Update: Guardiola fumes at Man City player who made error he hates most – before late twist changed the story News

The moments you may have missed as Manchester City played their final game at Goodison Park in a huge game vs Everton in the Premier League.

Manchester City left it late to beat Everton 2-0 on Saturday.

Playing before all of their Champions League rivals, City moved four points ahead of Chelsea after late goals from Nico O’Reilly and Mateo Kovacic.

Kevin De Bruyne went close in the first half and Savinho saw a shot saved by Jordan Pickford after the break – while Everton hit the post and could claim the better chances before City’s late double.

These are the moments you might have missed as Manchester City took on Everton on Saturday:

The good and not-so-good of Nunes

Pep Guardiola’s rationale for switching his right-backs seem to depend on how physical he feels the game will be. Everton firmly fall into the physical category so Matheus Nunes was drafted back in at the expense of Rico Lewis.

Guardiola damned Nunes with faint praise recently by saying he can’t play ‘in the middle’ despite being a midfielder so his future at City feels limited. A right-back will surely be sought in the summer yet here was Nunes doing well in his makeshift position. At one point he held off Iliman Ndaiye on the break, backheeled the ball to himself to stop the danger and strode forward to win a free kick for his side.

He tested Jordan Pickford at the other end with one shot and this was one of his better defensive performances – but then a needless foul throw irritated Guardiola to the delight of the home support. Foul throws are one of Guardiola’s top bugbears and he was out of his seat to show his presence when Nunes looked over.

Nunes made amends by firing in the cross that Nico O’Reilly turned in to cap a good overall performance marred only by that foul throw. With a decisive contribution in a game destined to end 0-0, Guardiola can perhaps forgive him this once.

Dias pulls rank

There is a permanent vacancy to fill next season when it comes to replacing Kevin De Bruyne as captain. De Bruyne wore the armband at Goodison Park yet it was Ruben Dias doing most of the captain’s work – particularly when an injury to James Tarkowski in the second half prompted a short stoppage.

There was no Guardiola team talk as the manager left it to his players to talk among themselves – so Dias got Nico Gonzalez and Josko Gvardiol together to issue some instructions of his own. As most players waited for play to restart, Dias took the initiative.

You would expect the permanent captain’s role is between him or Rodri, with Erling Haaland an outside bet. Dias is putting in his audition while the other two are out.

Everton fans tribute to De Bruyne

Everton are firmly in the thick of ‘Operation: Remember Goodison Park’, with just two more games left at their iconic home after this fixture. The atmosphere was electric pre-match but flattened into the first half as the game took a while to ignite.

However, at one point there was a classy moment of applause as De Bruyne jogged over to the corner of the Gwladys Street End to take a corner kick. Everton supporters in that area applauded the departing City legend in recognition of his brilliance over a decade in the Premier League.

The same happened later in the first half in the other corner of the Gwladys End, and again from all four stands when De Bruyne was replaced late on.

Pep’s new warm-up routine (and Pickford joke)

Guardiola was out on the pitch before the game in conversation with the Head of Security, just as he did for a long time at Old Trafford a couple of weeks ago. Rather than stew on the bench, he’s taken a more open approach ahead of two big games and has seemed far more relaxed as a result.

At one point he had to jog out of the way when Jordan Pickford started to practice his long balls to the flanks. Pickford held a hand up in apology as one wayward ball sailed a little closer to the City boss than he intended, and the pair joked about it from afar. Guardiola then watched the drill for a few moments before stopping Omar Marmoush on his way out to warm up for a quick tactical chat, moving his body to illustrate the point like he was on the training ground.

When David Moyes emerged to watch his own side warm up, the two managers held a long chat before separating to watch their respective sides put through their paces. Is this a new routine for the manager at away games?