Pep Guardiola may be indelibly associated with the beautiful game but Manchester City’s celebrations showed the value of one of their ugliest goals. They have had more emphatic wins but, should they retain their Premier League crown, the eventual verdict may be that few were more significant than this. With 10 minutes to go and Everton looking unbending in their resistance, the momentum seemed to be swinging towards Merseyside, and Liverpool, in the title race. Then Phil Foden pounced and City’s lead stretched back to six points.
“Really important,” said Guardiola, the purist who has come to cherish hard-fought 1-0 victories. This came in a fashion Frank Lampard called “a little freakish.” It arrived courtesy of a misdirected cross, from Bernardo Silva, and stray touches from each of Everton’s hitherto defiant central-defensive duo. Mason Holgate deflected it to Michael Keane, whose wild slice only resulted in the ball falling for the predatory Foden to tap in.
