IT is the old one-two Manchester City fans have waited all season to see – and at last Erling Haaland put them out of their misery.
Twice City’s striking Viking came up trumps with his first goals since breaking a bone in his foot in December, sending the champions back to the top for a time at least.
Erling Haaland dug Man City out of trouble against Everton
Haaland scored his second by calmly finishing his one vs one against Jordan Pickford
De Bruyne had another assist for Haaland
City put the pressure back on Liverpool and Arsenal
And with their dynamic duo back in the old routine for the Premier League run-in, City are starting to have an ominous look about them once again.
To be fair it took a long time before they did against Everton, though, for all they had the lion’s share of the ball right from the off.
Jeremy Doku’s lightning feet may have constantly taken him to the byline down the left, yet rarely did his delivery remotely come close to an end product.
In fact the only keeper remotely worked in the first half was actually Ederson – largely of City’s own making.
And the way they toiled for much of the second, it seemed they could even go the entire match without troubling Pickford.
Kevin De Bruyne, who had four months out after hamstring surgery before returning in January, who made his entrance from the bench ten minutes after the break.
It seemed to send a shot of energy through the entire side, and when an Alvarez corner pinballed around, Haaland swivelled and thumped in a shot from beyond the far post.
Just as crucially, though, was the fact the second was teed up by Kevin De Bruyne, an even longer-term Etihad crock whose season has effectively only just started.
You could almost hear the sighs of relief around the Etihad, and ten minutes from the end they had breathing space – thanks to KDB and their goal machine.
After conceding a goal, Everton was forced to raise their squad. Before they could create a notable opportunity, the Merseyside representative had to endure a counterattack.
In the 85th minute, it was Haaland again with a powerful acceleration from the middle of the field after Kevin De Bruyne’s through ball. He defeated young centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite in a one-on-one match, before finishing neatly with his right foot, sealing a 2-0 victory for the defending Premier League champions.
Game over, points in the bag, and City looking down on the rest again.
Haaland returned and immediately took the top spot in the race for top scorer with 16 goals, 2 more than Mohamed Salah. In 90 minutes against Everton, Pep Guardiola’s team only had the ball on target twice, both by Haaland and turned into goals.
3 points at home helps Man City temporarily regain the top spot in the Premier League table from Liverpool. However, just a few hours later, Liverpool, with a 3-1 victory over Burnley in the same round, reclaimed the top spot from “The Cityzens”. Liverpool currently has 54 points, 2 points more than Man City.
On February 14, Man City will travel to Denmark to face Copenhagen in the round of 16 of the Champions League.