Manchester City missed the chance to make up ground in the Premier League title race as they were held to a goalless draw by a stubborn Everton.
Manuel Pellegrini's side dominated the second half but were repeatedly denied by away keeper Tim Howard.
It was a supreme defensive display from the Toffees, who had been the better attacking side in the first half.
They also rode their luck, as City were denied a late penalty for a foul on Raheem Sterling by John Stones.
For Everton, it is a point won - and a confidence-boosting one, following a run of seven games in which they have won just once.
But it is two key points dropped for City and they remain three points behind joint league leaders Arsenal, held 3-3 by Liverpool, and Leicester, 1-0 winners at Tottenham.
Look back at all the action from the Etihad
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City miss out
The game began in a half-full Etihad Stadium as traffic problems prevented many fans arriving by kick-off.
However, you would forgive many of the City supporters who did eventually make it to the ground for wishing they had not. Before the break, the home side looked sluggish and were outworked by a dynamic away side.
They did produce a couple of chances - the best of them a Yaya Toure header from eight yards that was palmed away by Howard - but could easily have trailed.
They improved in the second half as Sergio Aguero became more involved, but still struggled to break their opponents down, even after the introduction of David Silva with 15 minutes to go.
The game would end in desperate, vain calls for a penalty for Stones' admittedly risky sliding challenge on Sterling.
Raheem Sterling had a team-high six shots during the game
Pellegrini fumes at penalty decision
City boss Manuel Pellegrini was adamant that Stones' challenge should have been penalised and his side awarded a "clear penalty".
Man City denied clear penalty - Pellegrini
"Everyone in the stadium could see it was a penalty - it was so near to the referee and so clear," said the Chilean. "Both Raheem's legs were taken by Stones but if he doesn't whistle we can't say anything."
Unsurprisingly, Everton boss Roberto Martinez had an opposing view of the incident and praised the "maturity" of referee Roger East.
"We have been on the back end of receiving a penalty, in the last seconds against Stoke," said the Spaniard.
"Stones goes to slide to block the ball, Sterling does not play the ball and waited. In my eyes it is an area that is not certain if it's a penalty or not.
"I believe the referees should control their emotions and the referee did exactly that. It is impossible to be 100% certain and I am pleased he did this and showed his maturity."
Match of the Day pundit Dietmar Hamann: |
|---|
| "Man City were hard done by in the end. Sterling takes on Stones and halfway through the tackle Stones realises he can't get to the ball, but his momentum on the wet pitch means he slides in. There was contact - it should have been a penalty." |
Everton edge part two
Everton's heatmap for the game (right) illustrates the amount of touches they had to make inside their own area as Manchester City applied more and more pressure in the second half
This game was the second part of a fixture trilogy between these sides in January, falling between the two legs of a Capital One Cup semi-final.
Everton resilience pleases Roberto Martinez
A week ago, Romelu Lukaku's winner gave Everton a 2-1 victory at Goodison Park, and they impressed again in a performance that showcased both sides of their game.
In the first half, the Toffees were patient and precise when they had the ball and hard-working when they did not. But for some wayward shooting, they would have led at the break.
Gerard Deulofeu and Lukaku were both denied with shots from an angle in the box, while the latter set up Leon Osman for the best chance - a volley from 15 yards that flew just past Joe Hart's far post.
After the break, Roberto Martinez's side were firmly on the back foot and spent long spells without the ball but demonstrated discipline and commitment to limit City to only a few goalscoring chances.
Man of the match - Tim Howard (Everton)
Tim Howard returned to the Everton starting XI after sitting out the Toffees recent cup games and produced a number of key saves, particularly in the second half, to keep Manchester City at bay
The stats you need to know
- Everton have lost just one of their 10 Premier League away games this season (W3 D6)
- This was only Everton's second Premier League clean sheet in their past eight games
- Man City had 22 shots but only five of them were on target
- Everton had two shots on target, the second of them coming in the 18th minute
- Sergio Aguero has scored in just four of his 14 Premier League appearances this season and just once in his past five PL games
- Joe Hart made his 250th Premier League appearance for Man City in this game
What next?
Manchester City are at home again on Saturday, with Crystal Palace the visitors.
Everton face another tough away trip on the same day, as they travel to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea.
Lineup, Bookings (1) & Substitutions (3)
Manchester City
- 01 Hart
- 03 Sagna
- 30 Otamendi
- 26 Demichelis
- 22 Clichy
- 15 Jesús Navas
- 42 Y Touré
- 06 Fernando
- 17 De Bruyne (Silva - 74' )
- 07 Sterling
- 10 Agüero
Substitutes
- 05 Zabaleta
- 11 Kolarov
- 13 Caballero
- 18 Delph
- 21 Silva
- 72 Iheanacho
- 77 Humphreys-Grant
Everton
- 24 Howard
- 05 Stones
- 06 Jagielka
- 25 Funes Mori
- 03 Baines
- 17 Besic Booked
- 18 Barry
- 19 Deulofeu (Pienaar - 71' )
- 20 Barkley
- 21 Osman (Koné - 71' )
- 10 Lukaku
Substitutes
- 01 Robles
- 08 Oviedo
- 09 Koné
- 11 Mirallas
- 12 Lennon
- 22 Pienaar
- 32 Galloway
Match Stats
Live Text Commentary
Full Time Match ends, Manchester City 0, Everton 0.
90:00 +3:09 Full timeFull Time Second Half ends, Manchester City 0, Everton 0.
90:00 +0:24Corner, Manchester City. Conceded by Leighton Baines.
89:28Attempt missed. Romelu Lukaku (Everton) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Muhamed Besic with a cross.
86:28Offside, Everton. Leighton Baines tries a through ball, but Arouna Koné is caught offside.
85:42Foul by Bacary Sagna (Manchester City).
85:42Steven Pienaar (Everton) wins a free kick on the left wing.
83:57Corner, Manchester City. Conceded by John Stones.
82:11Corner, Everton. Conceded by Martín Demichelis.
82:09Attempt blocked. Romelu Lukaku (Everton) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Leighton Baines.
80:43Attempt missed. Sergio Agüero (Manchester City) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is just a bit too high. Assisted by David Silva.
80:18Attempt blocked. Jesús Navas (Manchester City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Yaya Touré.
79:23Corner, Manchester City. Conceded by Phil Jagielka.
79:19Attempt blocked. David Silva (Manchester City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Yaya Touré.
78:56Attempt blocked. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by David Silva.
76:34Attempt missed. Jesús Navas (Manchester City) header from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Gaël Clichy with a cross.
74:27Offside, Everton. Tim Howard tries a through ball, but Romelu Lukaku is caught offside.
73:47Foul by David Silva (Manchester City).
73:47Steven Pienaar (Everton) wins a free kick on the left wing.
73:05 SubstitutionSubstitution Substitution, Manchester City. David Silva replaces Kevin De Bruyne.
Attempt missed. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Fernando.
72:25Attempt blocked. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Kevin De Bruyne.
71:29Attempt blocked. Yaya Touré (Manchester City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Raheem Sterling.
70:22 SubstitutionSubstitution Substitution, Everton. Arouna Koné replaces Leon Osman.
70:07 SubstitutionSubstitution Substitution, Everton. Steven Pienaar replaces Gerard Deulofeu.
68:50Attempt saved. Sergio Agüero (Manchester City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Yaya Touré with a through ball.
65:24Corner, Manchester City. Conceded by Ross Barkley.
65:23Attempt blocked. Yaya Touré (Manchester City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Jesús Navas.
64:54Attempt saved. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Fernando.
63:59Corner, Manchester City. Conceded by Phil Jagielka.
60:58Attempt saved. Sergio Agüero (Manchester City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Kevin De Bruyne with a cross.
60:33Corner, Manchester City. Conceded by Ramiro Funes Mori.
60:31Attempt blocked. Yaya Touré (Manchester City) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is blocked. Assisted by Kevin De Bruyne.
57:55Offside, Manchester City. Jesús Navas tries a through ball, but Sergio Agüero is caught offside.
56:26Corner, Manchester City. Conceded by Phil Jagielka.
54:09Attempt blocked. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
53:10Offside, Everton. Leighton Baines tries a through ball, but Romelu Lukaku is caught offside.
53:05Attempt missed. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) right footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right.
52:08Corner, Manchester City. Conceded by John Stones.
52:06Attempt blocked. Jesús Navas (Manchester City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Martín Demichelis.
52:04Attempt blocked. Martín Demichelis (Manchester City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Kevin De Bruyne with a cross.
51:45Corner, Manchester City. Conceded by Gareth Barry.
50:56Delay over. They are ready to continue.
49:54Delay in match John Stones (Everton) because of an injury.
49:27 BookingBooking Muhamed Besic (Everton) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
49:23Foul by Muhamed Besic (Everton).
49:23Sergio Agüero (Manchester City) wins a free kick on the left wing.
48:43Corner, Everton. Conceded by Nicolás Otamendi.
48:41Attempt blocked. Romelu Lukaku (Everton) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Muhamed Besic.
45:00Second Half begins Manchester City 0, Everton 0.
45:00 +0:14 Half timeHalf Time First Half ends, Manchester City 0, Everton 0.
44:33Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
44:33Foul by Leon Osman (Everton).
41:28Offside, Manchester City. Fernando tries a through ball, but Sergio Agüero is caught offside.
38:40Offside, Manchester City. Kevin De Bruyne tries a through ball, but Raheem Sterling is caught offside.
37:16Yaya Touré (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
37:16Foul by Ross Barkley (Everton).
33:02Attempt missed. Romelu Lukaku (Everton) right footed shot from the right side of the box is too high. Assisted by Gerard Deulofeu.
30:09Attempt missed. Leon Osman (Everton) left footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Romelu Lukaku with a cross.
28:47Attempt saved. Nicolás Otamendi (Manchester City) left footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Kevin De Bruyne with a cross.
28:24Corner, Manchester City. Conceded by Muhamed Besic.
27:21Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
27:21Foul by Gareth Barry (Everton).
26:27Hand ball by Ross Barkley (Everton).
25:04Attempt missed. Martín Demichelis (Manchester City) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right following a corner.
24:26Corner, Manchester City. Conceded by Leighton Baines.
21:47Corner, Everton. Conceded by Nicolás Otamendi.
19:32Attempt missed. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) left footed shot from the left side of the box is too high. Assisted by Kevin De Bruyne.
18:31Foul by Yaya Touré (Manchester City).
18:31Ross Barkley (Everton) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
17:24Corner, Everton. Conceded by Joe Hart.
17:22Attempt saved. Gerard Deulofeu (Everton) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Romelu Lukaku.
16:49Attempt saved. Yaya Touré (Manchester City) header from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Bacary Sagna with a cross.
13:36Foul by Fernando (Manchester City).
13:36Ross Barkley (Everton) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
12:14Foul by Nicolás Otamendi (Manchester City).
12:14Leon Osman (Everton) wins a free kick on the left wing.
10:04Sergio Agüero (Manchester City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
10:04Foul by Phil Jagielka (Everton).
9:05Offside, Everton. Leon Osman tries a through ball, but Leighton Baines is caught offside.
7:56Attempt missed. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) right footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Raheem Sterling.
6:35Attempt saved. Ross Barkley (Everton) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
5:54Corner, Everton. Conceded by Martín Demichelis.
3:46Corner, Manchester City. Conceded by Muhamed Besic.
0:00First Half begins.
0:00Lineups are announced and players are warming up.
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