A round-up of the headlines and reports across the national media after Everton drew at Manchester City on Boxing Day
Everton earned a valuable point at Manchester City through a determined performance and the brilliance of Iliman Ndiaye and Jordan Pickford. Ndiaye’s sumptuous finish brought the Blues back into the game after an early goal from Bernardo Silva before Pickford’s save from Erling Haaland’s penalty kept them in it.
It was an impressive point for Sean Dyche’s side. And there was some acknowledgement for that from the national media – and that Everton could have won – even if most of the focus was on the failures of Man City as opposed to the efforts of their opponents.
Jamie Jackson wrote of the hosts’ failure to convert chances and drew contrast between the finishing of Silva and Ndiaye in the passage of play that ultimately shaped the match.
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Already leading through Silva’s opener, City had a glorious opportunity to take the game away from Everton only to spurn it with the outside of his boot. Moments later, Ndiaye was more clinical as he adopted a similar tactic.
Jackson said in The Guardian: “Next came a goal-of-the-month contender – if only Silva had finished it. A floating ball was collected by Haaland and he fed Foden. Spying Silva’s inside-left burst, he tapped to him, yet the Portuguese’s effort with the outside of his left boot flew wide.
“Now Everton punched through City’s sieve-like backline for the equaliser. Along the right, Abdoulaye Doucoure crossed, a flailing Manuel Akanji shinned the ball on, and Iliman Ndiaye did what Silva couldn’t: finish with the outer rim of a boot – his right.”
Shamoon Hafez did similar for the BBC, lauding Ndiaye’s wonderful finish in the clinical moment: “It should have been two when Phil Foden fed a pass to the onrushing Silva inside the box, but the Portugal international sent his first-time attempt wide of the post on this occasion.
“But with their first clear-cut chance of the game, Everton drew level in the 36th minute through Iliman Ndiaye’s marvellous strike, taking a touch from Abdoulaye Doucoure’s cross and sending a delightful finish with the outside of his boot into the far corner.”
For The Times, Paul Hirst focused less on what Man City did not do and more on what Everton did, highlighting the roles of returning captain Seamus Coleman and Pickford – not just in the penalty miss but over the course of the game.
He wrote: “With just over 36 years in his legs, and only one Premier League start to his name this season before today, few would have predicted that Seamus Coleman would have gone on to have a pivotal role in this meeting with Manchester City when the team sheets were exchanged an hour before kick-off.
“Fast forward to the final whistle though and there he was, celebrating a momentous point for Everton that stretched City’s dismal run to one win in 13 matches. Alongside Coleman stood Jordan Pickford, the other key player in the outcome of this latest bout of 90+ minutes of pain for Pep Guardiola, one that ended with a smattering of boos from the home fans.
“Pickford had dived to his right in the second half to scoop away Erling Haaland’s poorly-struck penalty. Coleman’s mind games had played a key role in Haaland missing just his second penalty in the Premier League.”
Ian Ladyman, in the Daily Mail, centred on Haaland’s penalty miss and his wider form but he praised an “increasingly ambitious Everton”, writing: “Once Everton’s young prospect Iliman Ndiaye equalised towards the end of the first half, Sean Dyche’s team were as likely to win this game as they were to lose it. City didn’t really threaten again after Haaland’s miss and Everton could have snuck it at the end when they managed to waste a four on two counter attack with just a minute of added time remaining.”
In the ECHO, the thrust of the report was on Pickford’s place in Everton’s wider history and how his form has yet again been crucial – even if he still has so many critics despite an exceptional body of work that only gets bigger as he adds key moments like the save from Haaland’s spot kick.
“Imagine not rating Jordan Pickford? At the end of Match of the Day last weekend the conversation turned to England’s number one after another clean sheet against another title challenger. Questions were once again raised about the 30-year-old’s temperament and the ability of a player who has been pivotal to club and country across recent seasons.
“No figure has been so key to breaking his national side’s penalty shootout curse as Pickford. And no star has done more on the pitch to protect Everton’s Premier League status during years of tumult and three consecutive survival battles.”
