Source: Telegraph
Everton 2 Manchester City 0: match report
If you believe David Moyes, Manchester City have no class. It is quite an allegation to make against a team managed by Roberto Mancini, an urbane Italian sophisticate who has patented the look of a blue-and-white scarf tied in a Windsor knot. [LNB]But he is right in one sense: City, on the evidence of this tepid, error-ridden display, assuredly have no title-winning class. [LNB] Related ArticlesPremier League actionPremier League tablePremier League fixturesTelegraph player raterTransfer TalkSport on televisionThe transformation engineered by the man dubbed 'Bobby Manc' by the club's fans was emphatically derailed on Saturday night as City turned in a performance of grim ineptitude. [LNB]Moyes continues to be enraged by City's treatment of Everton over the signing of last summer of Joleon Lescott, who did not even feature here. [LNB]'There is no doubt that Manchester City treated us with little respect,' the Scot wrote in a thunderous broadside in his programme notes. [LNB]'They broke rules. I found it very difficult to accept that a club that until recently had so many similarities to Everton should suddenly start acting with no class.' [LNB]It was far from the only wounding attack that Mancini sustained. Everton exposed City's defensive deficiencies an area where recent improvements have perhaps flattered to deceive with embarrassing ease, while Robinho earned the rare indignity of being substituted as a substitute. [LNB]It is about the lowest experience a player can endure, but Mancini had little option. The Brazilian, far from the first time, played like an imposter: dithering, uninterested, uninspired. If the manager has any strictness to match his style, he will remove this carpet-bagging misfit without a second's hesitation. [LNB]But then, normally reliable figures such as Gareth Barry and Craig Bellamy hardly covered themselves in glory either. At times, it was an occasion when the peripherals outshone the perennials. [LNB]Martin Petrov, if the rumours are to be credited, has only the remainder of this season to save his skin under Mancini, and the Bulgarian showed pluck with some fine work on the right to tee up a bending low drive. [LNB]Robinho, another increasingly marginal figure in sky-blue, had his own chance to impose himself when he was brought off the bench to replace Roque Santa Cruz, withdrawn due to a knee injury. Hopes are never high around the Brazilian when he is removed from home comforts but he at least ruffled Tim Howard by letting fly with an instinctive volley. [LNB]But Everton were the more committed, always the quicker to the loose ball. Marouane Fellaini continued to prove his worth beyond an elaborate haircut through tireless tackling and harrying, and as he angled a free-kick across the face of goal Louis Saha should have taken more than fresh air. [LNB]The Landon Donovan appreciation society were gathering in number, too, chorusing 'USA' with gusto when the American broke away from Vincent Kompany, only to direct his chip wide. [LNB]The refrain, albeit one with a difficult syllable count, should have been 'South Africa' as Steven Pienaar, a vital anchor in this Everton side, fashioned the breakthrough with a delicious piece of invention. [LNB]Sizing up a free-kick from a tricky angle on the left, the midfielder contrived a viciously dipping shot that squeezed past the fingers of Shay Given. [LNB]There was a suspicion that Nigel de Jong had been out of place in the wall but Pienaar would not let that dampen his celebrations he even found time to hug a steward. [LNB]Everton's first-half bombardment was still not finished. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (one whom, we may suppose, could never be the subject of a chant) raced into the six-yard box as he sought to put away Tim Cahill's long ball, but the finish was wayward. [LNB]It mattered little to Moyes' players, thanks to the eagle eye of the referee. The daft pulls of Saha's shirt by Micah Richards were swiftly spotted by Andre Marriner, enabling the Frenchman to extend the Everton lead from the spot. His penalty was tame, straight down the middle at catching height, but Given made the classic error of diving too soon. [LNB]Bellamy tried belatedly to spearhead a revival, his shot flying inches over the bar, but the Everton ascendancy would not abate. Fellaini's header had to be tipped on the post by Given, to give further proof that Moyes' men were in a class of their own. [LNB]
