Everton suffered a second-half humbling against Manchester City.
Jack Harrison broke the deadlock midway through the first half as he stroked home Dwight McNeil’s cutback amid a spell of intense pressing by the hosts.
But the newly-crowned world champions struck back just minutes following the interval through Phil Foden rifling a 20-yard shot to beat Jordan Pickford.
City took the lead later in the half through Julian Alvarez’s penalty kick when Amadou Onana handled Nathan Ake’s goal-bound attempt in the area.
Matters worsened late on as Bernardo Silva added a third after Pickford’s poor clearance was compounded by a poor touch from Jarrad Branthwaite.
Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park:
Dyche falls short on City hoodoo
Goodison Park never used to be a happy hunting ground for Manchester City.
Under David Moyes, the hosts found an innate ability to get under their North West counterparts’ skin on more than a few occasions during his 11-year stay.
Some of the Scot’s successors, too, were able to put one over on the Citizens even long after they had found themselves festooned with Abu Dhabi’s riches.
But since Ronald Koeman oversaw a 4-0 drubbing of ex-Barcelona teammate Pep Guardiola in 2017, the Blues had been on a barren six-game streak.
Sean Dyche appeared set to finally break that sequence after his side took the lead against the newly-crowned world champions on Wednesday night.
His game plan appeared a perfect pathfinder, with Jack Harrison’s opener the by-product of a relentless pressing approach by Everton’s attacking third.
What happened after the interval, however, defied convention as the tables turned emphatically from a one-goal lead into a humbling 3-1 reversal.
The City hoodoo goes on but this was a close as Everton came to ending it.
Is it time to cut losses on Danjuma?
Arnaut Danjuma has become symptomatic of Everton’s calendar year.
At the start of 2023, he was their one which got away by snubbing a January loan in favour of a last-minute switch to Tottenham on an identical deal.
Yet he ends the past 12 months as a player who the club could easily survive without after becoming increasingly peripheral since his do-over transfer.
The Netherlands international claimed the circumstances of his eventual move made it ‘even more beautiful’ but may be reconsidering that remark..
Although he has made close to triple the number of outings from that spell in north London, Danjuma is still restricted to just six starts in all competitions.
Dyche’s decision to hand him another customary 10-minute cameo at the end of this game, with City’s dominance firmly assured, felt like a futile endeavour.
Last weekend’s goalmouth drama at his one-time club notwithstanding, it hasn’t worked out for the 26-year-old as January represents a critical juncture.
The option of curbing Danjuma’s season-long spell ahead of time remains open to Everton and one they should consider taking given his ineffectuality.
Blues still not getting rub of the green
Luck is often a pivotal factor in games and Everton just aren’t getting any.
Since September’s meek defeat to newly-promoted Luton Town, Dyche’s men have been on the wrong side of several contentious calls from match officials.
A Merseyside derby loss was onset by the imbalance of Ashley Young’s red card not being evened out when their hosts committed a last-man challenge.
The veteran utility man was also on the receiving end of further misfortune as Manchester United benefited from his light-touch trip on Anthony Martial.
Another debatable spot kick, this time against Amadou Onana, was at the heart of City taking the lead after an evenly-matched contest to that point.
Referee John Brooks initially awarded a corner after Nathan Ake’s shot was deflected off the Belgian midfielder before being advised to point to the spot.
By the laws of the game, Onana’s raised hand constituted a penalty but it was certainly not deliberate nor contained anything close to malice aforethought.
Coupled with Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s disallowed goal in last weekend’s loss to Spurs, the men in black are still refusing to give Everton a rub of the green.