Manchester City needed patience but ultimately secured a vital 2-0 victory over Everton with two clinical finishes in the closing stages at Goodison Park.
After a frustrating 75 minutes where the hosts defended resolutely, Pep Guardiola’s men finally broke through when Matt O’Reilly capped an outstanding individual performance by arriving unmarked in the six-yard box to convert Matheus Nunes’ cross in the 84th minute.
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The visitors sealed the three points deep in injury time when substitute Mateo Kovacic found the bottom corner from Ilkay Gundogan’s cutback, scoring for the second consecutive match.
The victory strengthens City’s Champions League qualification hopes, coming at a particularly opportune moment with rivals Aston Villa and Newcastle facing each other later today.
Manchester City have now gone five league games without defeat and will welcome Villa to the Etihad on Tuesday evening.
Sean Dyche’s Everton will rue missed opportunities, particularly James Tarkowski’s header that struck the post and Abdoulaye Doucoure’s goal-bound effort that was blocked by Josko Gvardiol.
Despite their disciplined defensive display for much of the match, the Toffees created relatively few clear-cut chances, generating just 0.93 expected goals compared to City’s 2.09.
Everton now have a week to regroup before traveling to Stamford Bridge for next weekend’s early kick-off against Chelsea.
