Everton 4, Manchester City 0: Pep Guardiola accepts Premier League title may be out of reach after landmark defeat
Everton 4, Manchester City 0
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola admits his team may be out of the title race after he suffered the heaviest league defeat of his glittering career at Everton on Sunday.
Striker Romelu Lukaku and winger Kevin Mirallas put the Toffees in control before young midfielder Tom Davies and £11m debutant Ademola Lookman added gloss to the scoreline.
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It left City fifth in the Premier League, 10 points behind runaway leaders Chelsea, and prompted Guardiola to suggest that second place is the best they can hope for in his first season.
“Ten points is a lot of points. The second one [Tottenham] is three points. We have to see,” said the former Bayern Munich and Barcelona coach.
“I told my players the last month ‘forget about the table, focus on the next game and try to do our best to win the games’. At the end of the season we are going to evaluate how our level and performance was – how was the coach, how was the players – and after we are going to decide.”
Everton manager Ronald Koeman, meanwhile, savoured an ideal afternoon, although they remain seven points behind sixth-placed Manchester United.
“You cannot plan a game like this,” said Koeman. “It is always difficult against City because they play great football, but the second half was perfect in every aspect.”
Teenager Davies capped a dynamic display with Everton's third goal (Source: Getty)
City posed the greater threat in the first half hour but Raheem Sterling and David Silva were both thwarted by Everton goalkeeper Joel Robles before the hosts grabbed the opening goal.
The dynamic Davies intercepted a City pass out of defence and fed Mirallas, whose cut-back allowed Lukaku to plant a first-time finish past a wrong-footed Claudio Bravo.
Davies cleared a Bacary Sagna header off the line just before the break and Everton compounded their advantage immediately after the interval when Ross Barkley fed Mirallas to sweep low past Bravo.
Guardiola threw on attacking reinforcements but it was the home side who struck again 11 minutes from time, 18-year-old Davies capping a buccaneering 70-yard run with a delicate dinked finish.
Substitute Lookman, 19, a January signing from League One Charlton who was playing Sunday league football three years ago, drove an opportunistic fourth between Bravo’s legs deep into injury time.