Job done. In different circumstances, Manchester City’s performance might have raised the odd eyebrow. They can certainly play better, and how. But some nights are about the result, and the result alone. Nights like this one, when three points were required to restore City to the top of the table. How they are achieved is immaterial; which is probably just as well.
The scoreline looks emphatic but this was not vintage City; it was, however, effective City. They scored from a set piece, which the world knows is Everton’s weakness, and defended resolutely and not a little cynically.
When Fernandinho was finally booked with roughly 15 minutes remaining he could have asked for another three or four offences to be taken into consideration. All good teams have this in them, mind, the ugly victory and the pressure was on for all the talk of this being the one match Everton manager Marco Silva could afford to lose.
Aymeric Laporte had the final say as his goal sent Manchester City to the top of the Premier League table on Wednesday night
The French defender broke free from his marker and was gifted a free header as Everton lost concentration at the set-piece
Having missed an earlier opportunity, Laporte kept his eye on the ball this time to power back across goal and make it 2-0
Pickford's face summed up the disappointment at having conceded just seconds before the referee's whistle for half-time
In the end it was job well done for City as they left Merseyside back on top of the Premier League table on goal difference
It certainly didn’t seem that way, no matter the negative impact an Everton defeat had on Liverpool’s title chances. Evertonians might have sounded conflicted, but those in the darker blue shirts suffered no such anguish. Everton tried to find a way through, but simply couldn’t and spent long periods of the second-half testing massed ranks of City defenders.
To their credit, they dug in, as champion do, and finally pulled away in the seventh minute of injury time. Kevin De Bruyne sent Gabriel Jesus clear of Everton’s defence and when Jordan Pickford saved, the Brazilian improvised and headed the rebound into an empty net.
But this was as much about City’s resilience as their flair. Of course, City’s defence live very much in the shadow of their forwards – that much is understandable – but that does not mean they are without quality. They play a high risk game, which can make them appear fragile, but if Everton could hold out like it, they would not have lost so many games to set piece moves this season.
Everton boss Marco Silva was witnessing a big improvement from his players on their last match but was still not best pleased
Everton have been in poor form but looked to go toe-to-toe with a physical approach working in the early stages of the game
Tackles were flying in and David Silva was left clutching his thigh after being brought down by Everton's Michael Keane
The Manchester City boss cut an animated figure in his technical area throughout given the significance of winning the game
EVERTON (4-2-3-1): Pickford 7, Kenny 6.5, Keane 7, Zouma 7, Digne 6, Gueye 7, Andre Gomes 6.5 (Sigurdsson 63), Walcott 5.5, Davies 7, Bernard 7 (Richarlison 73), Calvert-Lewin 7.
Subs not used: Tosun, McCarthy, Schneiderlin, Stekelenburg, Coleman.
Booked: Zouma
Manager: Marco Silva 6.5
MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3): Ederson 7, Walker 6.5, Stones 7, Otamendi 7, Laporte 8, Gundogan 7, Fernandinho 7, Silva 7 (De Bruyne 89), Bernardo Silva 6.5, Aguero 7, Sane 6 (Sterling 59).
Subs not used: Danilo, Mahrez, Gabriel Jesus, Zinchenko, Muric.
Scorers: Laporte (45+2), Jesus (90+7)
Booked: Fernandinho
Manager: Pep Guardiola 7
Attendance: 39,322
Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)
How Aymeric Laporte opened the scoring for Manchester City on the stroke of half-time. Find more in Sportsmail's dedicated MATCH ZONE.
Ratings provided by Sportsmail's DOMINIC KING at Goodison Park
One wonders if Jurgen Klopp would have bothered to find the match on Wednesday night – football people can tune into the games that others can’t, no illegal feeds for them – and whether he would have been encouraged by what he saw.
There was not a lot here to suggest City are in better nick than Liverpool right now – even if a Sergio Aguero overhead kick after Jordan Pickford failed to claim Kurt Zouma’s clearance might have given the scoreline a commanding appearance before Jesus’ intervention – although they have impressively cut the leaders down to size over a matter of weeks.
Maybe it’s just that City know how to win a league as front-runners, while this is new territory for Liverpool. They have a game in hand, and play Bournemouth at home on Saturday, so may be back on top soon – but City know the course and distance and, last night,
