Pep Guardiola praises Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin

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Gylfi Sigurdsson and Calvert-Lewin caused Premier League champions Manchester City plenty of problems during Saturday’s clash at Goodison Park.

Pep Guardiola admits his Manchester City side found life difficult against Everton on Saturday while singling out Gylfi Sigurdsson and Dominic Calvert-Lewin for praise after a hard-fought 3-1 win for the Premier League champions.

From bloodying the blue boys during the David Moyes era to battering Guardiola 4-0 at Goodison Park two years ago, the Toffees have provided plenty of sticky moments for City in recent seasons.

While Marco Silva’s side ended up with no points on Saturday, they still caused plenty of problems for City’s star-studded side with Ederson making a couple of brilliant saves before late goals from Raheem Sterling and an inspired Riyad Mahrez sealed a nervy win.

Guardiola, who is usually graceful in victory, took the time to praise Everton’s commitment and quality after the game with Sigurdsson and Calvert-Lewin receiving a special mention by arguably the world’s best coach.

“We had a lot of problems to control out left side with Gylfi Sigurdsson. They had one more player there, we had a lot of problems,” the former Barcelona coach told Goal, before turning his attention to Calvert-Lewin, who converted a Seamus Coleman dink to score Everton’s only goal on Saturday evening.

“Calvert-Lewin is one of the best headers I have ever seen in jumping and flicking the ball,” he told the Liverpool Echo.

Guardiola’s gushing praise for a striker who’s goal-return leaves a lot to be desired will raise plenty of eyebrows on Merseyside but there’s an argument to be made that Calvert-Lewin has everything required to be a top class centre-forward – if he works on his finishing that is.

Strong, quick, excellent in the air and a prodigious worker, the former Sheffield United youngster certainly has the raw potential. And with four goals in his last three games, Everton fans will be hoping that he is now starting to add a much-needed clinical streak to his game.