1. This was the big performance Everton needed
Manchester City may have enjoyed more possession in this game but this was not a game in which Everton needed to outplay the Citizens; it was a game the Toffees needed to improve their all-round performance and avoid a fifth straight league defeat.
Martinez’s men succeeded in all the main issues as they defended well to shield Joel Robles from the visitors’ serious threats. When in possession, Everton looked far more dangerous than the tentative side that has been showing up in recent weeks and they crucially managed to secure a result. They now have a good result to build on.
2. Pressure keeps mounting on Stevan Jovetic
Manuel Pellegrini kept emphasising in his post-match interview that his side paid dearly for dominating play, especially in the opening half, without killing the game with goals.
A couple of players missed decent chances including Samir Nasri and David Silva but the biggest culprit was Jovetic.
Jovetic was not only poor with his finishing but the striker also failed to make cute runs to exploit Silva’s brilliance in the offensive-third. This was a big chance for Jovetic because Wilfried Bony is expected to join the club soon, while Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero are virtually back from their injury layoffs.
3. Roberto Martinez now caught in a dilemma
Martinez is a strong believer in his patient passing football philosophy and even in the FA Cup against West Ham when Everton were coming from a four-match losing streak, the Spanish manager kept coming to the touchline to implore his side to stick to the patient short passing game.
This game though was different because Martinez adopted a direct approach with more long balls in their play after the players reportedly suggested that approach to their boss in a team meeting.
There is no doubt that if Everton were to repeat the performance they showed against City then they will have a much better second-half of the season. That leaves Martinez with a difficult choice to sacrifice his strong beliefs and stick with what worked in this contest or keep faith in this philosophy and find ways to make it work better.
4. Sergio Aguero’s return is the biggest positive for City
Critics may argue that Pellegrini’s gamble to rescue the game by replacing Jovetic with Aguero, who is still working on his fitness, backfired because the Argentine looked rusty in the 25 minutes he featured but there was more to Aguero’s return than just rescuing the game.
Aguero is arguably the best player in the Premier League and Manchester City needed him on that field towards the end of the game regardless of the situation because he needs game time to be back to his best.
He emerged unscathed, which means he will have a bigger role to play in the next fixtures as City need him considering that an erratic Jovetic is the only viable option currently available for them.
5. Steven Naismith continues his goal scoring form against big teams
Leighton Baines deserves a lot of credit for Naismith’s goal with the quality cross he whipped in from a set-piece but Naismith still needed to finish that properly which he did.
Naismith has always delivered in big games this season and he had a key role in Everton’s direct attacks in this contest. His goal means that he has scored Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and City this season.
