View: Dyche has to sign ‘Unbelievable’ star – Three things learned in Everton loss v Man City

On December 27, Everton lost 3-1 against Manchester City at Goodison Park

to start the post-Christmas slump.

This was City’s second straight loss under Sean Dyche.

Jack Harrison’s goal gave Everton a 1-0 lead at the break,

and Dyche’s team appeared to be superior as they shut out

City with a tight defensive system.

The game was turned around by Phil Foden’s equalising goal in the 53rd minute.

City then gained momentum and went through several gears,

with Julian Alvarez converting a contentious penalty and Bernardo Silva finishing things off by

taking advantage of a mistake made by Jordan Pickford.

These are the three things we took away from the Goodison Park loss.

Harrison ought to be appointed permanently.

Harrison demonstrated once more

why Dyche values him so highly in his playing style.

He is ideal for the system because of his unceasing work ethic,

eye for the goal, and ability to play the wings.

In addition to his goal, which put Everton ahead, his seven duels,

100% long ball accuracy, and 50% crossing accuracy

demonstrate what he brings to the manager.

They need to make sure he stays with the team for the upcoming campaign.

Harrison was called “unbelievable” by

his Leeds teammate Junior Firpo in March [via HITC],

and ever since moving to Merseyside,

he has demonstrated why his peers thought so highly of him.

The handball regulation ought to be abandoned.

A contentious ruling has once again raised doubts about the referee.

The call for a penalty for handball frustrated Amadou Onana’s attempts to block the ball,

but it’s still unclear where his hand was meant to go.

There are frequently debates about the “natural position” of a defender’s arm,

but how on earth could Onana keep his arms by his sides as

he’s hurling himself at the ball?

To exacerbate the situation,

it seemed that John Brooks awarded

the penalty only after being badgered for it by the City players. That’s the end of it.

Everton is going to make it hard for everyone.

Dyche’s men demonstrated once more how tough they will be to beat

whenever they come to Goodison Park this season.

It’s remarkable that they were able to contain City for such a long time,

considering how difficult it was for the World Champions to generate any meaningful

opportunities against the dense defence.

After Foden gave the visitors the lead, that block started to come apart a little,

but it still required a penalty and an error by the goalie to break down the defence.

It will be considerably harder to make that effort against a weaker opponent.

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