Jamie Jackson was at the Etihad. Here’s his report. Thanks for reading this MBM. Pep talks to TNT. “These type of victories count more than the other ones … the changes in the second half gave us another rhythm … and of course Erling is back … the finishing was amazing … the first half our body language was not good … in the second they were more positive … if you want to give the best of yourself your body language has to be in the right position … Kevin, since he came back, is something … he is so fresh … 12.30 games at home are always pfffft.” Sean Dyche gives his verdict to TNT. “We did well in containing them … not as well in advanced positions … the transitions were massive, we didn’t deal with it … we kept their midfield quiet … I was pleased with that side of things … but you have to bring something to the game … a lot of things right about the performance … but you’re not playing these every week … I don’t think my noise changed when we won four on the trot … the commitment of the side is very good … we’re just concentrating on ourselves … just staying focused on the job in hand.” John Stones speaks to TNT. “We have had some tough games with Everton, home and away … to get three points, with the threats they’ve got, we’re really pleased … we’re used to playing against a low block … ten players behind the ball … not similar but the same kind of concept … patience is a massive thing … not to get frustrated … keep moving the ball … we opened up the game and took our chances … everyone is involved and playing a major part in winning … our mindset is always the same … I was upset to get injured … now I’m back I’m really happy and hopefully I can go on a nice little run … each game is a final for us … hopefully we’re one step closer to our goal, which is winning with a game in hand.” Manchester City weren’t at their very best, but Erling Haaland certainly was. Two chances, two goals, three points. Pep Guardiola’s side are favourites to become the first side in English history to win four championships in a row. Having just won their tenth match on the spin – while only just beginning to hit their stride – they’ll take some stopping. Everton by contrast are now on a run of only one win in 11, and will remain in the relegation zone after the weekend. But they should take succour from their performance today: they frustrated the best side in the world on their own patch for 70 minutes, and put together a couple of sprightly attacks to boot. Surely they’ll have more than enough to clamber to safety, regardless of the outcome of their points-deduction appeal. FULL TIME: Manchester City 2-0 Everton The champions return to the top of the Premier League table. Four in a row is on! Everton remain in the relegation places. 90 min +9: On TNT, Lucy Ward names Erling Haaland as her player of the match. 90 min +7: Garner has a couple of nibbles at an in-dribble Grealish, eventually skittling his man and going into the book as a result. 90 min +5: Grealish dances down the left and rolls across for Foden, who from the edge of the box attempts a forensic slot into the bottom left. Pickford reads his intention and collects. Three would be cruel on Everton, who have battled hard today. 90 min +3: City paint some pretty triangles and the crowd get oléing. 90 min +1: It would have been interesting had that goal been good, because there will be ten minutes of added time. The first passes without incident. 90 min: Beto, on the spin down the left, whistles the ball into the bottom-left corner of the City net … but he was miles offside from Dobbin’s pass. 89 min: That was De Bruyne’s 106th Premier League assist. Only Ryan Giggs (162) and Cesc Fabregas (111) have made more. 88 min: McNeil and Gueye are replaced by Chermiti and Dobbin. 87 min: Doku, his work long done, is replaced by Grealish. City, it’s fair to say, have quite the bench. GOAL! Manchester City 2-0 Everton (Haaland 85) Less passive, more rope-a-dope! City let Everton come onto them. Everton’s attack breaks down. Suddenly the hosts steam upfield. De Bruyne creams a pass down the middle. Haaland brushes Branthwaite to the ground, opens his body, and curls a low shot around Pickford and into the bottom left. Another exquisite finish! 84 min: Garner looks long for Beto down the left, forcing Ederson to race out of his area and blast clear. City have slipped into a strangely passive mood. 82 min: Onana releases Beto down the middle. Beto opens his body and attempts to steer across Ederson and into the bottom right, but gets the floated chip all wrong, and the ball apologetically squirts wide right. Then the flag pops up for offside anyway. 80 min: So should it have been a corner? The one that led to the City goal? It’s really hard to say from the replay shown on TNT. Calvert-Lewin and Dias seemed to head it out at exactly the same time! Maybe there’s a better angle to come, but it’s hardly the most egregious of decisions. 78 min: Everton make a double change, hooking Young and the ineffective Calvert-Lewin, and sending on Onana and Beto. 77 min: Silva comes on for Alvarez. 75 min: City take up possession and remove the sting from the game. Everton chasing shadows now. 73 min: That’s a sickener for Everton, though, who have defended passionately since the get-go. Also, they had argued City’s second corner in that sequence of events should have been a goal kick. Replays required for that claim, though the point now is moot. 72 min: One shot on target, one goal, then. Clinical. GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Everton (Haaland 71) The corner leads to some pinball. The ball breaks to Haaland, just to the left of the six-yard box. He lashes goalwards, straight at Pickford, but with such power that the keeper can only deflect the ball upwards and into the net, which nearly comes off its moorings! What a shot. Unstoppable! 70 min: Walker drives down the right and fizzes a low cross towards the near post. Garner extends a leg to turn out for a corner. One leads to another, and … 69 min: Rodri lashes over spectacularly from distance. Then another interruption as McNeil requires a little treatment, having been clattered by Stones. He’s OK to continue, though. 67 min: Pickford takes his sweet time over a restart. De Bruyne, slightly frustrated, leaves a little on Tarkowski as Everton play out from the back. No foul, and there are no hard feelings, but Tarkowski goes down, taking the chance to disrupt the flow of the game, much to the crowd’s annoyance. 65 min: Doku, a livewire all afternoon, wins another corner down the left. Once again, nothing comes of it. 64 min: City get patient. They pass. They probe. But then Walker takes a heavy touch and Everton force the home side to send the ball all the way back to Ederson. A little frustration seeps down from the stands. 62 min: Haaland squirms down the left and whistles a low ball through the six-yard box. There’s nobody in blue to stab home and McNeil is on hand to turn the ball out for a corner. They deal with the set piece … and City still haven’t had an effort on target. 61 min: Manchester City haven’t had a shot on target yet. 60 min: Under extreme pressure from Alvarez, Branthwaite spins along the byline to shake off the attacker, then passes calmly upfield and away from danger. What a prospect this young man is. 59 min: A little space for the newly introduced Coleman down the Everton right. His low cross is intercepted by Doku. 58 min: In the stand, Sean Dyche raps a few tactical tweaks into his microphone. 57 min: Nothing comes of the resulting free kick. Pep has seen enough, and Akanji and Nunes are replaced by Walker and De Bruyne. 56 min: Godfrey can’t continue, and he’s replaced by Coleman. 54 min: Gueye is booked for hanging a fairly cynical leg across the in-flight Foden. Before the resulting free kick can be taken, Godfrey goes down again. 52 min: A pause as Godfrey goes down and requires treatment. A chance for Pep to tell Foden how he sees it. 51 min: Doku, set away down the left by Rodri, cuts in and crosses low. Haaland tries to hook goalwards but Branthwaite doesn’t let him. Pickford plucks the deflection from the air. 49 min: Doku dribbles in from the left, then Rodri tees up Alvarez, who slices miles wide right, Pickford waving it past the post in performative fashion. 48 min: City launch their first attack of the second half, and a game of head tennis breaks out in the Everton box. Branthwaite wins a free kick when he draws a clumsy shove from Alvarez. 46 min: Within a few seconds of the restart, Calvert-Lewin flashes a speculative long-distance shot wide right. Ederson had it covered, but it’s a reminder that Everton, for all their defensive efforts, also carried an attacking threat in the first half. Everton get the second half started. No changes. Half-time entertainment. In lieu of scoreboard action at the Etihad, here’s Rob Smyth with a Joy of Five. HALF TIME: Manchester City 0-0 Everton City have been on top but Everton have met them with staunch resistance. Will we see Kevin De Bruyne sooner rather than later? 45 min +2: City win a corner in the second. Alvarez hoicks it in from the right. Haaland competes. Everton can only half clear. Akanji has a shot; it’s blocked by Tarkowski and fired out for a corner. A quick VAR check for handball, but it hit Tarkowski on the upper arm, which was tucked by his side anyway. 45 min +1: The first of three added minutes passes by without incident. 45 min: Alvarez is gifted the ball by a snoozing Tarkowski and romps off with it down the left. He’s got Haaland free in the middle, but gets his cross all wrong. Everton collect and the City faithful groan. 44 min: Foden takes it himself. He curls it viciously towards the far post. Akanji telescopes a leg in an attempt to steer the ball home, but can only flutter the side netting. 43 min: Foden is clipped by Mykolenko, just to the right of the Everton box. A free kick in a very promising situation for City. 42 min: Doku drops a shoulder to zip past Young, then cuts back for Ake. A shot. Straight in some poor opponent’s mug. But it helps Everton to clear. 41 min: Some patient City possession. 39 min: Everton have done well enough to quieten the City crowd. It’s suddenly fallen a bit flat. “The game is like Chinese torture,” suggests Jeff Sax. “We all know City will score, but it takes so long.” 37 min: Harrison rolls McNeil into space down the left. McNeil whips a low cross through the City box, but Calvert-Lewin can’t connect. Everton come again down the right, Young crossing from a tight spot near the corner flag. Calvert-Lewin isn’t able to flick a header goalwards at the near post, but the ball breaks back to Harrison, who slices a shot wide left and high from 12 yards. A difficult chance, but a chance nonetheless. 36 min: But for how long? Nunes nearly gets on the end of a speculative pass down the right, only to be denied by Pickford, blocking on the edge of his area. 35 min: Alvarez dribbles hard down the inside-left channel and looks to have got the better of Godfrey. The defender keeps battling, though, and though he concedes a corner, he’s drawn a foul as well. The whistle goes and Everton get the free kick. A chance for a welcome breather. 33 min: … but City are beginning to pin Everton back now. Doku looks super-dangerous again down the left flank. He reaches the byline but once again a game of pinball doesn’t go City’s way. 32 min: Foden shoots through a crowded box. Some bagatelle. Everton just about clear their lines. 31 min: The corner leads to nowt. 30 min: Harrison slides a pass down the inside-right for Calvert-Lewin, but the striker can’t get there in time and Ederson clears. City counter immediately, Foden slipping Nunes into space on the right. Nunes, in looking for Haaland in the centre, wins a corner instead. 28 min: Then City go up the other end, Doku again making ground on the left. His looping cross is too high for Haaland, who can only ping a header miles over the bar and wide. 27 min: Calvert-Lewin was earlier roughly manhandled by Dias, the City defender getting away with it. Now the boot’s on the other foot, as the striker wrestles his opponent to the ground, winning a free kick nevertheless. All a bit odd, but a good tussle nonetheless. Everton load the box, but McNeil’s delivery of the set piece is no good. 25 min: Foden is fine and didn’t complain, it should be stressed. Play restarts and Doku makes good down the left after leaving Godfrey in the dust. His low fizzing cross is calmly intercepted by Branthwaite then cleared by Tarkowski. 23 min: Foden chases after a ball down the left only to be unceremoniously slide-tackled by Tarkowski. That’s straight out of the old school, and Foden goes rolling off the pitch and down a ditch. Tarkowski trots off in a satisfied manner. 21 min: Pep is agitated. He’s in his technical area, fretting. He wants his players to take it up a notch. 19 min: Haaland spins into space and sends Alvarez on his way down the left channel. Alvarez thinks about crossing for Foden at the far stick, but tries a curler towards the top-right corner instead. Blocked. Doku picks up possession and has another go. That’s blocked too. 17 min: City stroke it around in Evertonian territory, but not with their usual vim. Everton hold their shape, and it’s stalemate. 15 min: Stones and Akanji combine to gift possession to Harrison, who slips Calvert-Lewin away down the middle. Calvert-Lewin has McNeil scampering into acres of space to his left, but instead tries to float a chip over Ederson. It’s not really on, in truth, and he miscues wildly anyway. A chance to send McNeil free into the box passes by. 13 min: The game is taking a while to warm up again after that stoppage. 11 min: … but after a quick shake of the head to blow away the cobwebs, he’s good to continue. 10 min: Ederson sits up but looks a little groggy. He took a couple of whacks in the face as Godfrey competed for the ball. 8 min: … and now Harrison slips a clever ball down the inside-right channel to spring Godfrey into the box. Ederson comes out to claim, but only just in time, and Godfrey is within his rights to slide and compete for the ball. The keeper comes off worse in a tangle, and on comes the trainer. 7 min: Everton suddenly start playing. Some cute triangles down the right, Harrison dictating terms. Then the ball’s switched to Mykolenko on the left. The eventual cross is too long for Calvert-Lewin in the middle, but that’s promising play from the visitors. 5 min: Stones creams a pass down the right for Nunes, who can’t quite get the better of Branthwaite. The defender shepherds the ball out of play calmly. 3 min: Alvarez swings the corner into a crowded six-yard box. Pickford does extremely well to rise above everyone and punch clear. But City are immediately back at Everton, Foden and Haaland exchanging crisp passes down the inside-right channel. They eventually run the ball out for a goal kick, but this is a confident start by City. 2 min: City are on the front foot quicksmart. Foden probes down the right a couple of times. Nothing doing there yet, so the hosts switch it and Doku wins the first corner of the afternoon on the left. 1 min: An immediate whack upside the head for McNeil, and play is stopped. His own man Branthwaite at fault there. Thankfully he springs up quickly and is good to continue. City get the ball rolling. “I reckon just about any result here is a result for Liverpool supporters,” writes Grant Tennille. “Though realistically, while there may be banana peels scattered amidst City’s fixture list, it doesn’t feel like this is one of them.” The teams are out! Manchester City wear their storied sky blue, forcing Everton into second-choice orange with distressed blue pinstripe. Hey Jude pumps out of the stadium speakers; given City’s outstanding home record, perhaps the Rutles would be more appropriate? We’ll be off in a minute. Let’s take a quick delve into our pre-match postbag, which is teeming with correspondence from folk appreciative of our sterling efforts. “Bloody Guardian predicted line-ups!” begins Dean Kinsella. “Just dropped Doku from my fantasy team as he was ‘gonna be on the bench!’ He’ll probably get a hat-trick now.” Richard Hirst adds: “Very kind of you to leave Fulham out of the list of teams hoping Man City will do them a favour; seems very misguided however. On recent form, and forthcoming fixtures, we are definitely in nervously looking over our shoulders (TM) territory.” Sean Dyche celebrates his 300th game as a Premier League manager today, and he speaks to TNT. “I’m pleased with that because it’s tough to get into the Premier League as a coach or manager anyway, so to have that longevity I’m pleased with that … a lot of my staff have been with me … unfortunately I’ll not be on the sidelines today which is a shame, but that’s the way it goes … I’ll be mic’d up, trying to communicate the best as possible … our away record has been good this season … our clean sheet record is good … they’re a top side … but our mentality has been strong away from home so we’ll try to put in a good performance and see where it takes us.” Pep Guardiola talks to TNT Sports. “We have a tough schedule and need to get the best from the players who have come back from injury … we are quite solid in terms of the way we are playing … we have to be careful … we have a lot of games … everybody has to be involved … [the Premier League] is really good … there are proactive managers … it is amazing … I am one yellow card away to be suspended for two games … in modern football the referees are really protected!” Manchester City make four changes to their starting XI in the wake of the 3-1 win at Brentford. John Stones, Manuel Akanji, Matheus Nunes and Jeremy Doku replace Kyle Walker, Josko Gvardiol, Kevin de Bruyne and Bernardo Silva, all of whom drop to the bench. Everton select the same XI that started the 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur this time last week. Amadou Onana returns from injury and is named as a sub. The teams Manchester City: Ederson, Akanji, Dias, Stones, Ake, Rodri, Foden, Nunes, Alvarez, Doku, Haaland. Subs: Walker, Grealish, De Bruyne, Ortega, Bernardo Silva, Gvardiol, Bobb, Wright, Lewis. Everton: Pickford, Godfrey, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Young, Garner, Gueye, McNeil, Harrison, Calvert-Lewin. Subs: Patterson, Keane, Onana, Virginia, Beto, Coleman, Chermiti, Hunt, Dobbin. Referee: John Brooks (Leicestershire). Preamble Liverpool and Arsenal are relying on Everton to do them a huge title-chasing favour this afternoon. Then again, Sheffield United, Burnley, Luton Town, Nottingham Forest, Brentford and Crystal Palace are hoping Manchester City give them a relegation-avoiding boost. A match that’ll have repercussions at both ends of the table. Kick off is at 12.30pm GMT. It’s all-encompassing … and it’s on!