Never a dull moment. City clung on for dear life at the end but made a scintillating first half performance count with a 3-2 win over Everton.
Injury-ravaged the visitors may have been, but they still put out a useful team that the Tigers swatted aside in a truly stunning first half display. Stephen Hunt followed up Jozy Altidore’s saved shot to open the scoring, then a completely gorgeous Andy Dawson free kick made it two.
Dean Marney’s first goal since the dawn of time, via a deflection, made it three by the break and had the Tiger Nation rubbing 22,000 pairs of eyes in disbelief. However, it’s never as straightforward as you’d wish, and Kamil Zayatte’s miskick gifted the visitors an early second half goal and made everyone very nervous.
Zayatte’s nightmare continued when his foul in the box led to Louis Saha further reducing the deficit from the spot – and still there were 25 minutes left. City hung on, however, and barring a few mild panics when corners were delivered into the box, coped admirably with the late Everton onslaught.
That’s 14 points at home this season, already surpassing last year’s tally. We’re up to 15th, albeit having played a game more. We’re scoring for fun and playing fantastic, flowing football. And we’ve just turned over Everton for the first time in more than 50 years without Jimmy Bullard. The match report will explain in more detail before long.
