Haaland sinks Everton as Manchester City step up pressure on title rivals

With a swipe of his lesser-used right foot, Erling Haaland beat Jordan Pickford to score his first goal since late November and put Manchester City on track for the three points that, until this 70th-minute intervention, appeared to be eluding them.

Everton’s ploy of squeezing up high on Pep Guardiola’s side had thrown them out of joint, reducing the champions to a wholly uncharacteristic average proposition. With City aiming to reel off a historic fourth consecutive title Haaland’s intervention in a crowded area was precious, as Guardiola’s jubilant fist-pumping reaction illustrated.

His second strike, via a classic rope-a-dope counterattack engineered by Kevin De Bruyne, sealed a victory that took City top – until, at least, Liverpool host Burnley later today – and was the type of determined display that championship triumphs are made of.

This was Haaland’s third outing of a comeback after a stress fracture to a foot and the sight of him lashing the opener home at a corner off Pickford’s left arm was a welcome one for City. Despite a near two-month layoff, it was his 15th league goal of the season. His 16th, which came after 85 minutes, pulled him clear of Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah in the rankings.

Guardiola, for an umpteenth time, will take the credit after his decision to introduce De Bruyne 57 minutes in. Suddenly City had more pace and craftiness, and it was the Belgian’s cool swivel and pass into Haaland that created City’s second goal. It was also his 106th assist in the Premier League.

Haaland barged past Jarrad Branthwaite and, as Pickford narrowed the angle, calmly slid home to the goalkeeper’s right. Cue pandemonium among the home faithful and the sight of sheer delight racing across Guardiola’s face.

Until Haaland’s double, Everton had done what Sean Dyche sides do: frustrate their opponents. Their first attack rang alarm bells for City as the Toffees nearly scored and Ederson was left in a heap. Jérémy Doku lost possession near his area, a disguised pass from Dwight McNeil found Ben Godfrey stampeding in, and the Brazilian keeper dived at his feet as Nathan Aké tried to help out.

Ederson recovered and you wondered how many more chances the visitors would fashion, so a need for ruthlessness was paramount. Dominic Calvert-Lewin underlined this with a weak chip into Ederson’s arms when a defence-splitting pass was on, in a period that featured copious Guardiola thigh-slaps due to his team’s ponderous play.

With De Bruyne starting on the bench, his heir, Phil Foden, was positioned on the right rather than at No 10 and struggled to find his way into the contest. He eventually took action, moving infield to take the ball in a central pocket and race down the left ahead of Doku. It was a more promising passage of play, as was Doku collecting the ball and darting beyond Godfrey before sending in a cross that dropped on to a leaping Haaland’s head.

But the Norwegian could not finish that chance. City were missing De Bruyne’s geometric eye but when the teams trotted out for the second half, the same lineup remained. So, too, did the pattern. Rodri or Matheus Nunes would make a burst, flip the ball behind to Doku or Foden, and Everton would scramble to douse the danger.

At last, De Bruyne was introduced for Nunes, with Kyle Walker replacing Manuel Akanji. The Belgian’s opening salvo featured rapid movement and passes as Haaland drifted left and poked in a dangerous ball but none of his teammates could finish.

This all changed in the 14 minutes the 23-year-old generational talent needed to score twice and kill the contest. On the final whistle De Bruyne’s smile was wide: it said it all.