their dominance count, but a moment of inspiration from Joao Cancelo helped them break the deadlock. The Portuguese laid a sublime cross inside the box for Sterling to bury home from close-range right before half-time.
Rodri doubled their cushion with a phenomenal volley 10 minutes after half-time and Silva capped off the evening with a late third.
Everton, who'd been on a five-game winless run coming into last evening, put up another terrible performance. The result against Manchester City increased the pressure on their beleaguered coach Rafa Benitez. The Toffees are now in 11th place with only 15 points from 12 games.
Here are the major talking points from the match:
#5 Raheem Sterling back on the scoresheet for Manchester City
Raheem Sterling has fallen behind in Manchester City's pecking order this season. But, given a rare start against Everton on Sunday, Sterling made it count with a top performance and capped it off with a goal to boot.
The winger latched onto a beautiful cross from Joao Cancelo by barging inside the area and losing his marker. He then sent an easy finish beyond Jordan Pickford for the Cityzens' first goal of the evening.
Adventerous, direct and pacy, the 26-year-old was a big threat for the visitors. Sterling often ran into pockets of space waiting for a cross whilst also winning a penalty that was unfortunately ruled out.
He marked his 300th league appearance in style and gave Pep Guardiola, who heaped praise on the star in the post-match, plenty to ponder about. Sterling will surely be in the running for more starts ahead of many important clashes for Manchester City in the coming weeks.
#4 Joao Cancelo at his playmaking best
Joao Cancelo is having a fine season with Manchester City. He's been at his creative best and, with Kevin De Bruyne ruled out after testing positive for COVID-19, he stepped up for his side again.
The Portuguese full-back broke Everton's resilience with a sublime outside-of-the-boot cross for Sterling to score and break the deadlock. Sterling's goal was crucial as City seemed to be getting frustrated and a little desperate after 43 goalless minutes.
It was Cancelo's sixth assist of the season for the Sky Blues and third in the league. Against Everton, the full-back showed once again that there is no defense resolute enough to keep his creative skills under check on current form.
#3 Everton completely listless again as pressure mounts on Rafa Benitez
Everton fans at the Etihad could only watch in dismay as their side crumbled to another facile defeat against Manchester City. It was their fifth of the Premier League season and fourth in their last five games.
What particularly must have irked the Toffees faithful was a desperate lack of character, determination and mental toughness. Everton's performance in Manchester seemingly highlighted the terrible state of the club right now.
You could argue that they were up against Manchester City, the defending English champions and probably the best side in Europe on their day. Yet there was no bite in Everton's play, drawing another blank.
Jordan Pickford seemed like the only player genuinely putting in the effort, pulling off numerous key saves to keep the scoreline down to 3-0. If not for Pickford's antics in goal, this could have very well ended up becoming another rout.
Pressure will now be on Rafa Benitez for a reaction when his side take on Brentford next weekend.
#2 Manchester City colt rise to the fore
Pep Guardiola played three academy players in the match yesterday, something which the Manchester City fans don't often get to see.
Phil Foden started unsurprisingly, while Cole Palmer was given a run as their striker, before James McAtee came off the bench for a cameo.
While the two who started went about their business well, it was McAtee who truly grabbed eyeballs. The youngster's best moment came when he slalomed forward through Everton's defense and eventually ended up firing into the side-netting.
McAtee's audacity to pull off something like that on his Premier League debut must be lauded. The youngster's performance immediately sparked comparisons to David Silva on social media from City fans.
Overall, it was a good day for Manchester City's academy products and provided more reasons for the fans to be optimistic going forward.
#1 Stones gives Guardiola selection headache before PSG clash
John Stones was solid in defense for Manchester City once again against Everton, proving just why he should be starting for them regularly.
The Englishman has started only three games this season and the Sky Blues have kept a clean sheet in all three of them. This is no co-incidence as Stones has certainly impressed across all three games.
With Aymeric Laporte getting substituted in the game, there's a hint that Guardiola will start him alongside Ruben Dias on Wednesday (November 24) against PSG. However, it could also be that the Spaniard was taken off as a precaution as he had received a booking.
Last season too, Manchester City's defensive numbers were way better with Stones in the XI. With him continuing to perform like the top-class centre-back many have touted him to become, Guardiola would be wise to start Stones against PSG too.
