Nico O'Reilly and Mateo Kovacic scored their second goals in as many weeks to give Manchester City all three points at Goodison Park. A turgid game looked to be heading for a dull draw before O'Reilly stole into the box in the final ten minutes and converted a dangerous cross from Matheus Nunes.
Up until that point, it had been a difficult afternoon for everyone inside a quiet Goodison. Both teams had struggled for cohesion but Everton had enjoyed the better chances before O'Reilly and Kovacic struck.
The win gives City a priceless three points that move them above Nottingham Forest for the time being into the top four as they look for a Champions League finish to their season. Here are the player ratings.
Ortega: His kicking was abysmal, but he made a decent reaction save from Branthwaite in the second half. 5
Nunes: Targeted defensively but stood up to the challenge impressively, one foul throw aside. Forced Pickford into a save as well and created the goal. 7
Dias: Some important touches to take the ball away from danger and he led the backline as well as supporting attacks. 7
Gvardiol: Kept his cool whenever Everton got past O'Reilly, taking the sting out of any threats before they could grow. 7
O'Reilly: Saw a lot of the ball and a lot of it was good. He needed Gvardiol to cover at times but another huge goal. 8
Gonzalez: Stepped back to help the defence, although it felt like he could have done more to push City up the pitch. 6
Gundogan: Saw more of the ball in the second half and tried to make things happen in attack, assisting Kovacic. 7
Silva: Remains a tidy player, but he couldn't make anything happen on the right wing and contributed to a build up that was too slow. 5
De Bruyne: His passing accuracy got worse as the game went on, failing to make the decisive breakthrough. 5
Savinho: Frustrated after not getting an early penalty (that never was) and contributed little after that. 5
Marmoush: Belatedly managed to get some touches of the ball in the last 20 minutes but wasn't in the game enough. 6
Substitutes
Kovacic (for Gonzalez, 78) Like for like but he was more forward and got his goal. 7
Doku (for Savinho, 78) Looked to run when he got the ball. 6
Akanji (for De Bruyne, 88) Good that he's back
Not used: Carson, Lewis, Khusanov, Foden, McAtee, Grealish