Lookman Fits Everton's 4-0 Blueprint Against Manchester City
lookman takes us back to Everton’s 4-0 win over Manchester City at Goodison Park on January 15, 2017, the kind of result that still stands out in Ronald Koeman’s short spell in charge. Pep Guardiola’s first visit to Goodison ended with Manchester City beaten and Everton’s best-remembered evening under Koeman.
Goodison Park on January 15, 2017
Everton led the story from the start and finished it with four goals. Koeman used a 3-5-2 formation, and his side blew away Guardiola’s team in a match that felt sharper and cleaner than most of Everton’s work under that manager.
The scoreline matters because it came against a City side that later turned the fixture into a grind for Everton. Manchester City have won nine consecutive away games at Everton in all competitions, and they are unbeaten in the clubs’ last 18 clashes. That leaves the 4-0 in 2017 as the outlier, not the pattern.
October 2016 at the Etihad
The previous meeting had already carried warning signs for City. In October 2016, Romelu Lukaku put Everton ahead at the Etihad Stadium, Maarten Stekelenburg saved two penalties, Kevin De Bruyne missed one, Sergio Aguero missed another, and Nolito later earned Manchester City a point.
That sequence gave Everton a foundation to build on, but the Goodison return went further. This time the margin was four, not one, and the home side turned a tense recent history into a statement result against Guardiola’s team.
Koeman and Guardiola
Koeman’s setup mattered because it matched the opponent rather than hiding from it. The 3-5-2 gave Everton enough bodies through the middle to stay connected, and the team’s performance was described as the manager’s most aesthetically pleasing during his brief tenure.
Phil Kirkbride wrote that “The significance of this victory was not in breaking that long wait to stick four past City, as exhilarating as it felt, but in what it represented for” Everton. Guardiola later guided Manchester City to a Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup treble in 2023, which only adds weight to how rare this home result became for Everton.
For Everton, the practical takeaway is simple: the 4-0 remains the benchmark for how Koeman’s side handled a top opponent at Goodison, and the club’s later run against City shows how quickly control of the matchup moved away from them.
