EPL ~ Man City 1 - 2 Everton : 10-man Toffees upstage Tevez

zocoss SG

Toffees stick together: Everton' players mob Leighton Baines after his stunning goal at the City of Manchester

Would it be wrong to resubmit a transfer request so soon after publicly withdrawing it?

Such a thought is unlikely to have entered Carlos Tevez's mind but, having declared to his employers a desire to lead Manchester City's pursuit of Champions League football a few hours earlier, he must have expected more from his colleagues than this.

Against an Everton side who performed with so much more fluency and determination until they lost Victor Anichebe to a stupid red card, Roberto Mancini's side were awful - as inept as they have been at Eastlands this season.

The statistics might tell a different story - 11 corners without reply, 67 per cent of the possession and a couple of reasonable penalty shouts - but that was rather misleading.

It was the apathy they displayed in the opening 20 minutes, or even longer, that proved so costly.

Two goals down after 19 minutes, thanks to a neat header from Tim Cahill and a superb curling strike from Leighton Baines, they didn't look desperate to lead the English league at Christmas for the first time in 89 years.

They seemed intimidated by the prospect of leapfrogging neighbours Manchester United.

Everything about them suggested they froze, even the way the dressed in the sub-zero temperatures.

While Everton's players wore not a single pair of gloves and five of them chose short-sleeve shirts, City's players sported six pairs of gloves, four snoods and two pairs of tights between them. Midfield 'hard man' Yaya Toure wore all three - as did Mario Balotelli, whose attitude was just appalling.

It was symbolic of the difference between the teams. While Everton put in some hard graft, City gave the impression they would rather be somewhere else. Either that or they were guilty of over-confidence. Mancini was furious, kicking bottles, throwing touchline tantrums.

Tevez's U-turn was supposed to give his side a timely lift but, after the elation, there was a crushing sense of deflation following a defeat that again exposed the frailties in this expensively assembled team.

Head boy: Tim Cahill pounced after four minutes to give Everton the lead

They also ended the game with 10 men thanks to the late dismissal of Kolo Toure.

An Everton side without a win in seven previous games are also unbeaten away since the end of August and they again underlined that they have been in a false position under the guidance of the brilliant David Moyes.

Cahill opened the scoring in the fourth minute after a nicely executed move made all the easier by the lacklustre response of their hosts.

While Mancini's rage appeared to be directed at his £19million full back, Aleksandar Kolarov, it was a goal that reflected badly on the entire City defence.

There was no real reaction when Leon Osman delivered the ball into the path of the advancing Baines, just as there was a lack of urgency when Anichebe then flicked on the cross from Everton's left back.

Kolarov's absence did allow Seamus Coleman to plant the ball on Cahill's head unopposed, but Kolo Toure was not exactly well positioned when the Australian then squeezed his header between Joe Hart and the City goalkeeper's near post.

Even if City thought the ball had drifted out of play, they should know to play to the whistle.

Rare: Leighton Baines curled home a stunning second with his right foot

Marching orders: Victor Anichebe was dismissed on the hour for a second bookable offence

While Cahill celebrated his ninth goal of the season, City's player looked at one another in shock.

They responded with a decent chance. A super ball from Yaya Toure found David Silva, but the Spaniard drove his left-foot effort into the side-netting.

A lack of cohesion in defence soon led to another setback for City, with Baines scoring Everton's second in the 19th minute. Again it was beautifully executed. A swift exchange of passes that started with Baines and continued with Anichebe and Cahill ended with a superb right-foot shot. But again City were far too casual. Mancini was so disgusted he kicked a water bottle.

Everton's defending was far more impressive, with Sylvain Distin containing Tevez brilliantly. Mancini replaced James Milner with Adam Johnson at the start of the second half, and his side did attack with more purpose. Kolarov, in particular, threatened.

But it was not until the dismissal of Anichebe on the hour for fouls on Hart and Pablo Zabaleta that City were given a chance.

A goal came 12 minutes later. Silva and Johnson combined before Yaya Toure's shot was guided beyond Howard by the unfortunate Phil Jagielka.

Minutes later, City almost equalised. Yaya Toure's ball from inside his own half was controlled brilliantly by Balotelli, who lobbed the advancing Howard, only to see his effort bounce back off the post.

Tevez seized on the rebound but Howard recovered to make a terrific double save. He denied Tevez again after that, extending the City skipper's run to 10 attempts without a goal against Everton.

Kolo Toure allowed a sense of frustration to get the better of him. Two challenges in less than a minute, first on Distin then Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, and he was gone.

To think he was going to replace Tevez as captain.

zocoss SG

Roberto Mancini said Carlos Tevez's decision to rip up his transfer request was the only piece of good news to emerge from a disappointing night for Manchester City as they lost 2-1 to Everton.

City had the chance to move top of the Premier League after their title rivals saw their games cancelled due to the adverse weather conditions. Victory at Eastlands would have ensured City were top on Christmas Day for the first time since 1929.

However, early goals from Tim Cahill and Leighton Baines left City with an uphill task and, despite a red card for Victor Anichebe and Phil Jagielka deflecting the ball into his own net, Mancini could rely solely on the Tevez U-turn for comfort.

"It was important news but it was the only good news from this evening," he said. "It is very important for everyone: the club, the squad, for him. The situation has been cleared up and everything has gone in a good way.

"It was important that we stopped talking about this situation. We are happy about that." The hosts' evening took a further turn for the worse by the end as Mario Balotelli limped off and Kolo Toure was dismissed for two yellow-card offences in stoppage time.

"The sending-off was fair, but we are frustrated," Mancini added. "We lost the game in the first ten minutes. "We had a big chance to go top after 81 years. It was a fantastic thing, but now we must restart. The season is long but we must understand that we cannot sleep when we play."

Mancini was particularly annoyed with the length of time Pablo Zabaleta was off the pitch receiving treatment following a clash of heads with Cahill. Everton exploited the space down the left flank to double their advantage.

"It is impossible for one player to spend eight minutes in the dressing room," Mancini said.

"He should have been back more quickly or we should change the player. I thought he would have been back after one or two minutes."

For David Moyes, it was a very satisfying evening as his side ended a seven-match run without a victory.

"The resilience and competitiveness of the team were excellent," he said. "When we went down to ten men, I thought the evening was going to become even longer but we did a great job.

"They were resilient and stuck to their task. It was the art of defending; blocking shots, getting in the way of things. And the goalkeeper did well, making some terrific saves."

Moyes will now hope for better in the bread-and-butter fixtures for a team that has now taken points off both Manchester clubs and Chelsea this season.

However, he must hope for good news on the injury front after Jagielka limped off with a thigh problem.

"He was struggling all week with it and was a doubt before the game, but he played his part in getting us through most of it," he said.

Asromanista2001 SG

with a mickey mouse coach like Mancini around no wonder so many top players wanna leave............

Poignant SG

Man City had been quite inconsistent this season.