Table of Contents
Storybook Ending
Manchester City wrapped up their Premier League campaign in the perfect fashion by beating Everton 5-0 in front of 10,000 fans at the Etihad.
In his swan song match with the Sky Blues, Sergio Aguero netted twice in the second half in a game that the Citizens were in control of virtually from the opening whistle.
Kevin De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus, along with Phil Foden, spotted the Sky Blues a 3-0 lead before Aguero put the icing on the cake.
Match Story
This match was nothing more than a formality really with both sides having nothing to play for.
However, with fans watching live for the first time all season, Pep Guardiola and his team wanted to give their supporters something to cheer for in their EPL finale.
The first opportunity came the way of the Toffees after five minutes.
Gylfi Sigurdsson released Dominic Calvert-Lewin into the final third as the team’s top goalscorer fired a shot low and hard that Ederson saved.
City had a chance a minute later when Kevin De Bruyne cut open the Toffees backline.
The Belgian’s incisive through ball found Gabriel Jesus, who had support in Phil Foden but instead went for goal.
His strike was well saved by Jordan Pickford, who parried it away for a corner.
De Bruyne put the Sky Blues in front a few minutes later.
City did well to play their way through the Everton defence, as the Sky Blues number 17 curled a brilliant effort with perfect precision into the bottom-right corner.
Minutes later, they were two goals to the goods.
Michael Keane lost possession in the middle of the park to Fernandinho, who made him pay for the costly error.
The ball came to De Bruyne, who sent Gabriel Jesus in on goal.
The Brazilian did well to cut away from a challenge before unleashing a powerful strike that was too strong for Pickford.
With 10 minutes to go in the half, Everton had an opportunity to reduce the deficit.
Richarlison broke through on goal as Ruben Dias brought him down, and the referee pointed to the spot.
Sigurdsson stepped up and fired a powerful strike labelled for the left corner, but Ederson guessed correctly and made a terrific save.
City nearly got a third two minutes before injury time.
Raheem Sterling rolled the ball towards the edge of the box into the path of Riyad Mahrez.
The Algerian took a touch and fired a brilliant curling effort towards goal that Jordan Pickford could only watch as it smashed against the crossbar.
Eight minutes into half, number two and City were up by three.
Raheem Sterling on the break spotted youngster Phil Foden in space.
The Englishman took a touch to break away from Ben Godfrey before planting a shot into the bottom-right corner.
With the match well in hand Pep Guardiola sent on Sergio Aguero in the 65th minute to replace Riyad Mahrez to the delight of the City supporters.
The Argentine’s impact was felt almost immediately as he got his name on the scoresheet after only six minutes on the field.
Fernandinho stole possession from Tom Davies before feeding Aguero.
The Argentine turned past Mason Holgate before placing a right-footed drive into the back of the net.
City’s record goalscorer was at it again five minutes later.
A pinpoint cross from Fernandinho into the box found Sergio Aguero.
Kun did well to get in behind Keane as his header found the bottom-right corner from about 12 yards away.
The Argentine nearly got himself a hat trick in the 83rd minute.
Off a Kevin De Bruyne corner, Aguero met it well, got his head to it, but Pickford was there to palm it away.
Everton was able to limit any more damage and the match ended 5-0.
Man of the Match
Sergio Aguero did not have his best season in 2020-21, but he certainly saved his best performance for the last.
The City goal machine turned back the clock in the second half and showed everyone he’s still capable of scoring.
He had two goals inside of five minutes, but if not for the heroics of Jordan Pickford late in the match, Kun could have notched four or five goals.
Barcelona will be encouraged by his performance today as he gets set to join La Liga next season.
It’s appropriate that the man who delivered this side their first Premier League title in decades closes out his City career with a pair of goals.
Aguero leaves the Premier League with 184 goals scored.
That puts him past Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney (183) for most EPL goals for a single club.
City Woes
Everton’s struggles against Manchester City continued thanks to this defeat.
They have now lost seven straight EPL encounters versus the Citizens.
The only side they have lost more consecutive times against is Man United.
They were beaten nine times in a row by the Reds from 1999 to 2004.
Heavy Defeat
It’s rare to see such a lopsided result like this, especially for a side managed by a tactical coach with the accolades of Carlo Ancelotti.
In his 1,167th game in charge as manager, today’s defeat is the heaviest he has suffered since getting into coaching.
Penalised
People have been talking all season about how poor Man City have been from the penalty spot, but they have given away their fair share of spot-kicks themselves on the opposite side.
Counting this match, City conceded 10 penalties throughout the season in this competition.
That’s the most they have ever given up in an entire Premier League campaign.
From the outside, going in
Kevin De Bruyne capped off another spectacular EPL season with a brilliant goal early on.
The star midfielder has scored 18 goals from outside the box since he joined the Sky Blues.
Only Tottenham’s Harry Kane (19) has scored more since making his Premier League debut.
Put another way, 43% of his league goals have come from outside the box.
Crazy Eight
Gabriel Jesus notched another goal as he continues to have his way with the Everton defence.
The Brazilian now has eight goals in eight Premier League games played against the Toffees.
Managers Words
Following the match, City manager Pep Guardiola talked about how they were able to capture another Premier League title.
“Win games, game after game. I think when we won at Stamford Bridge, we realised that suffering in the last month, the performance we played there with just 14 players we realised we are still here, we can still do this. We are still here. I think December until March we won all the games in all competitions. This is when we became champions.”
Next Up
City have the opportunity to win one more trophy next weekend when they face Chelsea in the Champions League final from Porto.
The kickoff from Estadio do Dragao is at 8 pm. (JSL).
