Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeep! Bobby Madley calls time on an entertaining, often fractious affair which ended with the teams sharing the spoils. Wayne Rooney put Everton ahead in the 35th minute, before his team-mate Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who was excellent this evening, showed great cunning to play a role in getting Kyle Walker set off. Despite being down to 10 men, Manchester City equalised through Raheem Sterling, before Morgan Schneiderlin got his marching orders after Sergio Aguero made a meal of what looked a fair challenge. Honours even, then ... which seems about fair.
90+4 min: Brilliant defending from Davy Klaassen, who makes a cruciasl interception as Bernardo Silva attempts to dink the ball to his namesake David in a goalkeeping position a few yards from goal. Corner for Manchester City, from which nothing comes.
90+1 min: Manchester City continue looking for a winner now the teams have both been reduced to ten men and the big-spenders in the Etihad Tunnel Club have got even more bang for their buck than they were expecting. A post-match brawl in the tunnel would be the stuff of their wildest dreams and it doesn’t seem beyond the realms of credibility.
88 min: Already on a yellow card, Morgan Schneiderlin is sent off for a challenge on Sergio Aguero. It looked a perfectly clean, ball-winning challenge, which Aguero made a meal of. Karma’s a bitch, innit? Schneiderlin has every right to complain, but after what happened to Kyle Walker, his team-mates can’t.
Everton’s Morgan Schneiderlin (L) is sent off by referee Robert Madley Photograph: Peter Powell/EPA
84 min: Manchester City go in search of a winner, with Sergio Aguero mis-hitting an attempted overhead kick and then slipping as he shaped to shoot from a tight angle after he’d rolled Michael Keane and made half a yard.
Back to the goal, where Everton defender Mason Holgate provided the assist with a woeful header from the back post towards the penalty area, giving Sterling the reasonably simple task of smashing home a volley into the bottom corner. That’s the first goal Everton have conceded in five matches this season. Wayne Rooney was subsequently booked for, I think, dissent.
Raheem Sterling volleys into the bottom left-hand corner to capitalise on a dreadful defensive header from Mason Holgate. It’s all square at the Etihad.
Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling scores to make it 1-1 Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters
82 min: Raheem Sterling tries to tee up David Silva with a pass into the Everton penalty area, but there are too many bodies there in the livery of Everton. The ball’s cleared.
78 min: Another 60 seconds of high drama as Pickford saves brilliantly from Danilo at one end, before Vincent Kompany is booked at the other for throwing himself between the ball and Calvert-Lewin in order to end a counter-attack. In between, the ball broke to Aguero from Pickford after his wonderful save and the Argentina appealed for a penalty after being bundled to the ground as he attempted to keep the ball in play.
Everton’s Jordan Pickford saves from Manchester City’s Danilo Photograph: Carl Recine/Action Images via Reuters
76 min: Nicolas Otamendi goes down holding his face after an aerial tussle with Dominic Calvert-Lewin. City’s players urder referee Bobby Madley to send the Everton man off, but he’s not prepared to do so. Replays show Calvert-Lewin caught Otamendi in the chin with a flailing hand, but it was accidental.
74 min: The 10 men of Manchester City continue to press forward and go very close. Raheem Sterling pounces greedily on an excellent lay-off from Aguero, but ends up with his head in his hands after failing to hit the target from a wonderful position. Moments previously, Rooney had fired well wide for Everton at the other end of the field.
72 min: Raheem Sterling tries to chip Pickford from distance. It’s not a dreadful effort, but it was rather optimistic. His effort sails wide of the goal.
71 min: Close! Aguero jinks this way and that on the left side of the Everton penalty area and digs out a cross under pressure. David Silva chests the ball down for Bernardo Silva, who volleys into the ground and wide. That was a decent opportunity!
69 min:Manchester City substitution: Leroy Sane off, Bernardo Silva on. Re: Kyle Walker’s march of shame for the benefit of those in Manchester City’s new Tunnel Club ...
67 min: Manchester City substitution a couple of moments ago: John Stones off, Danilo on. He takes up position on the right flank, while Raheem Sterling moves into the centre.
63 min: Manchester City swarm forward, with David Silva looking dangerous but ultimately running down a blind alley. Everton break forward and Dominic Calvert-Lewin once again does well to hold the ball up on the right flank before getting a low cross in to the penalty area. Ederson gets down quickly to cut it out.
60 min:Everton double-substitution: Ashley Williams and Tom Davies off, Davy Klaassen and Gylfi Sigurdsson on. After a protracted summer transfer saga, Sigurdsson makes his debut for Everton.
59 min: Play resumes after a short break in which Schneiderlin was treated after taking that shot in the ribs. Manchester City’s players are understandably unhappy, as there doesn’t seem to be much wrong with him.
58 min: Free-kick for Manchester City, straight in front of the Everton goal, a few yards outside the D. Kevin De Bruyne fires his effort straight into the wall, where Morgan Schneiderlin takes one in the chest for his team.
The Everton wall defends a free kick taken by Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City Photograph: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images
56 min: Nicolas Otamendi robs Tom Davies of possession on the right touchline near the halfway line and gallops up the pitch before cutting inside. He tries to pick out Sergio Aguero in the Everton penalty area, but Michael Keane heads clear.
54 min: Despite being down to 10 men, Manchester City have begun the second half as they did the first: on the front foot. They’ve had 63% of the possession so far in this half.
51 min: Kevin De Bruyne tees up Sergio Aguero on the edge of the area, but the Argentinian’s shot is blocked by Keane. He gets back on the ball and tries to scurry into the area, but Mason Holgate is glued to him like an Etihad Tunnel Club member with his or her nose pressed up to the glass and shepherds him out of play.
49 min: City fans rouse themselves to criticise referee Bobby Madley for not penalising what they saw as a Leighton Baines back-pass to Jordan Pickford that the goalkeeper picked up. They might have a point, although Madley could argue the ball broke to Pickford after a Baines tackle on Sterling.
48 min: The atmosphere seems a bit subdued, with few City fans making as much noise as their manager, who spent a couple of minutes before the restart giving the fourth official a very animated piece of his mind.
46 min: Everton kick off, with Raheem Sterling getting his chance to parade past the slack-jawed ale-suppers of the “tunnel club” as they gaze in amazement from their privileged position at the extraordinary sight of of some men walking from a room to a football pitch. He’s on for City, who can feel very hard done by at the dismissal of Kyle Walker. The ref must have assumed he elbowed Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but replays show he did no such thing. Gabriel Jesus makes way for Sterling.
45+3 min: The teams traipse off for their half-time break, with Everton leading against the run of play thanks to Wayne Rooney’s 35th minute strike. Manchester City must play the second half with just 10 men, after Kyle Walker was sent off for two bookable offences, one of which barely looked like an actual offence ... let alone a bookable one. We’ll see it again during the break, no doubt.
45+1 min: Still, at least those bozos in the “tunnel club” are getting value for their money. £18,812 per season it costs for the privilege of seeing footballers walking from the dressing room to the pitch and back. The sight of a player doing so at an unexpected time and in a bad mood almost makes it seems value for money.
44 min: Having just been booked for a foul on Leighton Baines, Kyle Walker is sent off for backing into Dominic Calvert-Lewin under a high ball. Calvert-Lewin goes down like a sack of spuds, despite replays showing there was no elbow or any other act of violence. Walker had a little look behind him before backing into his man, but that looks a ridiculous second yellow.
Manchester City’s Kyle Walker (L) is sent off by referee Robert Madley Photograph: Peter Powell/EPA
42 min: A period of sustained pressure from Man City ends with Gabriel Jesus taking down a cross from Sergio Aguero and shooting straight at Pickford. Por defending from Everton, but they get away with it.
37 min: Well, you couldn’t say there wasn’t a goal coming, but I wouldn’t have bet much money on Everton getting it. Moments previously, Silva had rattled the woodwork and just before that Jagielka had performed a near miracle to block a Sergio Aguero effort from close range.
So, three chances in no more than 90 seconds and it’s Everton who are ahead. Hats off to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who’s been outstanding for Everton tonight. He’s strong, quick, his hold-up play is great and he picked out Rooney, who scored from close range, after leaving a couple of City defenders looking like mugs.
