Source: Daily_Mail
Everton 2 Manchester City 1: City's Champions League hopes take a hit
Share[LNB]Stoke City boss Tony Pulis would have enjoyed his spying mission to Goodison Park as next week's FA Cup final opponents, Manchester City, cracked under Everton's aerial bombardment. [LNB]Pulis watched Roberto Mancini's men dominate the first 45 minutes and take a deserved lead through Yaya Toure, only to collapse after half-time and concede the points to brilliant headers from Sylvain Distin and Leon Osman. [LNB] Yaya goes gaga: Yaya Toure handed City the lead with a cute finish[LNB]You can imagine Stoke's Kenwyne Jones, John Carew and long throw expert Rory Delap licking their lips asthey anticipate their date at Wembley on Saturday. [LNB]An added bonus for them is that City's defeat means they now need a result against Tottenham on Tuesday to guarantee Champions League football - more pressure in the days leading up to the cup final. [LNB]City boss Mancini, who was repeatedlysworn at by Everton captain Phil Neville as tempers flared after the final whistle, was fuming about his team's capitulation. [LNB] [LNB] Head boy: Everton defender Sylvain Distin hauled his side back level with a towering header[LNB][LNB]'It was incredible we lost,' he said.'We should never lose games like this if we want to become a strong team. We lost concentration and made things difficult for ourselves. Yaya and (Edin) Dzeko had chances to close the game out. The only good thing is it was better to concede headers today than against Stoke.' [LNB]For a team that had little to play for, Everton produced a rousing comeback to give their fans hope for next season. They gave City too much respect until the introduction of Tim Cahill, who helped liven things up. [LNB]Distin's towering header from Mikel Arteta's free-kick turned Goodison into a bearpit and the roof nearly came off when the brilliant Osman moved in front of Vincent Kompany to flick another header past keeper Joe Hart.[LNB] [LNB] Tempers flare: The game was disrupted by a nasty clash between several players from both sides[LNB] 'Looking at the size of City, they could play in the NBA. They're the New York Knicks,' joked Everton manager David Moyes.[LNB] 'And yet we scored with two headers,maybe they didn't get the zonal marking quite right. 'It was a great turnaround because it didn't look like it would happen at half-time. Butwe got closer to people and became more attacking. 'The crowd wanted a bit of that spirit and we gave it to them.' [LNB]Relations between the clubs have deteriorated since Joleon Lescott's move to Eastlands in 2009. He received a hostile reception before kick-off but Goodison then fell intosilence as the visitors dominated the opening half. [LNB] Silva lining: All City's good work went through creative midfielder David Silva[LNB]World Cup winner David Silva was brilliant. First, he controlled instantly a ball that dropped out of thesky before shooting wide. Then he sold Distin a dummy before flicking the ball into Toure's path for the Ivorian to shoot City ahead. [LNB]'Silva is as good as anything in the Premier League at the moment,' said Moyes ruefully. The only good news for Everton fans at half-time was that City squandered good chances to go further ahead, Dzeko shooting wide and Toure denied by Tim Howard's legs when he was through on goal. [LNB]Moyes replaced defender Tony Hibbert with striker Jermaine Beckford at the interval and sent on Cahill soon after. Everton suddenly started to scrap - and City could not handle it.[LNB]Distin managed to hang in the air to meet Arteta's outswinger with a bullet header that Hart was unable to hold on the line. [LNB] Hero's welcome: Former Everton player Duncan Ferguson was paraded on the pitch before the match[LNB][LNB]Ten minutes later, cue bedlam. Neville's cross from the right and Osman bravely flicked a header in, getting a severe bang on the head Kompany in the process. [LNB]While Goodison celebrated, the scorerlay concussed. City sent on Mario Balotelli and Adam Johnson to try to salvage an equaliser but the horse had already bolted. Their disgust at losing a game that should have been wrapped up spilled over at the finalwhistle, as they surrounded Everton sub Seamus Coleman for an alleged elbow.[LNB] Neville and Mancini joined in and City assistant manager Brian Kidd, who knows both men well, dived in as peacemaker.[LNB] Edin for the Champions League: Dzeko played a key role for City in the absence of Carlos Tevez[LNB]The result left Mancini with plenty of food for thought. 'We defended too deep for 15 minutes and they played the long ball,' he said. 'We had chances to win but we didn't do it. This is football.' [LNB]EVERTON (4-2-3-1): Howard; Hibbert (Beckford 46min), Jagielka, Distin, Baines; Heitinga, Rodwell (Cahill 64); Neville, Osman, Arteta; Anichebe (Coleman86). Subs (not used): Mucha, Bilyaletdinov, Gueye, Vellios. Booked: Neville, Rodwell, Osman, Coleman.[LNB] MAN CITY (4-2-3-1): Hart; Zabaleta (Balotelli 81), Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov; Vieira (A Johnson 78), De Jong (Jo 89); Milner, Toure, Silva; Dzeko. Subs (not used): Given, Wright-Phillips, Boyata, McGivern. Booked: Kompany, Kolarov. [LNB]Referee: P Dowd (Staffordshire). [LNB] Heated: Tim Cahill is involved in a scuffle[LNB] [LNB] EXCLUSIVE: Arsenal back in the hunt for key Everton defender Jagielka Cahill looking to turn Man City's European dream into a nightmareAll the latest Everton FC news, features and opinionAll the latest Manchester City FC news, features and opinion[LNB] [LNB] Explore more:People: Leon Osman, Sylvain Distin, Joleon Lescott, Brian Kidd, David Silva, Vincent Kompany, Joe Hart, Adam Johnson, John Carew, David Moyes, Tim Cahill, Tony Pulis, Phil Neville, Roberto Mancini Organisations: National Basketball Association
