Everton certainly gave it a good go in their Premier League encounter with Manchester City on Saturday (10 February).
The visitors were extremely organised at the Etihad, not allowing the long list of talented City attackers to shine for large parts of the game.
But their resolute defence was eventually broken down, with star striker Erling Haaland netting in the 71st and 85th minutes.
The narrow 2-0 defeat leaves the Goodison Park club sitting 18th in the Premier League table, with time running out in their search for safety.
But manager Sean Dyche can still take huge pride in his players despite the loss, with the first half display of the visitors providing hope for future matches.
Dyche can be proud of Everton defence
As per the official Premier League website (10 February), the hosts had nine shots in the opening 45 minutes, five of which were blocked, with none on target, for the first time since January 2023.
Moreover, it was City’s most shots without hitting the target in the opening 45 minutes of a Premier League match since November 2014, when they had 14 against Southampton.
Their struggles in the final third were undoubtedly more down to Everton’s superb defending as opposed to City’s poor finishing, with the likes of Jarrad Branthwaite, James Tarkowski and Jordan Pickford all playing key roles.
But tiredness was always going to kick in, particularly when Pep Guardiola can turn to the small matter of Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva from the bench, in what is an embarrassment of riches for the Manchester outfit.
