Manchester City 3-0 Everton: 5 talking points as the Sky Blues steamroll hapless Toffees | Premier League 2021-22
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.
300 - Raheem Sterling today makes his 300th @premierleague appearance; aged 26 years and 348 days, he's the fourth-youngest player to hit that total in the division, and youngest since James Milner in April 2012 (26y 117d), also for Man City. Landmark. https://t.co/FguOrsyRuV
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.
6 - João Cancelo has provided his sixth assist of the season in 18 games for Man City, as many as he produced in both of his first two seasons with the club in all competitions combined (six in 76 apps). Whip. https://t.co/odftjS7AOV
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.