Pep Guardiola claimed that Manchester City showcased why they are world champions after a thrilling comeback at Everton but Sean Dyche was left blasting the handball law.
Phil Foden inspired the Premier League champions to only a second win in seven matches after trailing at half-time to Jack Harrison’s opener.
Foden’s stunning equaliser came before Amadou Onana was penalised for handling Nathan Ake’s effort at 1-1, with Julian Alvarez scoring the penalty before Bernardo Silva’s late third.
‘That’s a completely natural (action). He’s not putting his arm up to save it, he’s literally jumping in to try to block the ball.
Nathan Ake’s effort struck the hand of Amadou Onana causing referee John Brooks to point to the spot
Julian Alvarez converted cooly from the spot to put his side into the lead for the first time
Sean Dyche Dyche was livid with the penalty decision. ‘We can debate the penalty all day,’ he said.
‘How that is given as a penalty is bizarre in my world but I must be from a different planet. Tonight the linesman gives that and he’s 18 yards away so I don’t know who is giving what any more. You’re going into crystal ball mode.
‘Who knows? All the managers are debating it. Someone needs to stand up at some point and realise that can’t be a penalty because he’s just throwing himself in front of it to try to block the ball, that’s it. If he meant that, he should be a goalkeeper. A cat-like save.’
Guardiola lauded his squad for rallying from behind after a glut of missed first-half chances gave Everton a foothold in the game.
‘That’s why we are world champions, the best team in the world,’ Guardiola said. ‘Really, really important, a massive win for us.
‘I’m really pleased how we reacted and how special this group of players are, the mentality we have in our bones. We’re not top of the league but many things can happen.’
City are five points behind leaders Liverpool with a game in hand but are still without Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku.
Haaland is yet to complete a training session with the team and set to miss Saturday’s visit of Sheffield United, while City were dealt another injury blow last night when John Stones limped out before the break with an ankle problem.
Stones was chasing back to prevent Beto scoring despite the Everton striker clearly being offside with the linesman keeping his flag down after the directive to allow play to continue.
Guardiola lauded his squad for rallying from behind after a glut of missed first-half chances gave Everton a foothold in the game
Bernardo Silva bagged a late goal for Manchester City to secure all three points away at Goodison Park
‘I said to (fourth official) Anthony Taylor that it is the same with the handball (law),’ Guardiola said. ‘You go to Europe (in the Champions League) and it’s different. If he’s offside he’s offside. He was clearly offside. Now John’s injured. They said I’m right (to complain). The injury doesn’t look good.’
Stones left Goodison Park in a protective boot, while Ruben Dias was missing through illness. Guardiola maintained that City have not been playing poorly despite a disappointing run of results domestically.
The Catalan added: ‘I remember on the plane back from Saudi, I was sat in my seat listening to my players – they didn’t know I was listening – and they started talking about Everton. Wow, this is my team, after what we’ve won after many years.
‘We’ve played really well in many games. People say we’re not the same but we’ve lost one game in 12 or 13 games. We cannot win (all the time) and that’s life. We still have the desire to focus. We don’t talk about how good we are.’
City – who are set to sign Argentine teenage sensation Claudio Echeverri from River Plate before loaning him back for the season – were indebted to Foden in a central area.
‘I’ve had a good run of games, you know how much I like playing in the middle,’ Foden said. ‘Thanks to the manager he keeps playing me there at the moment and long may that continue because I enjoy it every time I play in there.’
