Manchester City were held to a 1-1 draw at Etihad by Everton, thanks to Wayne Rooney, who slotted in his 200th Premier League goal of his career
Manchester City fans knew it was going to be a tough night on Monday as Everton came to pay visit. However, they bore witness to history as Wayne Rooney slotted in his 200th Premier League goal to give Everton the lead in the first half. There were two red cards in the game – Kyle Walker and Morgan Schneiderlin, both of which looked dubious.
However, Raheem Sterling slotted in the equalizer for City to save Guardiola the blushes as the Citizens snatched a point after a late flurry, a result neither side would be satisfied with. We at The Hard Tackle take a look at some of the storylines to emerge from the result.
Resurgent Rooney – The Devil Strikes, AGAIN!
Wayne Rooney has been the bane of every Manchester City fan, especially after the wondrous effort to give Manchester United the win in the derby four years earlier. And the former Devil came back to haunt them on Monday night. Rooney is not the same as he was.
Wayne Rooney:
⚽️ 50th PL Goal = vs Man City
⚽️ 150th PL Goal = vs Man City
⚽️ 200th PL Goal = vs Man CitySome things are written ?♂️⚽️ pic.twitter.com/Gqa5rAdCVM
— Football Tweets (@FutballTweets) August 22, 2017
But, everyone who doubted the player when he made the return to Goodison, claiming his career to be over, was highly mistaken. The Evertonian is making them bite their tongue now, with two goals in two Premier League outings for Ronald Koeman’s side.
Wayne Rooney is a Premier League legend. ? pic.twitter.com/hgU2q0Ajon
— B/R Football (@brfootball) August 22, 2017
On Monday, he became only the second Englishman to reach the milestone of 200 Premier League goals and his recent form suggests he is set to add many more to his tally while at Everton. The Goodison has seen their golden boy return; and return he has, with a bang.
Pep-py Tactics
Even the best of managers are not begrudged when they make weird tactical decisions. Jose Mourinho was slated for playing Henrikh Mkhitaryan as a wingback while Wenger has been crucified for playing a back three with just one natural centre-back.
On Monday, Guardiola did a similar crime as he fielded Leroy Sane as a wingback, despite having spent upwards of £100 million on reinforcing the said position. While the Spaniard manage to escape much criticism, thanks to a brilliant City response to going down to 10 men, which saw them salvage a point from the Everton match.
Pep Guardiola has spent a fortune, but his overly complicated tactics are costing Man City points.@MarkOgden_ https://t.co/zMMZNvl7Pn pic.twitter.com/q09F1ZTal8
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) August 22, 2017
However solid the football on display, it is tactics like these that saw the other Elite managers get ridiculed and if Guardiola doesn’t manage to get a trophy or two under his belt this season, expect him to be the subject of ridicule as well; for this is a league that begrudges no legend – future, present or past.
Reprehensible Refereeing
The refereeing standards for a league as highly rated as the Premier League has surely gone down several notches. And on Monday night, the shoddy level of refereeing was again on display. Both the red cards – Kyle Walker and Morgan Schneiderlin were both given marching orders – were contentious to say the least.
While Schneiderlin’s red card came late in the game, City could contend that Kyle Walker’s ill-timed red card in the first half could have set the tone for a defeat in the game, which ended in a draw. However, the refereeing standards need to improve fast lest the teams fear being outplayed not by the opponents but by the decisions.
