Erling Haaland maintained his blistering form with a brace as Manchester City cruised to a 2-0 victory over Everton at the Etihad Stadium, stretching their unbeaten streak in all competitions to eight matches.
The Toffees faced an uphill battle from the outset against a City side that had scored freely at home in recent weeks, winning their previous two Premier League fixtures at the Etihad by three or more goals.
Despite that daunting record, Everton began brightly, pressing high and frustrating the hosts early on.
Their promising start nearly yielded the opener inside 15 minutes when Iliman Ndiaye’s clever cut-back narrowly evaded Beto, who couldn’t apply the finishing touch with the goal gaping.
At the other end, chances were scarce for Pep Guardiola’s men, though Haaland rattled the crossbar with a trademark header, while Jeremy Doku’s curling effort was superbly turned away by Jordan Pickford.
Gianluigi Donnarumma, making his presence felt in goal for City, preserved parity before half-time, diving sharply to deny Ndiaye’s stinging drive as both sides went into the break locked at 0-0.
Everton’s resilience continued after the restart, but it was only a matter of time before Haaland found a way through.
The Norwegian powerhouse broke the deadlock just before the hour mark, rising highest to meet Nico O’Reilly’s teasing cross with a powerful header.
Minutes later, he struck again, drilling Savinho’s clever cutback past Pickford with unerring precision to seal the points.
The double took Haaland’s remarkable tally to 23 goals in 13 matches for club and country this season, including six in his last five outings against Everton.
Pickford’s late heroics denied the striker a hat-trick, but they couldn’t prevent City from extending their unbeaten run over Everton to 18 games.
The Toffees, winless at the Etihad since 2010, were handed their first multi-goal away defeat in the league since December, while City’s victory temporarily propelled them to the summit of the Premier League table.
