O’Reilly and Kovacic score as Manchester City secure crucial victory against Everton

Manchester City have climbed to fourth in the Premier League after beating Everton 2-0 on Saturday at Goodison Park.

The Toffees produced a solid display in front of their home crowd but could not hold on to secure a point.

Nico O’Reilly broke the deadlock for City in the 84th minute by ghosting into the penalty box and firing home Matheus Nunes’ cross.

Then, Mateo Kovacic put the game to bed by adding another in stoppage-time, with the victory putting them a point above Nottingham Forest ahead of their away clash with Tottenham Hotspur on Monday.

The first half was largely uneventful and made for a poor spectacle. James Tarkowski went close when he rose highest to flick a header against the post. Then just before half-time, Kevin De Bruyne had his effort brilliantly cleared off the line by Jake O’Brien.

Jordan Pickford made a sharp save to deny Savinho in the second-half before Pep Guardiola’s men struck twice late on to have the final say in the contest.

Everton came into the game on the back of two impressive results against Arsenal and Nottingham Forest. They held the Champions League semi-finalists to a 1-1 draw at Goodison before coming away with a spectacular 1-0 success from the City Ground encounter.

David Moyes’ men put on a solid showing on home soild against City and their performance deserved more than a defeat. But the lates strikes from O’Reilly and Kovacic condemned them to their 11th defeat of the season.

The Citizens have been incredibly dominant in England over the years, having lifted four Premier League titles in a row.

However, they have been massivley underwhelming this campaign, losing nine of their 33 top-flight matches.

Their struggles this season have allowed Liverpool to take charge of the title race, and now it is only a matter of time before the Reds are crowned as the new champions of England.