Pep Guardiola cut a miserable figure in the dugout as his Manchester City side were mauled 4-0 by Everton.
Second half goals from Kevin Mirallas and youngsters Tom Davies and Ademola Lookman added to Romelu Lukaku’s opener, with the visitors offering very little in return despite boasting the lions’ share of the possession – 71% in fact.
The Toffees were clinical, City were not.
To make matters worse, several of their title rivals had already recorded comfortable wins on the Saturday. Both Arsenal and Tottenham won 4-0 against Swansea and West Brom respectively, while Chelsea eased to a 3-0 triumph over Leicester.
All that leaves City in fifth place and ten points behind the Blues. That kind of a gap has been closed before, but it’s going to be difficult.
Asked in his post-match press conference if City were out of the title race, a frank Guardiola admitted:
“Yeah. It is a ten-point lead — and that is a lot — but second place is three points difference, so we have to see.
“I spoke with the players for the last three weeks and told them to forget about the Premier League table.
“We just focus on the next game and try to do our best.
“After that, at the end of the season, we’ll analyse how our level was, our performances — the coach and the players.”
John Stones and Claudio Bravo, two players brought to the Etihad at Guardiola’s behest, both struggled again, with Everton fans taking every opportunity to laud it over their former defender.
Ultimately, however, the brunt of this defeat will fall most heavily upon Guardiola. The 45-year-old’s successes at Barcelona and Bayern Munich must feel a long way off now.
Check out Football Advisor for profitable betting predictions
