This was a match of supreme frustration for Manchester City summed up in the final seconds when Raheem Sterling was felled by John Stones inside the penalty area only for Roger East, the referee, to fail to point at the spot.
This had Manuel Pellegrini’s team and supporters in uproar and while an injustice given the chances spurned City should have already sealed victory.
At the close they had failed to score at home for the first time in nearly a year, the last occasion being a 2-0 FA Cup defeat to Middlesbrough on 24 January. It meant their domination of Everton ended in the dropping of what may prove crucial points in this wide-open title race.
Of the Sterling penalty claim that was turned down, Pellegrini said: “I don’t think I need to give my thoughts about that action. The whole stadium could see it was a penalty. It was so clear, so near for the referee and both legs of Raheem were taken and it was clear foul from Stones. But if the referee doesn’t whistle for it, we can’t say anything about that.”
Roberto Martínez offered a bullish take on the incident, seeming to suggest Sterling was hoping to deceive East into awarding the kick. “The way I saw it live and I haven’t seen the replay, I saw John Stones go to ground to block the trajectory of the ball, the direction of the ball. All of a sudden, Raheem Sterling is quite happy not to play the ball and he wants to invite some sort of a contact. Not long ago we were on the receiving end of a really poor decision right at the end in the last minute against Stoke.”
The Everton manager was referring to a Marko Arnautovic penalty that defeated Everton 4-3 at Goodison Park. “It was the wrong decision at that time. What you want as a manager is a referee that is 100% when he gives that sort of decision.”
Pellegrini had felt unable to start David Silva, who was a substitute, so he asked Sterling to operate at No10, Jesús Navas was on the right and the disappointing Kevin De Bruyne on the left.
The Sterling-De Bruyne partnership was lively. The England man won the opening corner which was taken by the Belgian, though it came to nothing. Later they combined as De Bruyne sprinted into the area from Sterling’s pass in what was a second warning to the visitors.
Everton arrived with only three away victories but on the half-hour Leon Osman suggested they had no fear of performing here. Romelu Lukaku chipped a ball in from the right and Osman let go a sweet left-foot volley that went narrowly wide.
After creating this chance Lukaku showed why he is the League’s joint top scorer, with 15 goals. Stones sliced City open with a pass along the right and the centre-forward sprinted into the area but as he shot Nicolás Otamendi did enough to put the Belgian off.
Although neither manager made a substitution at the interval Pellegrini tinkered with his personnel, swapping the positions of De Bruyne and Sterling. If he hoped for a dividend from the latter’s pace down the left he came close to a near-instant yield. Taking the ball along the corridor Sterling’s speed allowed him to tear towards Tim Howard but the attempt was a disappointment, so off target it came closer to being a throw-in than to giving City the lead.
Yaya Touré’s form has enjoyed a recent upturn and a buccaneering run and shot that forced a corner again showed the factor he can be for City. De Bruyne, who previously scuffed a delivery from the right quadrant, this time aimed better as it came at Sergio Agüero at speed and the No10’s header needed the excellent Howard to be sharp to repel it.
This was now City’s best passage of play. Sterling again might have taken himself into double figures for City this season but he could not convert. Next up, De Bruyne had a cross-cum-shot that came to nothing.
After Martínez brought on Steven Pienaar and Arouna Koné for Osman and Gerard Deulofeu, Pellegrini made his own move. De Bruyne was replaced by Silva, the manager looking for the player he views as City’s X-factor to fashion a third league victory in four outings. But the player nicknamed “Merlin” could not affect the outcome. City probed but could not find the ruthless edge required. They will hope not to look back with regret at this come the end of the season.
As Pellegrini had to concede this had been a missed opportunity to close the gap to the leaders. “Yes of course. Not because you play at home and you drop points, it’s because we had a lot of merit, especially during the second half, to win this game, in a clear way. But for different reasons we couldn’t score. But we have another 17 games and the important thing is to try to continue in the way we are.
“I am happy about the performance, although I am disappointed with the result. But nothing is finished yet.”
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário