Osman wonder strike helps Everton beat Manchester City

Everton 2 – 0 Manchester City (Osman 32′, Jelavic 90′)

Everton dealt a massive blow to Manchester City’s title hopes, as they beat the defending champions 2-0 at Goodison Park to climb above Arsenal to fifth in the Premier League. Leon Osman and Nikica Jelavic scored the goals, the result meaning that the Citizens could be 15 points adrift of leaders Manchester United by the end of the night.

Everton started the game brightly and had a goal disallowed in the first quarter of an hour, as Kevin Mirallas was adjudged to have been offside before he volleyed the ball past Joe Hart into the Manchester City net.

However, the Toffees went ahead in the 32nd minute, and deservedly so, through Leon Osman, who hit a spectacular 30-yard effort with the outside of his left foot that curled into the corner of the net.

Everton were reduced to ten men around the hour mark, when Pienaar received his marching orders for a second bookable offence.

City, as a result, saw much more of the possession, but still failed to exert the kind of pressure that they would have liked in and around the Everton box. However, they had a great chance to draw level through Tevez, and then Milner, only to be denied by a brilliant double save by Toffees’ keeper Jan Mucha.

City could have had a penalty in the late stages of the game when Fellaini handled the ball inside the box, but the referee seemed to think otherwise, giving the visitors only a freekick on the edge of the box.

Jelavic rubbed salt into City’s wounds in extra time, latching onto Fellaini’s pass as Everton burst on the break, his shot deflecting off a defender and looping over Hart into the City net.

The celebrations were massive, as Everton bounced back from their FA Cup loss with a huge win over Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City.