Manchester City's woes continued with a 1-1 draw at home to Everton in the Premier League, with the only bright spot being that the result extended their unbeaten run in head-to-head matches to 16 games.
If City were not enjoying a happy period, the prospect of a trip to the Etihad would undoubtedly have been discouraging for Everton, who after an opening five minutes were shaken by Joško Gvardiol's header against the post.
It was just a wake-up call for Sean Dyche's men, who soon found themselves behind when Jérémy Doku's well-placed assist into the box found Bernardo Silva, whose deflected shot went past Jordan Pickford and he slipped into the far corner.
At that point, getting back into the game would have been difficult for the Toffees, but Idrissa Gana Gueye was at her best, hitting a stunning half-foot kick off the gloves of City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
City didn't heed the warning, however, and conceded the equalizer when another half-volley proved decisive; Iliman Ndiaye met Abdoulaye Doucouré's cross at the far post after City had failed to clear, and sent it into the top corner.
However, Everton could not afford to become complacent against the champions, and shortly after the restart Vitalii Mykolenko brought down Savinho in the area, giving the Citizens another opportunity to take the lead.
However, City hasn't had a chance lately, and the usually reliable Erling Haaland was denied the joy of scoring by Jordan Pickford, before the Norwegian's next attempt in an offside position.
Despite his team's difficulties, Pep Guardiola had to wait until the 75th minute to reshuffle his lineup, due to a rather sparse bench made up mainly of youngsters.
The first substitute was Kevin De Bruyne, but not even he managed to change City's fortunes and, to aggravate the situation, Nathan Aké left due to injury late on, which only increased Pep's problems Guardiola.
The home draw with Everton is further damning evidence of how low City have fallen in recent times, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
The picture is instead more positive for Everton, who have lost only one of their last seven games, although five have been draws, remaining in 15th place in the Premier League table.
Flashscore Uomo del match: Jordan Pickford (Everton)
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