Etling Haaland scored twice in the second half as Manchester City beat Everton 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium
David Moyes and Erling Haaland exchanged words at full-time(Image: Getty Images)
When David Moyes walked onto the pitch at full-time he came across Manchester City’s match winner and exchanged words.
Explaining his message to Erling Haaland, the Everton manager smiled and said he told him: “I wish he was somewhere else.”
Moyes himself acknowledged there will be managers around the world who feel the same way after his second half brace was enough to give his side three points from a match that had the potential to go either way before his intervention.
But it will be a feeling that will tear at Moyes after another match in which his side’s lack of ruthlessness proved costly.
First, Beto failed to steer in an Iliman Ndiaye cross from just yards out, the Guinea Bissau international having to stretch every sinew to reach the ball. Then, from another Ndiaye ball, he placed a shot wide of Gianluigi Donnarumma’s post from a good position. The flag went up but replays suggested the original call was tight.
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Moyes said: “We had two great chances. And the second one, which Beto doesn’t score, I think is onside. I’ve had a chance to look again. I think if it was a VAR decision, it would be incredibly close to being a goal. I don’t know how many chances you get when you come to Man City, but certainly the level of team which we are at the moment means that we don’t get bundles of them, so we have to take those opportunities.”
Everton were unable to do that, but Moyes remained pleased with the challenge his side presented City. He said: “I thought we did a good job for the best part of an hour. The first goal was disappointing but the second goal was more disappointing because it never gave us a chance to keep ourselves in the game at that point and made it really difficult to get back in it.
“We’ve done a lot of good things, there’s no disappointment for me regarding the players. The result is disappointing but I think coming to Man City is never an easy place to get a result.”
Moyes was frustrated with City’s opener but also credited the hosts for a well-worked move. He said: “I think there’s a transitional phase on from when we are dropping from an attacking position into a defensive set-up. I have to say, I think it’s [Phil] Foden who makes a pass through and sends [Nico] O’Reilly away, but the pass between Jake O’Brien and Ili [Ndiaye], they were just getting the position set, and they get caught.
“I think the ball beats Jake’s foot by a yard, and I have say, it was a brilliant ball by O’ Reilly. He stood it up for Haaland and the centre halves worked really hard to get back into position, but Haaland puts the brakes on and Michael [Keane] keeps going a little bit and he sort of half-pulls it back with a dink ball. I’ve got to say, I think it was a really good goal from Manchester City. I think that we could have maybe done better, but I thought it was really a textbook goal for them.”
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