Man City and Everton players use football to send a powerful message

In one of the worst weeks Europe has seen since the Second World War, Manchester City and Everton players united to show football at its best.

Oleksandr Zinchenko and Vitalii Mykolenko had already shown remarkable courage to take their place on the bench of their respective teams, putting their personal fears and worries to one side to carry out their jobs. And while Ukraine has largely been left to defend itself against Russian invasion, everyone inside Goodison Park made sure that the two Ukrainian footballers felt anything but alone.

The strength of unity became clear as Zinchenko jogged out to warm up as fans in all four stands rose to applaud the City left-back. That continued as he made his way to the middle of the pitch to embrace Mykolenko, before clapping his appreciation for the support and beating his chest.

Both clubs had been tight-lipped about any gestures ahead of kick-off but there could be no denying the message sent by the players as they came onto the pitch for kick-off. City's wore shirts with Ukraine's flag front and centre, accompanied by the words 'NO WAR'; each Everton player came out draped in a Ukraine flag.

A sign on the giant screen in one corner of Goodison read 'STOP PUTIN STOP WAR.' while the iconic 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother' played over the tannoy to the sound of more applause from everyone inside the stadium. Zinchenko was moved to tears.

There is, of course, always more that football could do, and more that both clubs could do to show their support.

It surely cannot sit well with many at City that the United Arab Emirates, whose deputy prime minister Sheikh Mansour owns the Blues, were one of just three countries to fail to condemn Russia's aggression at a United Nations vote