Erling Haaland scored his 10th and 11th goals of the young Premier League season as Manchester City blanked Everton 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
MORE — Pep Guardiola praises Haaland but demands more from other attackers
City’s 16 points took them atop the table for at least a couple of hours via tiebreakers prior to Arsenal’s 12:30pm ET kickoff at Fulham.
WATCH — Manchester City v Everton full match replay
Everton’s hot start to the season was cooled a bit thanks to misfiring forwards in front of goal, as Jack Grealish could not suit up due to his status as a loanee from City.
The Toffees’ 11 points are good for 10th on the Premier League table.
Manchester City no Premier League title dark horse
There’s a temptation to say Man City won’t win the Premier League title simply because they are no longer ringing up 100-point seasons and tempting the century mark for goals. It seems like Pep Guardiola’s teams are being measuring against their former selves instead of their rivals. Arsenal and reigning champions Liverpool are higher up the favorites charts in most peoples eyes, but City were good at all 11 spots on Saturday even if Guardiola is lamenting the side’s reliance on Erling Haaland for the goals. The fact that City managed 71% possession and rang up a +1.59 xG advantage on Everton should matter even as City loanee Jack Grealish missed out. They need to tidy up the defending, as Beto missed several chances to put Everton ahead, but this was a unit who rested Josko Gvardiol and John Stones and were also without its first-choice left back Rayan Ait-Nouri and Ballon d’Or winning midfielder Rodri. They aren’t as deep as Arsenal nor Liverpool but if City can keep their stars healthy they can win anything, and maybe everything.
What’s next?
Man City hit the road for two tricky away matches: at Villarreal in the Champions League on Tuesday and away to Aston Villa on Sunday, October 26.
Everton get a full week and a day before they take the pitch at home to Tottenham Hotspur at Hill Dickinson Stadium on October 26.
How to watch Manchester City vs Everton live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 10am ET Saturday
Venue: Etihad Stadium — Manchester
TV Channel: Peacock
Streaming: Stream live on Peacock
Manchester City vs Everton live updates, final score: 2-0
Erling Haaland 58', 63'
Erling Haaland goal — Manchester City 2-0 Everton
Make it 11 goals in eight games.
This time Haaland uses his left foot to slice a ball through the legs of a defender and past Pickford.
Savinho gets the assist as City again have joy from the left wing.
Erling Haaland goal — Manchester City 1-0 Everton
Incredible.
Nico O’Reilly runs onto a terrific ball down the left and clips a cross toward the penalty spot.
There’s a lot to do but Erling Haaland’s the man for the job as he cranes his neck to push a 12-yard header past Jordan Pickford.
Pep Guardiola makes a sub, with Oscar Bobb and Bernardo Silva coming into the game for Tijjani Reijnders and Jeremy Doku.
Halftime — Man City 0-0 Everton
This isn’t a “David Moyes will be thrilled” cliche, even though he’ll be happy with the performance.
Everton should’ve scored in what feels like a wasted opportunity given the hosts.
City have had most of the ball and are have come close with a few of their generated chances, taking nine shots to Everton’s three.
Donnarumma save
Iliman Ndiaye slithers into the right side of the box and smashes a shot that Gigio Donnarumma paws out for a corner.
Dangerous Doku helps produce corner
Jeremy Doku’s clever pass sets up Tijjani Reijnders for a shot that is blocked out for a corner by a stooping James Tarkowski.
The ensuing corner doesn’t reach danger as there’s a foul in build-up.
City ascendant, but Everton should lead!
Beto continues to do everything David Moyes wants in a center forward except the whole scoring thing.
This has been all City in terms of possession, 67%, and the hosts have four shot attempts, but Everton have a high-danger chance that’s led to nothing as Beto can’t convert from Iliman Ndiaye’s cross.
Manchester City lineup
Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Ake, O’Reilly, Gonzalez, Reijnders, Savinho, Foden, Doku, Haaland
Everton lineup
Pickford, O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko, Gana Gueye, Garner, Alcaraz, Dewsbury-Hall, Ndiaye, Beto
Manchester City vs Everton preview
City’s Pep Guardiola recently joined Everton’s Moyes as well as Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger as the only managers to win 250 Premier League matches. Have they gone to dinner yet? We’ll have to ask Pep for an update.
That 250th win was nice, as in-form Erling Haaland and star goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma starred as City stretched their Premier League unbeaten streak to four matches with a 1-0 win over Brentford. City are up to fifth on the table with a 4W-1D-2L record, three points behind leaders Arsenal.
Everton are just two points behind City following a 3-2-2 start to the season. Moyes’ Toffees have been excellent at their new home but have claimed just one win away from Hill Dickinson Stadium, beating Wolves while losing at Leeds United and Liverpool. Their last match was a Jack Grealish-finished 2-1 home defeat of then red-hot Crystal Palace. Grealish, of course, won’t be able to play against his parent club.
Manchester City team news, focus
OUT: Rodri (hamstring - MORE), Abdukodir Khusanov (foot) | QUESTIONABLE: Omar Marmoush (knee), Rayan Ait-Nouri (undisclosed injury)
Everton team news, focus
OUT: Jack Grealish (loan - unable to face parent club) | QUESTIONABLE: Michael Keane (ribs), Jarrad Branthwaite (hamstring), Merlin Rohl (hip), Nathan Patterson (knock)
Manchester City vs Everton prediction
Everton have ample cover at wing, even considering the strength of Grealish’s outstanding early season on loan. They still aren’t getting finishing from their center forwards, and that’s not the case for the hosts. Haaland scored three more goals on the international break, bagging three against Israel, and didn’t play at all in the side’s ensuing friendly with New Zealand. He’ll be ready for this. Manchester City 3-0 Everton.
