Garner MOTM, 4/10 woeful – Everton player ratings v Manchester City
Everton fell to a late 2-0 defeat against Manchester City at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Manchester City felt they had two shouts for a penalty in the first half, first as a result of a Jack Harrison foul and the second a handball, but neither were entertained by the referee.
David Moyes was forced to bring James Tarkowski off the pitch soon into the second half due to a hamstring injury, although his side seemed to be continuing to cope with the threat of City.
However, in the 84th minute, the deadlock was broken when Nico O’Reily scored before the away side doubled their lead in added time, killing off the game.
Here, Goodison News has rated the performance of each player out of 10.
James Garner the standout for Everton
Jordan Pickford – 5
Jake O’Brien – 6
James Tarkowski (off for Michael Keane, 52′) – 7
Jarrad Branthwaite – 7
Vitaliy Mykolenko – 5
Idrissa Gana Gueye (off for Tim Iroegbunam, 79′) – 7
James Garner – 8
Jack Harrison (off for Dwight McNeil, 79′) – 5
Abdoulaye Doucoure – 6
Iliman Ndiaye (off for Carlos Alcaraz, 79′) – 6
Armando Broja (off for Beto, 64) – 4
Substitutions
Michael Keane (on for James Tarkowski, 52′) – 4
Beto (on for Armando Broja, 64′) – 5
Dwight McNeil (on for Jack Harrison, 79′) – N/A
Carlos Alcaraz (on for Iliman Ndiaye, 79′) – N/A
Tim Iroegbunam (on for Idrissa Gana Gueye, 79′) – N/A
Tarkowski saying goodbye to Goodison Park
It was a disappointing afternoon in the end for Everton, falling to a defeat that they probably didn’t deserve over the 90 minutes.
Having to bring Tarkowski off the pitch too serves as a massive blow for Moyes’ men, with Keane having to come on for the rest of the game in his place, despite a lack of minutes this season.
The defender was not injured as a result of a foul, but instead, looked like he pulled his hamstring, and he signalled that he was unable to continue in the game.
Up until he went off, the Toffees’ captain had put in a solid display against last season’s Premier League champions, delivering what was asked of him to keep his opponents out of the goal.
| Tarkowski v Manchester City | |
| Minutes played | 52 |
| Passing accuracy | 86% |
| Defensive actions | 7 |
| Ground duels won | 100% |
| Aerial duels won | 100% |
Everton supporters won’t want to be jumping to the worst conclusions, but for a player like Tarkowski to bring himself off the field suggests that it may not be good news.
As the Blues prepare for a move to Bramley-Moore Dock at the end of the campaign, Everton are starting to say their goodbyes to Goodison Park.
For someone who has been such a big part of the team at Goodison, to say goodbye in this way feels harsh, but if his injury is bad, it does seem unlikely that Tarkowski will be playing again this term.
Luckily for the Toffees, there is nothing at stake this season, which makes things a lot calmer than they have been previously on Merseyside.
Nevertheless, after such a good run, Moyes will be gutted to fall to a defeat in the way his side did.