Pep Guardiola says Manchester City will “never give up” after the champions narrowed the gap on leaders Liverpool to 11 points with a 2-1 win over Everton.
Gabriel Jesus scored twice as City survived a nervy finish to end Carlo Ancelotti’s unbeaten start as Toffees manager.
They remain third in the Premier League and one point behind second-placed Leicester, who won 3-0 at Newcastle. Liverpool meanwhile can restore their 13-point lead at the top with against Sheffield United on Thursday, one of two games in hand they have on their title rivals.
“When you are far away from the first position sometimes people give up, but we never give up,” Guardiola said. “We played great so I’m delighted for the guys. This period is so tough. We did really well. Three more points and closer to Leicester.”
City had to wait until the second half to break down a well-drilled Everton side who defended with discipline and in numbers, but Jesus provided the spark of genius they needed.
He collected an Ilkay Gundogan pass on the edge of the area to put Guardiola’s side ahead with a brilliant curling right-footed shot into the top corner that Jordan Pickford got a hand to, but could not keep out.
Seven minutes later, the Brazilian made it 2-0, this time with his left foot, when he darted on to a Riyad Mahrez pass and buried a low shot past Pickford.
The City fans – who had earlier seen a close-range Phil Foden strike ruled out for offside by the video assistant referee – did not celebrate either goal fully until the game had restarted.
Guardiola’s side also had to wait before securing the three points, with a couple of Ancelotti tactical tweaks seeing Everton go on the attack, and soon pull a goal back.
It came courtesy of a City mistake when stand-in goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, playing because Ederson was ill, tried to play out from the back but under-hit his pass.
Seconds later the ball was in the back of his net when Theo Walcott’s deflected cross found Richarlison unmarked to tap in at the back post.
Alarm bells were suddenly ringing for City, who had capitulated from 2-0 up to lose against Wolves last week – albeit with 10 men for most of the match – but this time they saw the game out.
While Everton looked dangerous when they came forward, the only real scare for the home side came when substitute Moise Kean found space in their area to acrobatically fire wide.
City will now turn their attentions to the domestic cup competitions as they begin their defence of the FA Cup against League Two Port Vale in the third round on Saturday before travelling to Manchester United in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg on Tuesday.
“We have to keep going,” added Guardiola. “We have FA Cup then the EFL Cup. Other teams dropped points for the top four so it was an important win.”
Man City 2-1 Everton: Everyone was ‘incredible’ today – Pep Guardiola
The last decade saw City record the highest number of Premier League titles (four), points (818), wins (251) and goals (845).
But they began the 2020s playing catch-up, not just to runaway leaders Liverpool, but also to Leicester, who remain a point clear of them in second place.
Guardiola’s attempts to make up ground, and perhaps improve a porous defence before their Champions League campaign resumes next month, saw him change his formation as well as his personnel at the end of a frenetic festive period.
In a shape first seen against Sheffield United on Sunday evening, Rodri, usually a holding midfielder, dropped into a three-man central defence, with Gundogan and Kevin de Bruyne operating as a dual midfield pivot in front of them.
