Sunday, October 5, 2025
Everton FC

Everton 0-1 Man City: Three talking points

Richard Buxton
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Everton suffered late heartbreak as Manchester City took the spoils.

Frank Lampard’s side produced a steely performance against the current Premier League leaders until a comedy of errors just 10 minutes from time.

A botched clearance by Mason Holgate was compound as centre-back partner Michael Keane failed to clear, allowing Phil Foden to prod home the winner.

The Blues were also denied the chance to level from the penalty spot when Rodri appeared to handle the ball in his own area before VAR overruled it.

Here were the key talking points from Goodison Park:

Blues’ midfield switch almost pays off

Frank Lampard knew something special was required to combat Manchester City as they sought to widen the gap in the Premier League title race.

So the Everton manager changed things up with a three-man midfield that paired Donny van de Beek with Allan and the returning Abdoulaye Doucoure.

For the most part, that shift in style paid off as his side were able to nullify the visitors’ usual talismans in Bernardo Silva and Kevin de Bruyne.

While Allan and Doucoure continued to excel in breaking up play, Van de Beek became the Blues’ orchestrator in-chief from the deep-lying position.

Unfortunately the triumvirate could not legislate for some teammates being guilty of a dereliction of duty but the new system clearly has its merits.

Throughout this season, deploying three in midfield was an obvious solution for Everton under Lampard’s predecessor yet, frustratingly, seldom utilised.

Given how effective it proved against Pep Guardiola’s side, increasing the personnel in the engine room should be a default approach moving forward.

…but comedy duo undo the hard work

Through accident rather than design, Mason Holgate and Michael Keane have developed a double act which is gaining increasing notoriety inside Goodison.

A succession of blundering mistakes between the centre-back duo sees them now characterised as Everton’s very own answer to Laurel and Hardy.

Last season, their haphazard defending led to Tottenham opening the scoring in a four-goal thriller as Keane’s attempted clearance cannoned off Holgate.

Roles were reversed this time as the latter’s inability to clear his lines was made worse by Keane’s flat-footedness which gifted Phil Foden the winner.

Injuries to first-choice options like Yerry Mina and Ben Godfrey, ultimately, are the reason why the pair remain in favour despite their routine faux pas.

Once the transfer window reopens, Lampard will undoubtedly be scouring for replacements to two players whose presence harms Everton more than it helps.

Goodison unites for the Ukraine

Events in the Ukraine this week placed football’s importance into perspective,

For both Vitalii Mykolenko and opposite number Oleksandr Zinchenko, the plight of their native Ukraine had become a source of understandable distress.

But Goodison produced a touching moment ahead of kick-off which show solidarity with the pair and those in their currently embattled homeland.

Each Everton player took to the pitch with a Ukraine flag draped around their shoulders while City wore t-shirts with the same motif and the slogan ‘No War’.

Z-Cars also took a rare back seat as The Hollies’ 1969 hit ‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother’ rang out alongside applause from the 39,000-strong crowd.

Ahead of a fiercely contested fixture and against a backdrop of growing unrest, the Grand Old Lady united as one in support for the war-torn nation.