City were held to a draw by Koeman’s Everton and after watching some sublime play from the home side, it felt like two points lost.
Guardiola’s unpredictability came to light once more as he set his versatile City team up in a three-at-the-back formation. Surprises included the exclusion of Sergio Aguero and the inclusion of recently injured Kevin De Bruyne.
City were utterly dominant in the first-half and camped in the Everton quarter for the majority. They remained patient until David Silva’s trickery earned his side a penalty from Phil Jagielka’s foul. Unfortunately De Bruyne failed to convert the spot-kick and the two sides went into the break all-square.
The Sky Blues came out from the interval in a commanding fashion once more but were still lacking any clear cut chances. And then out-of-nowhere, Lukaku found himself in a one-on-one situation with Gael Clichy and breezed past the Frenchman before slotting home into the bottom right for a shock lead.
Jagielka sloppily gave away his second penalty but again it was saved, Aguero the culprit this time. It looked to be one of those days…enter Nolito. On his 30th birthday, the Spaniard’s first-touch was a well timed header. Silva’s ball was pin-point and Nolito made it impossible for Stekelenburg to save.
Ten minutes from time and De Bruyne hit a beauty but it was matched once more from the inspired Stekelenburg. Vincent Kompany was thrown on up front, which was nice to see, but they couldn’t break down the away side to find a winner.
Here’s how I rate the lads from today’s draw.
