MANCHESTER City can consider themselves unlucky to have finished on the losing side in a hard-fought and even contest at Goodison Park.
The Blues were in the running for the entire ninety minutes but couldn't find the leveller to cancel out Marcus Bent's second half header.
Tim Cahill's effort had given Everton an early first-half lead, cancelling out a Robbie Fowler header before the break.
And the Blues ended on a sour note with substitute Christian Negouai sent off and Fowler the subject of constant abuse from the Goodison Park fans.
Fowler had enraged the home fans for running half the length of the pitch along the touchline and slapping his head after his first half goal.
He was booked for that celebration by referee Phil Dowd, and the former Liverpool man was subjected to chants from the Everton fans from then on.
Five years ago Fowler - after scoring for Liverpool in a Mersey derby - was fined by the Football Association after an infamous goal celebration in front of Everton fans, who have abused him ever since the incident.
Abuse
This time he could have been taunting them with a celebration to underline how few he scores with his head, but Everton fans had their own ideas and abused the former Anfield star from then on.
That aside, the game was fierce and competitive with City never out of it until the final whistle.
But Everton are a tough nut to crack on their own pitch and clung on for three more priceless points.
Barton banished
City boss Kevin Keegan banished Joey Barton to the bench in the wake of his internal disciplinary hearing in midweek that left him with a fine of six weeks' wages after the midfielder's outrageous behaviour at the club's Christmas party.
Keegan also brought Jon Macken into the starting line-up, City opting to play with three strikers in an attacking formation that also included Fowler and Nicolas Anelka against a side who have conceded only nine goals in as many home league games this season.
Watson and Marcus Bent both went close early on while Anelka was not quick enough to punish a David Weir mis-kick before Paul Bosvelt headed narrowly over, unmarked six yards out.
Better football
City played the better passing football early on, pinning Everton back. But that is when Everton are at their most dangerous, hitting on the break.
City were caught out and one down after Bent won a debatable free-kick off Richard Dunne, chasing a long ball out of defence on 22 minutes, and when Thomas Gravesen fired over the free-kick, Cahill arrived unmarked to head powerfully past David James.
James saved well to his left from Watson as Everton started to swing the ball around with far more positive play.
Watson, Gravesen and Lee Carsley moved the ball at speed and that had City's back line under pressure, forcing them into back passes that kept James involved.
But City soon hit back. Fowler fired a free-kick high over and Anelka had another blocked before City finally got something for their efforts.
Shaun blocked
Shaun Wright-Phillips had a drive blocked on 43 minutes, and when Macken lifted the cross into the box, Fowler arrived to head powerfully past Nigel Martyn.
Everton had trouble imposing their direct style while City caused them problems with a much neater, close passing game.
Anelka attacked Alessandro Pistone down the right and had plenty of joy against the Italian.
Mills and Cahill managed to get involved in a bout of pushing and shoving that needed referee Dowd's eventual involvement.
When Everton did get the chance to lift the ball into the box on 61 minutes they almost scored.
Gravesen's free-kick was flicked on by Stubbs for Bent to just fail to get a connection a yard out.
A minute later he had more luck. City failed to clear the ball in their box and Gravesen, instead of shooting from 12 yards, chipped a neat ball for Bent to head into the bottom corner to give Everton the lead again.
Mills booked
Mills was booked for a foul on Gravesen that infuriated the Dane, who continued the argument with Dowd far too long and was booked for dissent.
He was lucky not to get into further trouble with more words at the Staffordshire official before players from both sides pulled him away.
Duncan Ferguson came on for Watson on 74 minutes, Everton trying to settle the issue with their now expected aerial bombardment in the final quarter.
City brought on Nedum Onuoha and Negouai for Mills and Macken while Joseph Yobo replaced Gravesen, all with 10 minutes left.
Negouai's first involvement was a tackle on Bent in the Everton box that enraged the home players and resulted in a red card for the young substitute, who eventually walked off appearing to show clear disbelief at the decision.
Have your say on City's defeat
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listened to the game on the radio, sounded like a complete inept performance. was that the case? slack marking for both goals, mills' determination to become a bench warmer, curious line up from kk and a complete lack of leadership throughout. i hope this wasn't close to the mark! next up 19th & 20th in the league at home, nothing short of 6 points will do! and lets hope kk was given a left midfielder for xmas.
Its my birtheday today and we lose again!!! Pretty obvious though as we started with MACKEN - when will KK learn that a goalkeeper can score more than he can?! Get Kanu in on a free from W.B.A for a start
Its my birtheday today and we lose again!!! Pretty obvious though as we started with MACKEN - when will KK learn that a goalkeeper can score more than he can?! Get Kanu in on a free from W.B.A for a start
depending on who u listen 2, city could have 'got' something 2day. were points sacrificed for naieve political correctness ! was that line-up going to hold on ? seems not. wouldnt bartons inclusion have aided city's cause 2 day ? pip..pip..
Negoui sent off!!!! That in my own opinion, was no way a sending off offence.
When Keegan starts with 3 attackers and 3 midfielders I knew it was not going to work! Why bring Negoui on when were loosing? I think Keegan got it all wrong today, time for a resignation I belive,
Went today. Collectively we were okay but lost because of 2 personal errors. Mills lost Cahill for their first but the greater error was down to Distin who had a chance to row Z it for their second and failed to do so, instead passing it to them to cross and score. When the going gets tough, we can never depend on Distin who frequently bottles it. Time for Dunney and Nedham I think. Mills was awful again. McClaren knew what he was doing when he got rid of him. Trust Keegan to give him a 4 year deal as now we're stuck with him.
As usual we are on the rollercoaster that a Manchester City supporter expects and no doubt this will continue throughout the rest of the season. When we lose we are always unlucky acording to KKK. The fact is that we are not good enough, too many players who are not skillfull enough for the Premier and a manager who is bereft of ideas and motivational ability. Do we really believe that he has City at heart when he knows that within less than a couple of years he can walk away. the time is now and he must go. Forget Pearce and get in a Trainer with international experience-not another Keegan.
Listened on the Radio (MCTV.com , but GMR !), and it seems that the commentators were watching a different game to Keegan. Blatant bad marking for both Everton goals ( the GMR commentators went on at length about these situations , ie Free headers). We can fail to score at home and end up drawing, having made lots of chances and tried. I can forgive City that, but I simply do not understand what Keegan had planned yesterday with this team. He plays Macken up front
instead of Anelka, and still has Sibierski in middle on the left. Then he changes Macken for a no hoper (Negoui ) ! Where was Beep ? And why, if he is punishing Barton on the bench , did he not start Flood ? SWP is going onto the left behind the defence to 'tidy-up'???. Well, well, well !! How much longer do we have to put up with this ? What is particulary disturbing is that the after(math!) -match interview, he genuinely believed we were hard done by. Come on Kev, the Radio commentators are pro City but they were seriously questioning
the Game-plan and tactics all afternoon. Strangely enough, I think we'll have the six points in the bag before the Arsenal game, but it seems to be more pot luck at the moment than 'consistent professionalism'. Doing Everton a favour like this is not good for Football, they are boring and lacking any emotion. Yesterday they were there for the taking and we failed thanks to Keegans bad Team selection. 4-3-3 away from home ?? this is not how we win games or friends.
Ps Kick Mills in the pants or drop him, he spends way too much time 'not' playing football when on the park. His arrogant
and constant bad attitude to the Refs and opposition is beginning to hurt us. Solution ?, give Onuoha a chance, let Millsy take a reality check.
May I admit to being totally perplexed by Keegan's thought process for the Everton game? First he cuts of his nose to smite his face with Barton on the bench, and later when the game was crying out for his introduction he was left warming the bench. Next, Everton play a 4-5-1 so cavalier Kev plays a 4-3-3 verging on the 4-5-1. The front 6 players had only one, Bosvelt, with natural defending tendencies. Playing Fowler, Sibski, Macken and Anelka, away from home, and against a top 5 team, seemed before the game optimistic and that's the way it turned out. Those players didn't lose the game; Keegan did with the wrong starting eleven. I can not understand for the life of me why he didn't shake it up with 15 to 20 minutes left. A little bit of width perhaps with Flood being introduced and SWP reverting wide, Barton coming on and any two from Fowler, Sibski, Macken and Anelka should have gone off with a change to a more familiar 4-4-2. Round pegs in round holes, Kev. I'm a big Keegan fan but boy did he annoy me last night. Thought James made some excellent saves, Dunne did ok but kept putting James under pressure, Distin was fine apart from once going walk about and his terrible clearance which led to the 2nd goal, Jordan was as ever quietly consistent, Bosvelt was the best of the bunch again in midfield and SWP looked dangerous when he had a go.
KK has finally lost it!! He also lost us 3 points at Goodison yesterday as they were nothing special and there for the taking had he played last weeks team. Wardle fined Joey 6 weeks wages (for something that probably happens at the majority of Christmas Parties!) and said the matter was now over, he didn't ban him from playing so for the good of Manchester City Football Club Joey should have played yesterday as he is are best player in the centre of midfielder. He then decides to change systems to accomodate dropping Barton and plays 4-3-3 against a team that plays 5 in midfield, totally leaving our midfield two (as Sib is a passenger week in week out!) totally out run. The team looked completely out of sorts and didn't seem to know where anyone upfront was supposed to play. KK then tops the day off by bringing on a player upfront who has appeared only twice in three years - as a midfielder, instead of bringing on a forward who has scored 13 more goals in the reserves and who nearly rescued us at Boro (BWP) - priceless!! Thanks for all you've done KK but stand up take a bow and leave now before you lose all credability!
Who wrote this article? Keegan? unlucky? I dont think so. Their two goals came about out of abysmal defending by Dunne & Distin.Why KK dropped Barton is beyond me obviously the infamous cigar incident had something to do with it but the lad was our match winner last week so Keegan is WRONG AGAIN.Sibiereski? can any other City fan put their hand on their heart and say "Antonie Sibiereski is Premiership standard? to be fair to him we could relate that question to several other players in our squad The bottom line is all these very ordinary performers we have at Eastlands are KKs signings at do I have to explain further?
ha ha ha ha ha yet another win for the reds and yet another defeat for City ha ha ha ha ha. Fowler gets booked for celebrating his goal or perhaps doing it off the pitch,he should behave hhimself and celebrate when its a winning goal,most of his goals EH (not many ha ha ha) have come when city have lost ha ha ha ha just like Anelka he really couldn't care less for you BITTERS ha ha ha ha
I think a draw would have been fair. I was surprised to see Everton playing the 'maximise all opportunities to get a free kick' game as favoured by continental sides, and the likes of Arsenal. It seems to be the secret of their success this season, that and their effective use of the pressing game against our midfield and defence. I think City's problem is that we can be a bit naive in our approach and are sometimes too honest for our own good. It's not all bad though, we have a good spirit and two back to back wins this week will start the 'we're off to Europe' talk again.
We lost at Everton because the Manager played a weakened team by leaving out Barton.If ever we needed one player to be on that pitch to combat the midfield of Graveson and Co then that player was Barton.David Moyes would have been delighted to see him left out.Lets get one thing straight--the club were right to reprimand and fine Barton--that is punishing the player--but to leave him out of the team is to punish the Club,Team and Supporters,and that is wrong.Anelka can slag the club off every few weeks in the press--but he plays.Joey Barton puts his heart and soul into every performance and loves playing for City and he gets left on the bench.What concerns me is that no one on the management side have taken any responsibility for this incident,but the facts are that the club sent the players into a night club in the city centre ,doesnt anyone think this was a bad idea?and where was the manager and the chairman while all this was going on--Keegan was sat at home apparantly--does his management responsibilities end when the players leave the field?We have a Manager who continues to make bad decisions and a Chairman who seems to do as the manager tells him--well its not good enough and its time the fans let them know that weve had enough.
Paul, East stand, I'm not sure what radio channel you listened to but my guess is, it was GMR? Was it Fred Eyre passing his benign comments again? Yes the goals were poor from a defensive point of view, in particular I am getting a bit fed up of Danny Mills, who seems more intent on crunching certain opponents than he does marking them but overall I thought we were unlucky to come away with nothing! The referee was a complete 'homer' giving Everton every debateable decision and the Negouai sending off was nonsense. Did anyone see Marcus Bent smiling and winking at the crowd? The odd formation of Fowler and Anelka dropping off into flanking midfield roles nearly worked although despite a great cross for the goal, Macken's overall contribution was again lacking. Don't forget Blues that Everton are 3rd though are not much better than us; it is just that they both attack and defend better as a unit and they have an exceptional player in Thomas Gravesen. How about starting with the same attacking line-up against beleaguered WBA tomorrow?
Is Pearce on holiday or was the recent run of defensive improvement merely a co-incidence. Judging by the goals scored by Everton our efensive marking once again leaves much to be desired. Can anyone tell me how Mills continues to hold down his place in the side, surely the young man who performed so well at Portsmouth deserves another opprtunity or is he the wrong side of 30. We have the makings of a good side and KK did produce one piece of common sense by playing Anelka alongside Fowler and Macken. Substitute Onouo for Mills and Barton for Sib and we will be close to a very good team.
keegan lost us that game yesterday,
he bottled it and went with the 10percent of you muppets that think barton shouldnt play against wba.
you ididots why should we the suffering, suffer futher more?
3 strikers with no service are never gonna score especially when only one of the midfielders swp have got any pace and skill and pass the ball forward ont backward like a hot potatoe like sib and bos do.
you 10 percent go and take a walk with that bottler........
Please go Keegan. No shape, no tactics. The set piece situation has been a problem for 3 years now and it's not improving. Last minute we get a freekick. All in the box including James. Who do the 'coaches' get to put in a telling delivery? The18 year old who by KK's admission needs to improve his use of the ball. Just imagine Clive Woodward " last seconds. we need a drop. move over Wilko, let Thompson take it!". Proof enough. Time to go.
It seems that the no-brainers are at it again after one somewhat unfortunate defeat. Frankly I think KK was doing Barton a favour by leaving him on the bench. The stick he would have got from the Everton fans, particualrly as he is in their view an 'Everton reject', may well have ended up with him losing his head and getting himself in deeper trouble. No, better he works his way back into the team with two home games. Then by the time of the next away game his misdemeanours will all be very much in the past
Hello ladies nice christmas. Whats all the furore here over another defeat. What did you expect a win. You`re a small time outfit lucky to be in the PL, so remember your place.
Sal the Kid, your comments are so poignant.... they cut right to the point with such brevity, such insight, such lack of punctuation, thought and wit. Clearly a Red, get a life ! Go and follow your own team. If 30 years of suffering as a City fan ( The 10 years before hand were glory days), can't break us, sad and daft comments from Reds with nothing better to do, won't break us either. CTID mate, Post Keegan too.
We lost this game through poor team selection by KK and bad errors by two defenders and the ref! If Barton was fit he should have been in the side and I presume he was! So KK cockup that probably cst us a point against a very average Everton who are nowhere near top four standard. Dunne and Distin both at fault for the goals. The ref at fault for sending off Negouai for a nothing challenge.
Cockups all round. KK for not playing Barton. That cost us a point! Dunne and Distin for costing us the other two. The ref for sending off Negouai!