Set-pieces were a source of hope and Stephy Mavididi scrambled in the equaliser with 20 minutes to play after a corner dropped onto his foot. While City were then on top for the remainder of the afternoon, their creative juices weren’t flowing enough for a winner to be created.
Minutes away from their first win at Crystal Palace last weekend, Cooper opted to make just one change, bringing in Bilal El Khannouss for his full City debut. Oliver Skipp was the man to make way, with Wilfred Ndidi dropping from attacking to defensive midfield.
Everton arrived at the King Power Stadium without an away win since last December, but made the quicker start, with Jesper Lindstrom volleying wide early on as City’s defence were pulled apart. A goal did arrive shortly after.
James Justin struggled to keep up with Ndiaye, and the summer signing’s movement earned him half a yard to receive Ashley Young’s sharp pass. He jinked inside and then struck low from 18 yards, the ball sneaking past Mads Hermansen via the Dane’s right-hand post.
City started to get their foot on the ball, but the chances kept coming Everton’s way. Lindstrom was a dangerman, with one effort saved by Hermansen and another struck over.
With half-hour played, the thunderstorm started, and it was intense. Lightning flashed overhead, thunder brought oohs from the crowd, and the front few rows of the stands cleared as the rain poured down. It wasn’t conducive to a quality football match, nor a City comeback. In fact, they only went close once in the first half, when Stephy Mavididi’s scuffed cross was parried against the post by Jordan Pickford.
The rain eased slightly for the second half, but the City performance didn’t improve. Everton remained on top and City needed a goal-saving intervention from Justin and a strong save from Hermansen to keep the deficit to one.
But City did eventually find a route back into the game, and it came through set-pieces. A well-worked corner saw Mavididi set up Caleb Okoli for a golden chance, the Italian heading over from six yards.
But from the next corner, Okoli and Ndidi made nuisances of themselves and the ball dropped to Mavididi in the six-yard box, the winger swivelling and scrambling a shot into the net, Dwight McNeil unable to keep it out on the line.
There were 20 minutes remaining for City to find a winner, and Odsonne Edouard was introduced for his debut to try to help claim it, but ultimately a lack of quality prevented them from creating any clear openings, leaving them to settle for a draw. Here’s how we scored the players.
Mads Hermansen: The goalkeeper made two strong saves to deny Lindstrom and Calvert-Lewin, but was denied a first clean sheet thanks to Ndiaye’s goal, squeezed in off the post. He was perhaps a little too slow to release the ball with his hands at times. 6
James Justin: Ndiaye’s speed, movement, and skill was far too much for him to cope with early on, and it was a factor in the opening goal. Especially as he was expected to advance to join the attack, the full-back struggled to keep tabs on his man the whole afternoon. But he did produce a goal-saving intervention in the second half. 5
Wout Faes: This was classic Faes. There were pieces of strong defending, with important blocks and tackles made when City were stretched. But there were also calamitous moments, particularly in the rain, where he completely lost concentration, with one needing Justin’s last-ditch interception. 6
Caleb Okoli: Strong. He stayed really tight to Calvert-Lewin and gave him very few sniffs, either by outmuscling him or blocking his shots. At set-pieces, he was a constant threat. He should have done better with his chance, but he made a nuisance of himself to help with the equaliser. 7
Victor Kristiansen: He wasn’t tight enough to Lindstrom at times and that made the Everton winger a big threat, especially in the first half. However, he was left without support at times. On the ball, he looked fine when passing to Mavididi, but hashed at a few clearances otherwise. 5
Wilfred Ndidi: He put in tackles and late on he carried the ball forward into attacking areas. But so often he was wasteful around the box, and that really harmed City’s creativity. He did play his part in the equaliser though, pushing to try to win the header. 5
Harry Winks: He tried to calm the team down and maintain possession in the first half, but nobody was on his wavelength. In the second half, he drove forward with the ball well. 6
Jordan Ayew: He showed composure when few others were, bringing the ball down on his chest to keep attacks alive. He won free-kicks as usual too. But he tired in the final 30 minutes and should have been brought off. 6
Bilal El Khannouss: Perhaps not helped by the excitement around him, it was an underwhelming full debut for the £20m man. He was always looking for a forward pass, and there were a few nice threaded balls, but there were too many occasions where he tried an audacious pass too quickly, and nobody in blue was ready. He looked a little lightweight at times too. 5
Stephy Mavididi: He was guilty of doing too much in the first half, throwing in an extra stepover when he’d already created the space. But he was brilliant in the second period. He set up Okoli’s golden chance with a great piece of misdirection, produced an alert finish and consistently beat his full-back. 8
Jamie Vardy: He was, unfortunately, barely involved. Especially after he took a knock to his ankle in the first half, he just didn’t get into the game and wasn’t a threat. 4
Facundo Buonanotte: He dropped deep to get involved again and was feisty, nipping at Everton ankles. But there was limited impact at the top end, bar a couple of nice crossfield passes and one blocked shot. 5
Odsonne Edouard: Overran the ball when he had the chance to set up a team-mate with an overload to his right. Produced a nice flick to set up Buonanotte’s shot though, and he did get on the ball more often than Vardy was doing. 5
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