O’Reilly and Kovacic ensure fond City farewell to Goodison Park | OneFootball

City marked our final game at Goodison Park with all three points courtesy of a vital 2-0 victory against Everton.

Nico O’Reilly and Mateo Kovacic scored the late second half goals as the Blues boosted our Champions League qualification chances.

Matheus Nunes crossed for his fellow full-back O’Reilly who finished expertly to open the scoring before Kovacic blasted home in stoppage time to see off the Toffees.

The impressive result, our eighth successive top-flight triumph at this grand old ground, moves us up from fifth to fourth in the Premier League table.

The top five at the end of the season make it into the UCL next term with Pep Guardiola’s men eyeing a 15th straight campaign in the elite European competition.

WHAT HAPPENED

There was emotion in the air as the teams made their way out for kick-off with Everton continuing their Goodison Park goodbye tour.

The Z-Cars theme tune pumped out as Kevin De Bruyne led the Blues out of the tunnel as captain in his final season with City.

When the match – our final at this ground - began, it was Pep Guardiola's men who made the early running, prodding and probing in the initial moments as we eyed another away win against the Toffees.

Savinho wanted a penalty on 14 minutes after clashing with Jack Harrison at the back post following a KDB cross into the box. VAR concluded there wasn’t sustained contact with the City winger who was adamant it should have been a spot-kick.

Shortly afterwards, right-back Matheus Nunes forced Jordan Pickford into a strong save from his 20-yard left-foot drive as the champions looked to ignite the contest.

James Tarkowski headed against the post on the half hour mark from a James Garner corner, Nunes doing well to clear the ball after it cannoned off the woodwork.

KDB was unfortunate not to open the scoring for the Blues on 43 minutes, firing goalwards from just outside the area but seeing his scorching strike deflect away from danger via the head of the diving Jake O’Brien.

Stefan Ortega Moreno, in for his 11th start of the season in the absence of Ederson, produced an instinctive save in front of the rowdy Gwladys Street End from a Jarrad Branthwaite header shortly after the second half began.

The Toffees were forced into an early change with captain Tarkowski hobbling off after pulling up on 52 minutes and he was replaced by Michael Keane who was booked three minutes later for a late tackle on Omar Marmoush.

Abdoulaye Doucoure drove goalwards for the Toffees on the hour mark, twisting and turning in the left channel, before bringing out a fine save from Ortega Moreno.

The Blues broke forward from the next attack with Savinho crudely felled by Idrissa Gueye as he looked to play in KDB, the former Aston Villa and PSG midfielder booked for the professional foul.

Beto repaced Armando Broja on 63 minutes as David Moyes looked for more attacking endeavour from the hosts but it was the visitors who stepped it up, Ilkay Gundogan and KDB having shots charged down from the edge of the box as the Toffees defended resolutely.

Gundogan, back on the site of his memorable two-goal salvo in 2023 en route to the Treble, saw a strike saved by Pickford on 71 minutes as the Blues piled on the pressure.

Then Savinho, teed up by Marmoush, had an effort kept out by the England No.1 with the drive too close to the high-spirited shot-stopper.

Pep Guardiola rolled the dice on 78 minutes, Mateo Kovacic and Jeremy Doku entering the action in place of Nico and Savinho as the Blues eyed a deserved winner while David Moyes made a triple sub as Dwight McNeil, Tim Iroegbunam and Carlos Alcaraz came on for Harrison, Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye.

Marmoush could - and possibly should - have given us the lead on 79 minutes. The Egyptian read the flight of the ball well after substitute Keane misread it but the January recruit was denied by Pickford.

The Blues kept the pressure on and Nico O'Reilly finally made the breakthrough for the buoyant Blues on 84 minutes, darting in front of his man to finish a Nunes cross from the right.

Substitute Kovacic then doubled our advantage in stoppage time with a fine strike after being set up by Player of the Match Gundogan.

What a way to say farewell to Goodison Park!

TEAMS

EVERTON XI: Pickford, O'Brien, Tarkowski (C) (Keane 52'), Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Gana (Iroegbunam 79'), Garner, Doucoure, Harrison (McNeil 79'), Ndiaye (Alcaraz 79'), Broja (Beto 63')

Subs: Virginia, Patterson, Young, Coleman

CITY XI: Ortega Moreno, Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly, Nico (Kovacic 78') , Gundogan, De Bruyne (C) (Akanji 88'), Savinho (Doku 78'), Bernardo, Marmoush

Subs: Carson, Grealish, Khusanov, Foden, Lewis, McAtee

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: ILKAY GUNDOGAN

Ilkay Gundogan loves Goodison Park.

The last time he competed at the 133-year-old stadium he produced a remarkable captain’s performance in a 3-0 May 2023 victory.

That was followed days later by our third Premier League title in a row and subsequently the historic Treble that will live long in the memory.

Soon after he departed for Barcelona before being enticed back to Manchester this past summer.

In City’s final game at Everton’s historic ground this afternoon, Gundogan was again the star man, running the show for 90 minutes.

He’s been on top form these past few weeks with Pep Guardiola insisting in his post-Crystal Palace press conference that this was the Gundogan he knew and loved.

There’s no doubt that the intelligent and likeable German will continue to be key as we eye Champions League qualification in the closing weeks of this season.

MANAGER VERDICT

“I would say big. We had to be so smart.

“With five or six games left, winning here at Goodison Park in the moment that they have, winning at Nottingham Forest away and Arsenal could not win here.

“Massively important.

“What these players have done for a decade I am so grateful whatever happens and this season more than ever.

“We have had a tough period especially with injuries but now we are more or less stable.

“We are miles away from Liverpool but tonight we will see in a few hours what happens between Newcastle and Villa then Chelsea and Nottingham Forest. We will see.

“Now it’s in our hands. A final on Tuesday then two more games home and away.

“Hopefully we can achieve the success of qualifying for the Champions League.”

GUNDOGAN VERDICT

“We had to work really hard. But it was also no surprise for us in the end.

“We knew this ground is always tough to come and tough to play at with the way they approach the game, playing quite a lot of long balls from the back and with their physical conditions.

“We had to be careful, maybe at the beginning we didn't want to risk it too much. Maybe you could feel it a bit in the way we played especially in the first half.

“We came out in the second half to perform and we have done that in a brilliant way. Definitely deserved to get the three points.”

WHAT IT MEANS

City move up into fourth spot in the Premier League.

The 2-0 victory over Everton sees us leapfrog Nottingham Forest, who travel to Tottenham Hotspur on Monday.

We’re just one point behind Newcastle United in third with the Magpies taking on fellow Champions League chasers Aston Villa at Villa Park tonight at 17:30 (UK).

There are now five Premier League games remaining for the Blues – Villa, Wolves and Bournemouth at home as well as Southampton and Fulham on the road.

WHAT NEXT

We’re back in Premier League action in midweek as we host Aston Villa.

Villa, fresh from their Champions League quarter-final knockout to Paris Saint-Germain, head to the Etihad on Tuesday 22 April with a 20:00 (UK) start under the lights.

The fixture last season resulted in a 4-1 triumph for the Blues, Jhon Duran cancelling out an early Rodri opener before Phil Foden bagged a vital hat-trick.