When Manchester City and Everton first locked horns 48 hours before the last Christmas Day of the 19th century, football was a very different game.
There were no penalty areas - referees had to judge on the fly whether an offence had taken place within 12 yards of the goal - and goalkeepers were not a unique breed on the pitch, wearing the same coloured kit as their colleagues with varied rules around handling.
The modern iteration of the sport shares few similarities with its predecessor from the Victorian era. As the former City centre-forward Denis Law once said: "The only thing that has never changed in the history of the game is the shape of the ball." Yet, the enduring slate of matches between City and Everton - a fixture which has graced every decade since the 1890s - can perhaps be added to Law's brief list.
Memorable meetings
- Man City 2-0 Everton - 21 April 1905
- Everton 9-1 Man City - 3 September 1906
- Everton 3-0 Man City - 29 April 1933
- Man City 5-0 Everton - 9 December 2000
- Everton 4-0 Man City - 15 January 2017
Man City 2-0 Everton - 21 April 1905
To understand the gravity of Everton's 2-0 reverse against Manchester City in April 1905, it's worth spooling the tape back five months. The Toffees held a commanding 3-1 lead over Arsenal in the capital before the match was called off with minutes remaining due to excessive fog.
The replay was scheduled for just 24 hours after Everton met City in east Manchester. With just three games of the campaign remaining, Everton led the top flight, narrowly above Newcastle United and City. However, the demand of playing those last three matches in the space of four days proved too much for the Toffees, who lost to City and Arsenal, while ceding the title to Newcastle.
Everton still managed to finish above City by a point but a far more tangible consolation would arrive the following year.
Everton 9-1 Man City - 3 September 1906
Two days after losing 4-1 to Arsenal in temperatures which the Manchester Guardian claimed to be 120°F - the equivalent of 49°C - City's roasted squad had not quite recovered.
Five players had suffered from heat stroke against the Gunners and City certainly played as though they had half their outfielders missing at Goodison Park. Alex 'Sandy' Young claimed four of the hosts' glut in what remains Everton's largest-ever top-flight victory.
Everton 3-0 Man City - 29 April 1933
Manchester United's legendary manager Matt Busby was in City's midfield for the 1933 FA Cup final against Everton. "When Dixie went up for the ball, he was almost unstoppable," Busby once gushed. "Defenders were absolutely terrified of him." City's goalkeeper Len Langford should have been wary as well.
Dean's prodigious leap carried him above Langford while challenging for a pair of Cliff Britton crosses on either side of the interval. The ball dropped for Jimmy Stein to net a first-half opener but Dean wasn't going to let anyone else claim the second delivery in the 52nd minute, bundling the ball, Langford and himself into the net.
The Football Association had chosen the 1933 showpiece as the first cup match where each set of players would have a digit draped across their back; Everton lined up 1-11 while City took 12-22. As ever, Everton's number nine proved the most important figure.
Man City 5-0 Everton - 9 December 2000
Joe Royle had seen it coming. Throughout a dismal sequence of six consecutive league defeats, which saw City ship 15 goals, the Sky Blues boss was adamant that his side's performances had not matched their points haul.
Everton found themselves on the end of an emphatic swing in fortunes as City rattled five goals without reply past the visitors. "It has been coming for some time," Royle beamed after the match. "Someone was going to get that."
Unfortunately for Royle, it would be some time before City achieved another positive result; the Cityzens were relegated at the end of the season, with Everton only narrowly escaping the drop despite their Maine Road mauling.
Everton 4-0 Man City - 15 January 2017
Claudio Bravo did not live up to his surname during a particularly bleak spell as 2016 bled in 2017. Manchester City's goalkeeper effectively became a neon-clad hologram, with the 4-0 annihilation at Goodison Park his painful nadir.
The Toffees scored with all four efforts directed within the frame of Bravo's goal - by the end of the match, City's number one had conceded 14 goals from his last 22 shots on target.
Bravo's theoretical approach to shot-stopping spoiled Pep Guardiola's reunion with his former Barcelona teammate and mentor Ronald Koeman. The Dutchman used to share a room with his defensive colleague in Catalonia and would be kept up until the early hours answering Guardiola's never-ending questions. Inflicting the Catalan's heaviest-ever league defeat perhaps served as some payback for those late nights.
Man City vs Everton - Complete H2H record
- Games played: 196
- Man City wins: 80
- Draws: 48
- Everton wins: 68
Man City vs Everton - Premier League H2H record
- Games played: 53
- Man City wins: 25
- Draws: 10
- Everton wins: 18
Top scorers in Man City vs Everton Premier League fixtures
Player | Team represented | Goals |
|---|---|---|
Gabriel Jesus | Man City | 8 |
Raheem Sterling | Man City | 5 |
Tim Cahill | Everton | 5 |
Nicolas Anelka | Man City | 4 |
Phil Foden | Man City |
