Watching football at home during the Chinese New Year is a very luxurious and dreamy thing (◐‿◑) Manchester City's 10-game winning streak to return to the top of the table is a bit of a reflection of the feeling that the Premier League has returned to the old order in 24 years - not all the old order is not popular, because the pudding combination that has reappeared in the rivers and lakes does make people feel significantly higher than the strength of a notch.
To tell the truth, Manchester City played quite poorly in the first half - on the one hand, the mobility and pressing in the front court were almost non-existent, and it felt that after Haaland's return, the balance of the 41 lineup in the front court still needs to be readjusted. On the other hand, everyone's physical condition and tacit understanding are also very low. These two problems highlight the toughness of Everton's defense and the determination to counterattack without losing time.
Overall, Manchester City's opportunities mainly come from pressing on the right side + short on the left, and after a sudden transfer, he was handed over to Doku to play alone, the Belgian tried hard a few times, and the cross was not accurate, but his hidden dangers in defense were caught by Everton with the same accuracy, and also gave Lewin and others a lot of opportunities. To be sure, Everton's integrity and dense defence, especially in the penalty area, played quite well in the first half.
There was also a Manchester City official special Chinese New Year show in the midfield – Jack Grealish and Mateus Nunez took turns trying out some Chinese dishes, and the result was, of course, a perfect score for Peking duck. It's easy to see that the tastes of the Latins and the English are very different, and Grealish finds whatever he eats delicious and thought-provoking ^_^
Less than 10 minutes after the second half, De Bruyne + Walker came on to replace Akanji + Nunez, and this adjustment basically shows that Akanji's "waist back" role has failed today. After Walker's appearance, Manchester City barely achieved the goal of "flying on both wings" - the number of crosses continued to increase, the reverse ball in front of the penalty area and long-range shots began to appear, and De Bruyne almost recreated the magic of playing Newcastle, he could completely control the field in the middle and transmit, allowing Walker to play a sense of speed from the right side, at this time, it was obvious that Everton's defense began to falter.
In the 70th minute, Alvarez's repeated corner kicks on the right side were blocked in the middle, and the ambushed Haaland won the ball from the back post and scored with a burst - opening his goal account after his comeback and ending the 70-day Premier League goal drought! This wave of strong attacks is a reward for Manchester City's determination and willpower - in fact, this 262 structure once the ball is lost in front, the risk of being counterattacked is also very high, but in almost 20 minutes, Everton was stunned that he did not get this opportunity.
After conceding the goal, Daizi brought on Onana and Beto to try to counter-attack, but after less than 10 minutes of stalemate, a Manchester City counter-attack came in the form of a 'pudding link' - the first pudding link of the season, De Bruyne's pass was extremely comfortable, and Haaland, who was waiting in front, fended off Tarkowski and scored a brace with his left foot.
The suspense was basically lost when the game reached this point, and De Bruyne's half-single shot was high at the last minute, and the game was over. The result of Manchester City's return to the top of the table is likely to give many friends a taste of the familiar taste of the Premier League - with the pudding combination on the field at the same time, Manchester City's front field can indeed provide some completely different dimensions of oppression. Looking back at the whole game, it seems that Gua also deliberately hid Ding Ding and others in the second half when he knew that Everton was very tough, so that the balance in the second half was obviously tilted.
Finally, I would like to congratulate Haaland, this brace made him return as a king who has been away from the mainstream vision for almost 2 months - at least in the second half, he made people see the demon who blocked and killed the god and the Buddha blocked and killed the Buddha, and he was really happy (◐‿◑)