Erling Haaland’s exceptional form continued as his second-half double earned Manchester City a 2-0 victory over Everton.
Haaland took his tally of Premier League goals to 96 as he scored twice in five minutes at the Etihad Stadium.
Everton had looked the more threatening side before half-time, with Beto missing a golden opportunity when he poked wide of an open goal — the clearest chance of the first half.
But Pep Guardiola’s team seized control after the interval, when Haaland headed in Nico O’Reilly’s floated cross and then drilled a low finish into the back of the net for his second.
Jordan Pickford denied Haaland a hat-trick as City move into second, while Everton dropped to 10th.
How the match unfolded
Everton should have taken the lead in the 14th minute when Iliman Ndiaye intercepted Nathan Ake’s pass and delivered a low cross, but Beto failed to convert on the stretch with the goal at his mercy.
City came close 10 minutes later, as Jake O’Brien – under pressure from Erling Haaland – inadvertently headed Phil Foden’s corner on to the crossbar.
Ndiaye then danced past several defenders and forced Gianluigi Donnarumma into a fine save as Everton continued to trouble City’s backline. At the other end, Pickford was twice called into action, either side of Ake heading narrowly wide.
Yet the breakthrough arrived in the 58th minute as O’Reilly raced behind Everton’s defence and stood up a cross that Haaland clinically headed home.
James Garner saw a close-range attempt hit Bernardo Silva’s arm, but Everton’s penalty appeals fell on deaf ears, and the Toffees were 2-0 down in the 63rd minute as Haaland’s first-time shot deceived Pickford.
Haaland passed up two huge chances for a hat-trick in stoppage time, with Pickford showing his worth for Everton as they at least limited the damage.
Haaland’s incredible run rolls on
Haaland’s biggest impact in the first half came when he challenged O’Brien, whose backward header struck Pickford’s crossbar.
Instead, City’s No 9 watched as Savinho and Jeremy Doku hit tame efforts at Pickford, while Ake squandered a free header.
But when his first opportunity arrived, Haaland made no mistake. Rising to meet O’Reilly’s well-weighted delivery, he powered home a towering header after Michael Keane had switched off in Everton’s defence.
Haaland, though, is an unstoppable, irresistible force. His crisp shot for City’s second caught James Tarkowski off balance, and the flick carried it beyond Pickford’s reach.
The Norway international has now scored 11 goals in City’s first eight league games of 2025/26. It’s only the third time a player has scored 10 or more goals in his team’s first eight matches of a Premier League season – and Haaland is the man responsible on each occasion, having previously done so in 2022/23 and 2024/25.
Haaland has scored City’s last five top-flight goals and is now just four short of reaching 100 in the competition. It could easily have been three remaining, but two rare moments of hesitation allowed Pickford to frustrate the league’s leading scorer, who will look to continue his remarkable run against Aston Villa next week, after a UEFA Champions League match with Villarreal on Tuesday.
Ndiaye dazzles but Beto profligacy proves costly
With Jack Grealish unable to play against his parent club, the onus fell on Ndiaye to provide the creative spark for Everton this time out, and the Senegal international certainly did just that.
Particularly in the first half, Ndiaye was a livewire. His first highlight came as he pounced on Ake’s slack pass and crossed in for Beto, who should have done better.
Ndiaye turned creator when Beto was put through one-on-one just after 30 minutes, with the striker dragging wide before being flagged for offside, although the replays suggested it would have been a tight call had Everton’s No 9 converted.
Beto’s movement posed questions for City’s defence in the first half, but the quality was lacking, and David Moyes is struggling to get much consistency out of either of his striker options at present, with Thierno Barry coming on for the final stages.
Ndiaye found himself on the fringes of the action after the break, though he did cross in for Merlin Rohl to head into the side netting after Haaland had put City in control.
Everton, who are now winless in 17 league matches against City, can at least take positives from their first-half display, though, as they prepare to host Tottenham Hotspur at Hill Dickinson Stadium, where they remain unbeaten.
Club reports
Man City report | Everton report
What the managers said
Pep Guardiola: "Typical game after international break. We were not there for the first 15-20 minutes. We lacked energy. We played good after the first goal. We had clear chances and we'll take it. A really positive thing for people coming from the bench and the energy is there but it's better to improve while winning games.
"Everton are a good team. We knew that, they play long balls and our process in the first half was not perfect. Scoring the goal helps for what is coming and that's when we play better."
David Moyes: "I was quite pleased with lots of the performance. Not pleased with the result. We've come here and put on a good show, up until the first goal certainly. Created a couple of chances in the first half. I wanted to try and challenge the likes of City and Arsenal where we can. We've challenged them today but we've come up a bit short."
Next PL fixtures
Key facts
Man City have won 11 of their 14 Premier League home games in 2025 (D1 L2), earning more home wins and home points (34) than any other side this calendar year.
Seven of Savinho’s 12 assists for Man City in all competitions have been for Haaland. Since the start of last season, only Jacob Murphy has assisted a specific team-mate more often among Premier League sides (nine for Alexander Isak).
Everton have won only one of their last 36 Premier League away games against sides who finished in the top four the previous season. They are winless in 20 matches (D7 L13) since beating Liverpool 2-0 in February 2021.
City recorded their 150th Premier League clean sheet under Guardiola, the third manager to record as many with a single club after Sir Alex Ferguson (359 with Manchester United) and Arsene Wenger (323 with Arsenal).