For a variety of reasons this was my first visit to the Etihad this season. A few thoughts on the game:
- The first half was fairly even but we dominated the second. During the first half I was worried by the amount of space Everton were getting in midfield, far too much of it.
- A reason for this was Fernandinho. I'm not convinced by him. I put his relative anonymity in the games I've seen on TV down to the type of player he is. I'd assumed he was doing lots of defensive work off the ball but from seeing him live I'm not sure of that. He seemed far too passive and always a yard away from where he should be. And as someone said to me after the game - he tackles from the wrong side. Hopefully this is just while he gets used to the Premier League.
- It was good to have Merlin back. Is there a better creative player in the Premier League? Despite his frustrating reluctance to shoot, his passing is a joy to watch and he ran the game in the second half.
- Most impressive Everton player? Lukaku in the first half. He was a handful. Why Chelsea don't seem to want him I've no idea.
- How bad was the referee? Thankfully his performance didn't affect the result but it was a bizarre performance. There were some tackles in the first half which should have been a yellow card. I'd assumed David Silva had been booked for one so thought he was going to be sent off when he eventually did get a very soft yellow. Late on in the game it seemed every foul got a yellow. There was also a 10 second spell in the first half where he gave Everton a free-kick when it wasn't a foul, allowed them to take a quick one from 10 yards away, then gave a goal kick after a Joe Hart save from Lukaku. 3 out of 3 wrong there.
- The referee's inconsistency extended to the penalty. Either both teams should have had a penalty or neither. The penalty is soft but was for me a foul, as was Nastasic's shove in the first half. See my view of it below:
- And my view of the penalty being scored (Tim Howard a bit unlucky)
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- Finally the attendance. Officially over 47,000 but there were never that many in the crowd. I know the attendance is tickets sold, and other clubs have worse issues with this (e.g.United), but I don't understand why some people buy tickets and don't turn up.
