Thunder rumbled and lightning crackled on an ominously black day on Merseyside. But the threatening grumbles came from the barrel chest of Nigel de Jong, and the electricity was crackling across the frowning brow of Roberto Mancini.
Now City fans hope that the storm breaks on the heads of Tottenham as the race for the Champions League reaches a tempestuous climax.
To say City were crackling with suppressed fury at tossing away three points is an understatement.
By the time the Blues team bus had passed back through Checkpoint Charlie and into the sunnier clime of Manchester, the metaphorical clouds had already start to clear.
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And a ray of sunshine, known in Blackpool as Charlie Adam, had plunged Spurs into tumult and ensured that this City defeat was not as damaging as it might have been.
Adam’s goal in the tea-time kick-off game at White Hart Lane ensured that rather than take a hefty chunk out of City’s erstwhile seven-point lead, misfiring Spurs could only nibble at the edges.
That means City go into Tuesday's showdown with Harry Redknapp’s side at Eastlands with all the aces. They know a point will be enough to clinch fourth place, unless City collapse in their last two games and Tottenham somehow brew up a blizzard of goals.
But for Blues fans, it would be lovely if their team could earn their first season of Champions League football with a display of the type of football which threatened to overwhelm Everton in the first half at Goodison Park.
David Moyes’ stubborn and purposeful side are usually a good barometer for the sides who have ambitions at the sharp end of the Premier League table.
Only Arsenal have beaten them twice this season, and of the rest of the top six, only United have taken four points off them. They delight in testing the mettle of clubs which aspire to be a member of the elite, as City have found out.
This defeat means the Blues have lost seven of their last eight league games against the Toffees.
And yet, for 45 minutes Moyes’ side was in danger of being swept away by a cascade of powerful, subtle and eye-pleasing football. City fans have seen it before, however. They swarmed all over Blackburn for 25 minutes, and did the same to West Ham last week, only to hit a brick wall.
At Ewood Park and against the Hammers, they got away with it, and with six points.
Everton were not going to be so benevolent, and City have to find a way of pressing home their advantage if they are to be a top-four club in style as well as name.
Be assured, if they only play for 45 minutes against Stoke on Saturday, that ‘35 Years’ banner will not be ripped from its Old Trafford moorings, because Tony Pulis’s side will do what they do for the full 90.
City fans can be forgiven for turning into schizophrenics after so many years of optimistic pessimism.
They can look at the lovely football of the first half and rejoice for a bright future, and then gaze on the panicky poverty of the second half and wonder if it was all a dream.
Mercurial
David Silva was at his mercurial best in that opening spell, popping up in space like Messi, darting passes, and easing through tight gaps in the Everton defence like water flowing over pebbles.
His counter-balance was Yaya Toure, all push and run, then steamhammer power, players bouncing off him.
With James Milner adding neatly to the blend with a willing and effective midfield display, Edin Dzeko laying the ball off and Nigel de Jong anchoring it all with his usual parsimony, City were irrepressible.
Vincent Kompany joined in the fun, sending two stunning 60-yard crossfield balls to Silva, just in case sceptics felt the first had been simply a centre-half’s lumpen clearance which had luckily fallen under the spell of the magical little Spaniard’s feet.
Silva shot across goal from the first of those play-switching passes, and City were in the mood.
Milner was the architect moments later, chipping a delightful pass for Silva, whose volley across the area found 34-year-old Patrick Vieira arriving, like the ghost of a 24-year-old Patrick Vieira.
Unfortunately, the neat timing of the run was not matched by the finish as the ball was blazed yards over the bar.
De Jong then cleverly sent Milner clear, the Yorkshireman drawing Tim Howard but then hastily misplacing a square ball to Silva which would surely have brought a goal had the delivery have been better.
Everton are not used to being treated with such disdain, and they were destroyed again seconds later.
The harassed Sylvain Distin, worried by Silva’s twinkling presence, took a dive and swipe at the ball, and the Spaniard was onto it. He slipped his pass to Yaya Toure and the big man surged into the box and swept his shot expertly past Howard.
The Blues ended the half with more sweet-as-sugar football, dismantling the defence before Yaya’s back-heel found Aleks Kolarov on the gallop. Phil Jagielka managed to lunge in and time his tackle to take the ball away from the Serb’s left foot, just as he was poised to end the game as a contest.
Then half-time came, like a guillotine, and it was City’s head on the block. Moyes changed it at the break, bringing on an extra striker, Jermaine Beckford, to support the terribly lonely Victor Anichebe, and sacrificing a midfield body.
It was quite a gamble, as City had been so dominant in midfield, but it paid off, especially as Everton came out fired up.
What was worrying for City was that the kind of high intensity football which Everton produced after the break is the kind of thing in which Stoke specialise.
Time
The Blues might still have wrapped it up as Silva again freed Yaya, but now he had too much time to think and Howard blocked his shot with his legs.
But it was the home side who built up the momentum, and who rocked the Blues with two headed goals which will have Stoke’s towering striker Kenwyne Jones salivating with anticipation.
Former City man Distin rose above the defence to head goalwards from Mikel Arteta’s free-kick, and Joe Hart uncharacteristically flapped a soft hand at the ball as it sneaked inside his post.
City noticeably faltered and weakened, and Everton pounced.
Phil Neville, who had been steamrollered as a midfielder in the first half, re-invented himself as a right-back in the second and chipped a cross neatly for Leon Osman.
Normally, the little Evertonian would not be a match for Kompany, seven inches taller, but – like his team – he had the momentum while the City man was, for once, caught on his heels.
He rose, and looped his header beyond Hart for the winner. There should be no fingers pointed. Some of the villains of that poor second half display were players who have been outstanding this season, so it simply has to be written off as a bad 45.
Now the task for City to piece together two good halves, take some chances, and achieve their dreams in the next five days.
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defend that then clappers if you can, mancini out and take all your muppet buys with you
Unmitigated disaster...Tottenham win on Tuesday (which is highly likely) and its another woeful failure of a season delivered to you by Signore Mancini.
Such a pitiful bunch of players doing as little as possible - this my friends is LOSING MENATLITY personified. Still noi match winner capable of scoring a late equaliser or winner...despite having Johnson, Milner, Balotelli, Dzeko, Silva and Jo on the field.
Incomprehensible ineptness!
Absolute DIRE BLUES !!
MILNER, VIERRA, PATHETIC KOLAROV are PATHETIC !!
What is it with Bobbi chopping and changing sides....MANCINI to blame...Why cant we take our chances and hold our nerve -
WE WAS CRAP !!
I hate SCOUSERS!!
CITY FOR LIFE !!
We'll beat spuds no problem. 4 points from 3 games and we're in the champions league.
City can;t cope with pressure. This was horrible.
Thrown away through missed chances. How on earth did Patrick Vieira miss that chance in the first half? Ya Ya through on Howard should have scored. O.K, I know Everton deserve some praise for fighting back but boy, were they lucky today.
Madonna Santa. Had to pinch myself after 20 minutes, as I thought we might be capable of coming away from Everton with an unlikely 3 points. The half time team talk cant have done very much because we went on to lose it. Sure, Dowd played the complete homer, and did not punish the crude Everton tackling. Felt that we succombed to continuous bullying dished out by Everton, which is worrying. A lost opportunity and a massive disappointment coming away with nothing.
A case of dominating early on, not taking enough chances then crumbling at crosses into the box. We had no response, Balo, Jo? We still need carlos.
For once I thought Kompany deserves some criticism for not being as dominating as he can be. Pulis must be taking notes on the balls into the box and how city cannot deal with it. Still a lot of work to do before this time next week and getting where we want to be.
Blown it ! why was GB not playing? sorry to say this but we now need to beat the spuds but i cant see it even at home , we have just handed them the momentom on a plate !
Should have been 3 up at half time, no fight for second half although Yaya should have scored in the second half.
Pulis watching us again, another scrap at Wembly, are we up for the fight???
Must beat Spurs on Tuesday!!!!
In the end we got what we deserved and this must really be encouraging for both Spurs and Stoke. Dominant in the first half, great chances were missed by Silva and, more especially, Viera before Ya Ya scored. In the second half Ya Ya had a golden opportunity to end the game early in the second half. Then Dzeko had a good chance. Then Silva and Ya Ya lost their grip on the game and Everton's more rugged game began to take over. We conceded two to headers from crosses - in neither case was there an effective challenge on the Everton player. What really is disturbing though is the way our game collapsed in the face of a fairly basic Everton approach - and this must have been exactly what Pulis wanted to see. Very disappointing and they've got to get a grip before Tuesday.
We had enough chances to win three games but Mancini's gamble of persisting with the lumbering Vieira in the 2nd half gave Everton the opportunity to dominate possession and put us on the back foot. Superb display by Silva wasted by the inability to take our chances.
Long time til the typical city tag is gone! Cruising to victory, chance to put our feet up on Tuesday and now it will be squeaky bum time!! We constantly think the game is won at 1-0 and are incapable of getting the second goal, Yaya's miss one on one was a disgrace and he and Silva were non=existent second half after running it! Still too many players who think they only have to play for 45 minutes!
Horrible feeling that the pattern of today's game could be the same at Wembley as that is exactly how Stoke will play it. Question is will we have learnt?
Yet again we switch off and pay the price. Those who think 4th place is guaranteed,and this includes the players, are living in a fools paradise. Headed goals, aren't these Stokes main weapon. We are by no means ready for the Champions League, wrong attitude.
Crusing comfortably and we throw it away. I guess it's gonna be the hard way.
Typical City.
By the way, if we bought Cahill it would buy us 6 points per season. The SECOND he came on, they equalised and the game changed. He is a jinx.
sorry to say it , typical city!
We need to learn to grab games by the scruff of the neck and finish teams off. This should have been over at half time. Wish I could put my finger on whats missing.
At half time it seemed too good to be true. Clearly Moyes reminded them this was their twice yearly Cup Final. When it became a physical battle, Everton's strength, in the 2nd half a few were shirking out and thinking of Wembley. Understandable, I suppose. Stoke will look forward to pumping balls into the box on that display. I just hope there are a few 'Mancini out' wallahs on to post. I could do with a laugh after that.
Stunned by the 2nd half performance, if anyone thought typical city had lost it’s tag then think again. Mancini got it horribly wrong after the break, instead of putting Johnson on he kept 1 up front and invited Everton to attack us, you don’t do that at Goodison as we have seen time and time again.
Let’s hope that’s the team’s worst 45 minute display out of the way before the run in. We have certainly put enormous pressure on ourselves with that 2nd 45 but a great performance on Tuesday will see us through.
Beat spuds, simple as that.
Total rubbish second half performance against nothing more than a workmanlike Everton who huffed and puffed and put us under pressure. We visibly crumbled and had no stomach for the fight against a team with nothing to play for, Did any of the following come out after half time : Silva, Viera, de Jong as I never saw them.
So people think we can afford to let Tevez leave in the summer ? Really ? Balotelli and Dzeko wouldn't manage 5 between them all season on that performance. We are light years from being a CL team. Zabaleta tries hard but is clearly not good enough. Kompany, where was your composure and leadership today ? You were rattled all second half and you had a shocker. Joe Hart - how did you fail to save the Distin goal ? It was a relatively easy save - close to you right hand and you should have pushed it away fairly easily. Kolarov - very weak defensively.
When will we learn to punish teams we we are on top ? Missed chances cost us and the longer it was 1-0 the more Everton tried and the more we shrank from the task.
If we don't make the CL this season then I won't be shelling out for any Europa Cup matches as I've done this season.
Mancini - next time we go 2-1 down and the team is wilting before your eyes why take so long to bring any subs on ? Viera's legs had totally gone after half time why wasn't he subbed after 60 mins ?
Everton proved again that team spirit and desire overcomes marginally better skill every time. I am sick of them turning us over and embarrassing us.
No excuses - not good enough City. You still haven't convinced me you want success badly enough. It'll be more of the same against Stoke. Balls pumped or thrown into our box constantly. Wonder if we have learned our lesson after today ?
The "bogey team" did not strike again, it was just another example of poor performance by City all round. Poor defending, poor finishing, poor passing, poor ball retention, poor tactics and selection (by Mancini), and a lack of effort, urgency, and professionalism on the pitch in general.
Put in a performance like that again next week and not only will we be kissing goodbye to the first piece of silverware in 35 years, but the Champions League spot will be seriously under threat.
No excuses from anyone please ........... just sort it!
Mancini said against liverpool that he made a mistake playin milner and dzeko and does the same thing again today! unbelievable. Watched it on net and our defence- especially kolorov- couldn't cope with the balls they were pumpin into the area for most of the second half. If we play like that against stoke we'll get embarrassed because they have good wingers and will dance around our fullbacks all day. We're not gonna win anything with this clown in charge.
I suppose it was to much to have expected we beat everton, as fans of city we should know by now that their hatred for us has them raise their game against us and crucially we should know this always takes Mancini and the players by surprise every single time we play them. Besides it was also too much to expect having won last week to win today and Tuesday and next Saturday as that would mean four wins on the bounce and it's probably decades apart that we do that. Sickening that hundreds of millions makes no damn difference against everton!!! Credit to everton though, they creamed us and they knew they would, they had no doubt whatsoever and nor did their fans. Were City, and we lose to everton every time full stop.
Some players didn't seem to want to win this game - the league not important then? Was Milner playing? Why?
Typical City? Perhaps not but this makes for the start to a possibly heartbreaking week!
CTID