Everton winger Demarai Gray has admitted that he was unsure what to do before scoring the wonder strike which cost Manchester City two points at the Etihad Stadium on New Year's Eve.
The Blues had the better of the first half and went in at the interval ahead thanks to another goal for Erling Haaland. City started brightly in the second 45 but their momentum was almost immediately squashed when there was a stoppage after the assistant referee's communication technology broke.
That moment appeared to help Everton regroup and they were level when an uncharacteristic mistake from Rodri allowed Gray the opportunity to place the ball beyond Ederson. City pushed for a winner with Kevin De Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez and Rodri all going close but Frank Lampard's men were able to see the game out.
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Speaking at full time to the Liverpool Echo, Gray explained the Toffees' game plan did not differ at the Etihad Stadium. "I don’t think it’s just when we play City, it’s part of our character, and the club’s DNA, fighting and digging deep for results," he said.
"We left everything out there today. On the back of our last performances, football-wise, it was a massive improvement today.
"Obviously when you come to the Etihad you have to change your game plan a little bit but obviously we had a plan and stuck to it well. We got our reward with the goal and after that we dug deep so there are a lot of positives to take."
When asked specifically about his goal, the former Birmingham City man admitted that there was a bit of luck involved. Gray added: "You look up, and there’s a lot of blue shirts and you are just like…I don’t know what I’m going to do here but there are important moments in the game.
"We focused on the transitions and where we could hurt them. Me personally I am just always confident in the final third and trying to create a yard.
"[Vitaliy] Mykolenko helped me a lot by making a run and creating a bit more time for me… and I slipped, so… err yeah, it worked out well for me and I was happy to see it go in the top corner."
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