Man City pre-match plan finally pays off as fans offer telling response

Never in doubt. A 5-2 thriller last week raised hopes that Pep Guardiola's side had rediscovered their attacking touch, but this game looked to be heading for a dour draw before two goals in the last 10 minutes saw Pep Guardiola's side pick up a priceless victory.

Goodison Park is always pitched as a difficult place to go, and David Moyes has worked wonders since returning. They have lost just one of their last 12 league matches and recent results include a home draw with Arsenal and an away win at Nottingham Forest - two teams higher than City in the table at kick off.

It's just that, since that shock 4-0 shellacking Guardiola suffered in his first season here, City have always found a way to win. They have generally needed to in order to stay where they want to be in the title race.

For a long time, it looked like this City team simply weren't as fussed without as much on the line. The first hour of the game was played out at a pedestrian pace from both teams who aren't facing any immediate danger in the league.

It hasn't gone unnoticed in the last few months that City have added a new drill to their warm-up, with full-backs and wide players taking turns to tee up their teammates in the middle. It was on show again at Goodison, only for all of those patterns to go out of the window once the match started.

Four changes from the Palace win should not have rung any alarm bells, with one enforced by Ederson's injury and three brought in for the specifics of this match. It felt harsh on James McAtee to be dropped to the bench, and even more so when Bernardo Silva started on the right and wasted a number of promising positions.

As a result, the positives of City dominating possession and making sure the only noise out of