Everton concede ‘goal of the season’ to Manchester City with ‘obsessed’ Yerry Mina out of position – Jamie Carragher
Yerry Mina was “obsessed” with Erling Haaland in the 3-0 Everton loss to Manchester City on Sunday (14 May) and it allowed the visitors to score the “goal of the season” in the gap he left, according to Jamie Carragher.
The Toffees had held out for the majority of the first half against the title-chasing juggernaut until Ilkay Gundogan improvised a deft flick backwards into the net in the 37th minute, with the Norwegian striker quickly heading a second to end the game as a contest two minutes later.
While Carragher hailed the German’s first as “poetry in motion” he believes it was possible because the big Colombian defender was so focused on his City rival he strayed out of the position where he could have broken up the play.
Speaking live on Monday Night Football for Sky Sports ahead of the Leicester vs Liverpool kick-off (15 May, 6.35pm) Carragher said: “I just want to highlight the goalscorer, Gundogan, coming in at the back post… just keep an eye on Haaland and Yerry Mina.
“If you look at Everton’s back four, it’s all in position, as we know always very narrow and defend the box really well. Keep an eye on Yerry Mina, he was obsessed with Haaland all game. It was his fight, his battle, almost like a man-marking job.
“You see when this ball comes in where he finds himself, Yerry Mina with Haaland. He’s not in his space where you’d normally expect a centre-back to be and then Gundogan does what he does.”
Pick your poison
Mina possibly would have been right where the City midfielder controlled the ball on his thigh and turned it home under pressure from Nathan Patterson, but leaving Haaland unmarked has been a recipe for disaster for most teams this year.
That it was just his third touch to double the lead with when he nodded back past Jordan Pickford soon after showed that the Everton centre-back had done a pretty good job of keeping him out of the action prior to that.
After fighting a title race from behind for much of the season against Arsenal, only to surge clear at the end, shows how hard it is to live with Pep Guardiola’s expensively-assembled outfit, and if they can’t beat you one way they will usually find another.
On paper there was little to encourage the battling Everton side that was barely outside the relegation zone heading into the weekend, but the 5-1 demolition of Brighton a week earlier (8 May) had raised hopes of a repeat shock, although even Carragher had to concede he’d been wrong on that front.
It wasn’t to be and so Sean Dyche’s men will have to fight another day, but should have a better chance against Wolves and Bournemouth in the final two fixtures.
Better late than never if he can secure safety after another gruelling campaign on Merseyside but not having to face the likely fifth-time champions in six years will make that a far easier task.