Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was handed his heaviest ever defeat as Everton ran out 4-0 victors. Here is how the City players rated.
GK: Claudio Bravo (4/10) – The concession of four goals is just scratching the surface of Bravo’s showing against Everton.
The man brought in to replace Joe Hart looked uncertain, indecisive and poor, with the ball at his feet and in the air.
RB: Bacary Sagna (5/10) – Grew into the game and managed to get forward as much as possible.
Sagna’s duel with Leighton Baines was an interesting component of the match which Sagna, despite seeing a headed effort cleared off the line, ultimately ended up as second best.
CB: Nicolas Otamendi (4/10) – The Argentina international’s distribution was sub-par for the majority of the game, in addition to bouts of unconvincing positioning in the centre of City’s back line.
Otamendi was also guilty of playing Kevin Mirallas onside, enabling the Everton man to assist Romelu Lukaku’s 34th-minute opener.
CB: John Stones (6/10) – A confident display from the former Everton defender; who found a good balance between combining play-making from the back with a sense of the more fundamentals of defending.
Would not have enjoyed his return to Goodison Park in the slightest.
LB: Gael Clichy (4/10) – In what will be considered sinful by boss Guardiola, Clichy was guilty of surrendering possession in the lead up to the game’s opener.
The Frenchman continued in similar vein and offered up a very poor performance against direct opponent Seamus Coleman.
CM: Pablo Zabaleta (6/10) – Making his 222nd appearance for Manchester City, Zabaleta was deployed in an unaccustomed central midfield role and, perhaps unexpectedly, made several forward runs with regularity.
With City 2-0 down, Zabaleta was replaced by forward Kelechi Iheanacho on the hour mark.
CM: Yaya Toure (5/10) – While Zabaleta appeared to support the attacking quartet of City, it was Toure who remained behind the ball and acted as a deep-lying play-maker throughout his time on the Goodison Park turf.
Toure’s only contribution of note saw a free kick easily caught by Joel Robles in the Everton goal.
AM: Kevin De Bruyne (5/10) – Not De Bruyne’s finest display of his career, as another of City’s big-money superstars suffered an anonymous afternoon.
As part of an expensive, yet disappointing attacking City quartet, De Bruyne offered nothing of significance in the game.
AM: David Silva (6/10) – The diminutive playmaker was at the centre of the majority of City’s attacking threats but faded with City’s frustrations as the game progressed.
Silva was booked for tripping the standout Tom Davies after 74 minutes.
AM: Raheem Sterling (7/10) – The former Liverpool man should have been awarded a penalty in the early stages of the clash, having been brought down by Robles, and remained an important outlet for City henceforth.
Sterling was close to equalising with a thunderous strike after 37 minutes.
FW: Sergio Aguero (5/10) – Guardiola’s talisman did not fire a single troublesome shot at Everton and offered a relatively anonymous performance.
Aguero would have hoped to have enjoyed a more fruitful afternoon against Everton rookie Mason Holgate, but the harsh reality is that he did not.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
