Man City beat Everton: Guardiola’s new main man, a selection quirk and Lampard’s grit | Football | Sport

Manchester City gave their hopes of retaining their Premier League crown a boost after battling to a vital 1-0 win over Everton – but they left it late to clinch the points at Goodison Park. Pep Guardiola’s side suffered a major setback in their title defence last weekend after they fell to a last-gasp 3-2 defeat to Tottenham.

But they were able to rebound on Merseyside after Phil Foden struck in the 82nd minute to steal all three points for City to keep Liverpool at arms length.

Here, Express Sport takes a look at four things we learned during Saturday’s stalemate…

Phil fires again

Foden’s integration into the first-team at Manchester City was certainly a meticulous process – but City are definitely reaping the rewards of Guardiola measured approach.

Foden has been deployed as an auxiliary forward by Guardiola for the majority of the season, and he’s quickly evolved into one of Guardiola’s main men after he failed to snap up a new striker last summer.

The City academy graduate has popped up with vital goals over the past couple of years for City – but few will be more pivotal than his late strike at Goodison Park.

Foden’s late intervention could end up making all the difference in City’s title bid, even if they didn’t particularly convince against Frank Lampard’s plucky side.

It almost feels quite fitting that it’s a boyhood City fan leading the charge for what would be their fourth title in five years, wtih Foden’s transition from bit-part player to main man now complete.

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Mortal Manchester City

For the majority of the season, Manchester City have looked like the well-oiled, championship-winning machine that they have evolved into under Guardiola’s stewardship over the past few years.

However, chinks have started to appear in City’s armour over the past couple of weeks – and an uninspiring first half display against the Toffees could hardly have come at a worse time for City.

In fairness, Everton hardly rolled out the red carpet for City.

Although City were nullified impressively by their dogged hosts, they were wasteful in the final third and failed to manufacture enough to properly trouble Jordan Pickford in the Everton goal.

They upped the ante after the break but left it late to find the elusive goal they required to keep their title bid on track.

And even with Foden’s late strike, the Premier League title race is no longer the foregone conclusion that it seemed to be a few weeks ago.

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