Manchester City Win Away To Everton
David Moyes made four changes to the side which battled to a 0-0 draw at Chelsea in midweek: Joleon Lescott, Lars Jacobsen, Tim Cahill and Jo – ineligible due to the terms of his loan deal – were replaced by Tony Hibbert, Phil Jagielka, Louis Saha and fit-again Marouane Fellaini.
Visiting Manchester City, meanwhile, went with Micah Richards instead of Pablo Zabaleta, with Nigel de Jong passing a late fitness test.
Everton were clearly heavy-legged following their FA Cup semi-final triumph over Manchester United and their effective murder of Chelsea’s title hopes. They hung on until ten minutes before half-time, always pestered by Manchester City’s born-again Brazilians.
First, Robinho couldn’t bury the rebound after Tim Howard had saved Blumer Elano’s initial effort. Shortly afterwards, in-form
On 35 minutes, though, Elano played a glorious pass from deep and Robinho – who’d also half-heartedly appealed for a penalty earlier – picked up and finished through the legs of Howard.
Within ten minutes of the second half, the Citizens had doubled their advantage.
The Toffees had just gone close through Fellaini, but Shay Given made a fine stop to keep the hosts at bay. At the other end, though, Robinho turned provider, taking advantage of poor home defending to play in Stephen Ireland, who did the business with a low finish.
Moyes sought to make sweeping changes in an effort to revive his ailing side, making a triple substitution. However, the move backfired when Jagielka was injured, leaving Everton a man down.
They did actually make a game of it eventually, when Dan Gosling scored in the fourth of an incredible seven minutes of stoppage time, but it was too little, too late.
