Man City and Everton fought out a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium. Here are a few of the main talking points from the game.
Seamus Coleman tries his best to cut Raheem Sterling in half
Beautiful from Seamus Coleman💪💙 pic.twitter.com/sB9G1Wh090
— Molly Harrison (@MollyOHarrison) October 15, 2016
Coleman took out all his fury at Instagram, Louis Vuitton bags and similar banes of modern society on Raheem Sterling's leg early on. Sterling's leg visibly bent backwards and the Ireland captain was lucky to stay on the pitch. For BT Sport, Howard Webb was aghast that Coleman was still on the field of play. Over on NBC Andy Townsend said towards the end of the game that referee Michael Oliver "got everything right today", a comment that can only be described as a brainfart.
Positives for James McCarthy
James McCarthy has had a tough start to the season with Everton, a mixture of loss of form and injury meaning his last game was in the League Cup at home to Yeovil in August. But with about thirty minutes to go and the game in the melting point he was trusted by Koeman and, though City equalised, McCarthy acqutted himself well. Positive signs for McCarthy, a player who looked for a while like he might be frozen out at Everton.
Maarten Stekelenburg performs heroics to earn the Toffees a point
Not one, but two penalty saves from the big Dutchman - one from Kevin de Bruyne in the first half and the other from Sergio Aguero in the second period - were only two of a number of world-class stops from Stekelenburg, who was in inspired form throughout.
Pep's mad formation
Sané and Sterling wing-backs, Clichy in a back three, Aguero benched. Bizarre Man City formation. Pep Guardiola, ladies and gentlemen pic.twitter.com/mCtgYIojo0
— Max Bentley (@MaxBentley1) October 15, 2016
There was much checking of the team line-ups and scratching of heads as the game began, with Pep Guardiola sending his team out in what looked like a 3-2-2-3 formation and Sergio Aguero on the bench. John Stones, Otamendi and Gael Clichy formed the defensive trio at the back. As a result, for large swathes of the first half Everton found it very hard to progress even out of their own half of the field.
Everton master the counter-attack
It was a terrific performance from Ronald Koeman's side and was reminiscent in a sense of some of Chelsea's displays during their run to the Champions League title in 2012 - backs to the wall, heroic displays in defence and a big, powerful striker who can take a chance on the rare opportunity it might arise.
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