Like Al Pacino’s character Michael Corleone in The Godfather: Part III, Evertonians could be forgiven for uttering the words: “Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in” following the Blues’ dogged but deserved draw away to Premier League champions Manchester City. One of the most-pleasing aspects of the result was the way the visitors got under the skin of many in the home camp, who promptly behaved like spoilt children who didn’t get their way.
Despite spending prolonged periods on the touchline flailing around, manager Pep Guardiola was at least smart enough in public to deny that he was frustrated by Everton’s approach, stating: “It’s Premier League. Listen, it’s a strategy for the opponent and if the referees do not intervene, I cannot do anything.” Centre-back John Stones was less diplomatic, accusing his previous employers of “time-wasting.”
The reaction of some of City’s fans was even more damning, as they accused Everton of deploying a whole host of supposed ‘dark arts’ to snatch a point. While we all must be aware that the knee-jerk tirades of keyboard warriors on social media aren’t necessarily a fair reflection of the populace as a whole and we will all view matches through the different prisms of our individual standpoints, frankly this correspondent sees such sour grapes as laughable given there was nothing out of the ordinary in the tactics of the visiting players.
