Manchester City vs Everton - Player Ratings: Beto’s squandered chances cost Everton | OneFootball

Everton endured a torrid second half as Erling Haaland secured a 2-0 win for Manchester City at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

The Toffees began the game on a positive note and ventured forward towards the hosts’ box. Iliman Ndiaye led most of the Blues’ forays down the right flank and created a couple of great opportunities that Beto should’ve definitely capitalised on.

The Guinea-Bissau international’s wastefulness and goal drought is becoming a major concern for David Moyes’s side and his performance this afternoon did little to abate those headaches.

Manchester City made sure to punish the visitors for their profligacy with Haaland stepping up to clinch the game in the second half. He scored twice in the space of five minutes to secure the three points for his side.

The final 15 minutes of the contest essentially boiled down to Everton’s attempts at preventing the Norwegian from getting a third.

Here are the player ratings from Everton’s 2-0 loss to Manchester City:

Jordan Pickford: 5.5

Jordan Pickford could’ve probably done better to avoid the second Manchester City goal but his vision was blocked by the defender. Pickford also made some vital saves towards the end to prevent Haaland from scoring a hattrick and ensured the Blues came away with a respectable scoreline.

Jake O’Brien: 5

O’Brien escaped an embarrassing moment as his header under pressure from Haaland rattled Pickford’s crossbar. The Ireland international could’ve done better to close down the space afforded to Nico O’Reilly for Man City’s opener. He also struggled to influence play in the second half.

James Tarkowski: 5.5

The Everton vice-captain should’ve done better for Man City’s second goal as Haaland’s strike went straight through his legs. However, he had a decent game otherwise.

Michael Keane: 5

Keane could’ve done better for the opening goal as he let Haaland slip away from his attention to head home O’Reilly’s cross. He had a quiet game in comparison to the strong start he’s made this season/

Vitalii Mykolenko: 5

Mykolenko endured a tough afternoon up against Savinho who regularly got past him and caught him out of position. The Ukraine international didn’t have many opportunities to venture forward.

Idrissa Gueye: 5.5 (replaced by Tim Iroegbunam at 70’)

A difficult afternoon for Gueye in the middle as he had to focus a lot more on defensive work instead of helping his side in the buildup and forays into the final third.

James Garner: 5.5

Garner was industrious in the middle of the park and tried to close down spaces in the middle. It’s a thankless task against any Pep Guardiola side and his intensity faded in the second half especially after City took the lead. Went into the referee’s book after catching Foden’s boot.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall: 5 (replaced by Dwight McNeil at 85’)

Returning to the side after serving his suspension in the previous outing against Crystal Palace, Dewsbury-Hall was proactive off the ball. He pressed and ran well but didn’t have a major impact while on the ball.

Iliman Ndiaye: 7.5 (replaced by Tyler Dibling at 85’)

Iliman Ndiaye was the best player on the pitch at Etihad before the Erling Haaland show began in the second half. He created all of the danger for the Blues in the first half and could’ve had an assist had it not been for Beto’s profligacy in front of goal. Ndiaye also danced and dribbled his way out of trouble on several occasions to relieve the pressure off Everton’s buildup and forced a good save off Donnarumma.

Beto: 3.5 (replaced by Thierno Barry at 75’)

Beto’s streak of squandering simple chances continued with another torrid display at Etihad. The Guinea-Bissau international, who missed an open goal for his country during the international break, pulled off something similar this afternoon after failing to stretch his leg to tap the ball into the open net after brilliant work from Ndiaye to set him up.

He also dragged his shot wide after being played through on goal but was saved by the offside flag.

Charly Alcaraz: 5 (replaced by Merlin Rohl at 70’)

Coming into the side to replace Jack Grealish off the back of a wonderful performance off the bench against Crystal Palace, the expectations were high for Alcaraz. However, he looked anonymous out wide on the left and despite keeping things tidy, failed to impact the game.

Substitutions

Merlin Rohl: 5

Came on at a difficult juncture when Man City were all over Everton and found it difficult to influence the game and change the tempo of the contest.

Tim Iroegbunam: 5

Same as Rohl, found it difficult to exert any control in midfield with City, led by Haaland, on the hunt for a third goal.

Thierno Barry: 5

Didn’t see much of the ball and barely had any service to work with as Everton spent most of the final quarter preventing Haaland from getting his third.

Tyler Dibling: N/A

Dwight McNeil: N/A

Reader Comments (2)

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Ndiaye was the best player which lasted basically 45 minutes but he quickly realized he's playing behind woefully bad strikers.

The rest were gash, second-half capitulation job and we still play the game with the same inferiority complex we've had for nigh on 25 years.

I think the day I knew it will never change was when we played the Shite's kindergarten club in the FA Cup 3rd Round just before the pandemic and we couldn't even go there and slap them into place and Klopp for being an arrogant piss taker.

Don't get me wrong: Martinez almost broke through that glass ceiling in his first season. At least he did break the Old Trafford curse which has resumed normal service since.

Today felt like we had a chance there in that first half against a very below-par City side to put the pressure on them big time going into the second half.

If there are any professional people at the club, I'd seriously hope they are taking to task our recruitment team for yet another failed striker search to go with the previous 8 years since Lukaku was sold.

Two inept striking options to choose from.