Capital One Cup semi final: Everton - Manchester City 2-1

Everton defeated Premiership titan club Manchester City 2-1 at home in the first leg of their Capital One Cup semi-final tie with Everton goals by Ramiro Funes Mori and Romelu Lukaku, and a Man City goal by Gonzalez Jesus Naves.

Fans at Goodison Park erupted in an outrageous celebration as their Everton side delivered a much deserved but narrow first leg victory in a brilliant match giving rise to hope that the Merseyside club will earn a spot in the 2016 League Cup final clash at Wembley, perhaps against Liverpool. Supporters of both sides are looking forward to a cracking send leg ahead as Manchester City host Everton in three weeks’ time on January 26 at Etihad Stadium.

Squads

Everton

Joel, Coleman, Stones, Funes Mori, Baines, Besic, Barry, Deulofeu, Barkley, Cleverley, Lukaku.

Subs: Jagielka, Kone, Mirallas, Lennon, Osman, Howard, Galloway.

Manchester City

Caballero, Sagna, Otamendi, Mangala, Clichy, Fernandinho, Delph, Silva, Toure, De Bruyne, Aguero.

Subs: Hart, Fernando, Sterling, Kolarov, Jesus Navas, Demichelis, Iheanacho.

The match scoring opened at 46 minutes as the ball broke loose and was picked up by Funes Mori and slammed home from eight yards out, making the score Everton 1-0 Manchester City at half-time.Manuel Pellegrini’s Man City side scored the second goal of the game in the second half. Kun Aguero slid a pass between the Everton defenders and out to the left where an unmarked Navas sent a touch into the box at 76 minutes making the score Everton 1-1 Man City.

Next Romelu Lukaku scored his 19th Everton goal of the season. Everton regained the lead almost immediately with a beautiful header from Lukaku at 78 minutes – only two minutes and six seconds between the goals - and the final score is Everton 2-1 Man City. Roberto Martínez’s Everton surely intimidated Manchester City in the Capital One Cup semi-final with a well-deserved first-leg victory over the tournament favorites to win the trophy.

“I wouldn’t be that foolish,” said Everton manager Martinez after the match when asked what he thought of the chances of his side facing Liverpool at Wembley next month in the final. City boss Pellegrini said after the match that Man City requires only a 1-0 win at the Etihad Stadium in the next leg to advance and would not deserve to reach Wembley if they fell short. Pellegrini also stated that Everton’s opening goal should have been disallowed for offside.

Martínez’s side played deep to plug the gaps that have allowed 20 goals being conceded at Goodison Park this campaign in the Premier League, more than any other EPL club at home this season. FC Liverpool defeated Stoke 0-1 at Britinnia Stadium in the first leg of their Capital One Cup Sem-final tie with the only goal of the match coming from midfielder Jordan Ibe who opened the scoring at 3 minutes.

CAPITAL ONE CUP SEMI-FINALS FIRST LEG RESULTS

Stoke City 0-1 Liverpool

Everton 2-1 Manchester City

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