Everton 4-0 Manchester City: Hosts cruise past toothless City as title hopes suffer blow

Manchester City’s woeful record on Merseyside continued as they slipped to a damaging 4-0 loss at Everton - Pep Guardiola's heaviest-ever league defeat as a manager.

Romelu Lukaku opened the scoring in emphatic style 34 minutes in, before Kevin Mirallas scored just over a minute into the second half to put City on the ropes.

Local lad Tom Davies netted a deserved third 11 minutes from time, before a stoppage-time debut strike from Ademola Lookman ensured City’s miserable record on Merseyside, where they have won just five times in their last 40 Premier League matches, continued.

More pertinently for City fans, the result sees them sit an imposing 10 points behind leaders Chelsea in fifth place, while Everton remain in seventh, but have opened up a four-point cushion over West Brom in eighth.

New signing Morgan Schneiderlin had to make do with a place on the bench, but Everton didn’t need him early on as they had the better of the opening exchanges.

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Mirallas did have the ball in the net 10 minutes into match, but Seamus Coleman, who set the chance up, was correctly flagged offside.

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Raheem Sterling was incredulous two minutes later as he felt he was brought down in the box by Joel Robles as the City forward tried to take the ball round Everton’s ‘keeper, but referee Mark Clattenburg waved away his appeals.

David Silva then went clean through in the 27th minute, but took too long to get his shot away, allowing Robles to force him away from goal, before plenty of defenders got back to snuff out the danger.

Then, as Everton grew into the game again, a wonderful pass from Davies opened up the City backline to allow Lukaku to break the deadlock.

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The Toffees youngster’s pass into the path of Mirallas was inch perfect, Mirallas picked out his fellow countryman Lukaku, who rifled past Claudio Bravo from the edge of the box.

City almost responded in perfect fashion, as Sergio Aguero almost made contact with a low cross, before Sterling skimmed the top of the crossbar from the edge of the box moments later.

However, City were caught ball watching just after the break, and their static defending was punished as Mirallas doubled Everton’s advantage.

Yaya Toure’s loose pass was picked up by Lukaku, who fed Ross Barkley, who in turn squeezed the ball through for Mirallas, allowing the Belgium international time to drill the ball past Bravo and into the bottom corner.

Schneiderlin came on to make his Everton debut just after the hour mark to shore things up for the hosts, but City rarely offered a great deal of threat in attack.

And, as City committed more bodies forward, 18-year-old Davies capped a fine performance with a well-taken third , which Lukaku did he best to steal on the line.

Aguero did force Robles into a fine stop minutes later, but City didn’t deserve anything for their lack of endeavour, and the result was made all the emphatic in stoppage time, as Lookman sent Goodison Park into raptures with a dream goal on his Everton bow, firing through Bravo's legs after poor defending from John Stones, to pile the pressure on Guardiola.

Player ratings

Everton: Robles (7), Holgate (7), Williams (7), Funes Mori (7), Coleman (7), Davies (9), Barry (8), Baines (7), Barkley (6), Mirallas (7), Lukaku (8).

Subs: Schneiderlin (7), McCarthy (6), Lookman (7).

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Manchester City: Bravo (3), Sagna (4), Otamendi (4), Stones (3), Clichy (4), Zabaleta (4), Toure (4), Silva (6), De Bruyne (6), Sterling (6), Aguero (5).

Subs: Iheanacho (6)

Man of the match: Tom Davies

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