In-form Romelu Lukaku’s 12th goal in as many matches gave Everton a deserved 2-1 victory over lacklustre Manchester City in their Capital One Cup semi-final first leg at Goodison Park.
The Belgium international’s 19th goal of an increasingly impressive season capped a dominant Toffees’ performance against the three-time League Cup winners – but it came at a cost as the striker limped off with nine minutes to go.
Centre-back Ramiro Funes Mori had given the hosts the lead on the stroke of half-time before substitute Jesus Navas’ first goal since September 2014 levelled things up with 14 minutes to go – but that lasted for less than two minutes.
Roberto Martinez’s unbeaten record at Goodison in cup matches extends to nine matches, with seven wins as manager of Everton and previously Wigan.
A talking point before kick-off was both sides’ change of goalkeeper – Martinez restoring Joel Robles for the cup competition – although there has been a growing clamour for the Spaniard to be given a longer run at the expense of Tim Howard – and Willy Caballero replacing Joe Hart.
They were decisions which proved to be instrumental as Everton’s number one made an excellent save from Kevin de Bruyne in the second half, while Hart might have dealt better with Ross Barkley’s shot better which led to the opening goal.
Funes Mori rammed home the rebound in first-half added time after Caballero, possibly distracted by Lukaku in an offside position in front of him, pushed the ball straight back out instead of diverting it sideways away from danger.
It capped a cagey first half in which City appeared to be going through the motions – Yaya Toure a notable offender as he found himself in the pocket of the excellent Mo Besic – with De Bruyne and David Silva shooting wide and Nicolas Otamendi off-target with a header.
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