Manchester City (FA Cup Quarterfinals) Home Saturday 20 March

[markjazzbassist]

Did well until the goal, we have no depth, can’t fault the lads.  No cup this year hopefully next year is the year we win silverware 

[Gwlad]

On 21/03/2021 at 01:12, markjazzbassist said:

Did well until the goal, we have no depth, can’t fault the lads.  No cup this year hopefully next year is the year we win silverware 

The Everton mantra.

[Cornish Steve]

My oldest son subscribed to ESPN Plus so we could watch this game here in the US. He has a big screen, so I took my Everton scarf with me to his apartment. Most frustrating were the commentators; they weren't even commenting when the first goal was scored. Despite having British accents, they had that laid back, story-telling approach we hear in the US, which, quite frankly, stinks. There was no excitement, and they were constantly whining about how poor a game it was.

But this is not true! It was a very good game to watch. Our strategy was spot on. I told my son, halfway through the first half, to watch our goal kicks. Virginia has a strong kick, and I would say that DC-L was the under the ball for about half of those goal kicks. His headers sometimes made it to Richarlison and sometimes not, but it was actually a real threat. Frankly, until the 80th minute, I genuinely believed we were more likely to score than City.

Our defense was rock-solid: 5 defenders with Allan in front; that's almost impenetrable, even against what might be the best team in the world. And I was mightily impressed with how Virginia did. You could see our defense was out to protect him, and they congratulated his every save. But Virginia made two astonishing finger-tip saves. The first pushed the ball past the post; the second pushed it just enough to the crossbar. It was so unfortunate that Gundogan was right there to head in the rebound. You could see that Virginia and our entire defense were devastated.

I know Ancelotti had to a take a risk after the goal, but subbing Holgate for Iwobi undercut our entire strategy, and it led to their second goal. Personally, I would have subbed off Sigurdsson for Davies. Then again, it's easy to say in hindsight.

So, personally, I saw so much potential in that win - without our two starting keepers, without Keane, without Doucoure, and without James. Next season, without doubt, we will be a real force to be reckoned with.