Manchester City dropped more points against Everton as they produced one of the close football results of the weekend in the Premier League. On the final day of 2022, Gray’s unexpected strike revived Frank Lampard’s team while also impeding City’s title defense. In 24 minutes, Erling Haaland found space for himself to finish Riyad Mahrez’s cross, giving him an incredible 21 Premier League goals in his first 15 games. However, Everton equalized with their first chance of the second half as Gray recovered his balance to cut past Manuel Ajankji and send an unstoppable rocket into the far corner via the underside of Ederson’s crossbar (64).
The outcome gave Arsenal the chance to overtake City when they played Brighton later on New Year’s Eve, and they certainly took it by winning an exciting 4-2 game to record their ninth victory in their previous 10 Premier League contests. After snapping a four-game losing streak across all competitions, Everton is in 16th place, two points above the relegation zone.
Following the late home loss to Wolves on Boxing Day, Lampard has come under fire, but this was a performance packed with grit that underlined the faith his players still have in his leadership. Four changes were made to Lampard’s starting lineup, some of which were necessary due to illness. Dominic Calvert-first Lewin’s start since early November provided a much-needed boost, but Anthony Gordon and Yerry Mina were unable to overcome a glitch.
Lampard urged his team to be confident and exhibit individuality in their performance, but City broke the tie after 24 minutes. Rodri recovered possession of the ball from Alex Iwobi, and after Bernardo Silva was provided with a pass by Nathan Ake, Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish collaborated inside before Riyad Mahrez was spotted openly on the right. Despite Conor Coady’s best efforts on the line, the Algerian ducked inside Vitaliy Mykolenko before laying the ball back for Haaland to tuck home from close range.
Mahrez had already missed out on a penalty when Idrissa Gueye bit his foot in the box by that point, but City came dangerously close to increasing their lead right before the break. With a Kevin De Bruyne free-kick, John Stones lost Calvert-Lewin, and his header smacked the post. Jordan Pickford was leading the cries for a harsher penalty, but Haaland caught Mykolenko with a late challenge after the ball went free, earning the Norwegian a booking.
Early in the second half, there was a six-minute delay due to a broken earpiece on one of the assistant referees, but after the mishap, Everton struck an improbable blow. Gueye fed Gray down the left as Rodri was careless with the ball. The returning winger ducked inside Akanji using Mykolenko as a lollipop before launching an accurate shot beyond Ederson. It was Gray’s first goal away from home since August 2021 against Brighton and only his second Premier League goal of the year, but he is a player capable of flashes of brilliance, and this was a late Christmas present for those disgruntled Everton fans.
Everton’s attempt to run out the clock to preserve the football results and replace the excellent Gueye with Tom Davies caused the hosts’ frustration to grow. Mahrez’s deflected shot was stopped by Pickford’s stunning save with seven minutes remaining. Rodri’s effort from a cutback was well blocked by James Tarkowski, but the threat was still present. When the referee indicated that there would be a further eleven minutes, Rodri, who was unmarked, rose to awkwardly head Mahrez’s cross wide as Everton clung on for an unexpected point. For the first time since losing to Leeds and Chelsea in May 2021, City has now dropped back-to-back home league games.
For more football results, click here
