Sweden were celebrating in
Liverpool on Saturday and here it was Norway's turn as one of their finest exports moved
Manchester City closer to winning the
Premier League. Erling Haaland netted his 52nd goal of the season to end his worrying goal drought of, erm, two games to complete a brilliant few minutes for the champions towards the end of a first half where they had otherwise struggled for quality. Haaland's goal was set up by man-of-the-match for a second week Ilkay Gundogan , who produced one of the best skills of the season to score an audacious opener and once again make it seem silly that the club do not want to give him a new contract that runs past 2024.
Pep Guardiola said recently that Gundogan can do what he likes next season when he is out of contract given he gave the club another memorable moment with two goals on the final day of last season in the improbable comeback over Aston Villa. Watching him recently, it is hard to escape the feeling that the club should do whatever they can to ensure the German likes the idea of staying at the Etihad when at the minute they are set to let him leave for free. Read next: Man City player ratings as Ilkay Gundogan and Kyle Walker excellent Two goals at Leeds for Gundogan last week rather had the shine taken off it by missing a late penalty that saw him receive a very public telling-off from Guardiola before an icy substitution where the manager would not even look at him. It was all forgotten very quickly, but a reminder of how Guardiola will not allow anyone to drop their standards. Here at Goodison, there was nothing that could detract from a wonderful performance that lifted City from mediocre to mesmerising. The first 35 minutes had seen a curious stalemate, with the visitors working the ball into good positions - particularly from corners - before making all kinds of wrong decisions. When Riyad Mahrez crossed the ball into the box, there may have been some Evertonians relieved it wasn't Haaland on the end of it - particularly when it hit Gundogan on the thigh. What happened next needed several replays to realise the majesty of it all as the 32-year-old flicked it over his shoulder with the outside of his right boot and beyond a sprawling Jordan Pickford into the very corner of the net. While everyone was coming to terms with what had just happened, Gundogan coolly made his way to the byline and crossed for Haaland to head a second past an unbalanced Pickford. It showed how much City had struggled to attack that it was only Haaland's third touch of the game - none of which had been with his feet - but from nothing they were suddenly two goals to the good and the ground Guardiola had been fretting about nervously for weeks. Such a focus on Goodison has been a departure from five years ago, when the
Amazon cameras undermined Guardiola's insistence of taking one game at a time. As City prepared to take on Everton in the league, footage captured the manager inside the away dressing room stressing about the dangers of the Liverpool attackers they were about to face in the
Champions League. Things were a little different then, however, A City win at Everton took them back to 16 points clear at the top of the league, whereas there is almost no room for error this year with
Arsenal chasing hard. The stadium wasn't the bearpit that it can be, with the 5-1 win at Brighton picked up last week perhaps removing some of the desperation Everton have in their relegation fight. City weren't exactly welcomed, but they have played in far more hostile environments in recent months. If the home crowd hadn't been silenced enough by the two-goal blitz just before half-time, Gundogan curled home a free-kick five minutes after the break to further take the sting out of the contest. City fans began to sing about going to Istanbul, and some attention could finally start to turn to the blockbuster semi-final coming on Wednesday night. Guardiola did not, though - or at least not more than he already had. The sight of John Stones, Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva on the bench felt like a nod towards the legs that will be needed against Real Madrid, as did the fact that they remained there for so long. Guardiola spent an unhealthy amount of time on his knees in the second half as Everton threatened to make inroads against a City side that seemed to think the game was already over, yet for the second game in a row he did not turn to his bench or think or resting Haaland or Gundogan until the final 15 minutes. Having kept control until the end, City are now in firm control of a title race that is suddenly approaching the end. Even if Arsenal win their remaining games, two wins will mathematically do it for Guardiola's side. As they go for a historic Treble, you would expect Gundogan to be at the heart of that challenge. And if the skilful midfielder is allowed to leave for free at the end of it, you would expect him to be one of the few players in this era that City will regret leaving. There have been a number of emotional departures in recent years have club legends that have come to the end of their time, but here is a player in their prime. Gundogan was one of the few after Munich away to start in the FA Cup semi-final and here again had the fitness to play after 90 gruelling minutes in Madrid. "Ilkay made the Scousers cry," sang the City fans as he made his way off after inflicting more pain on Merseyside. There may be a few tears shed in Manchester come the end of the season if Gundogan leaves. READ MORE: Everton vs City as it happened Guardiola explains team selection vs Everton Guardiola makes Arsenal admission despite Man City belief
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