Capital One Cup semi-final: Everton 2-1 Manchester City as it happened
Everton have the ball in the net! But it won't count. Baines swings a free kick in from the right that Funes Mori meets at the near post to nod back across to his defensive partner Stones, who smashes home from close range. The flag is up however and replays show both centre halves were offside when the free kick was thrown in.
Much better from Everton now. Baines halts a City counter with a wonderful sliding challenge before moving the ball onto Besic. He holds the ball, waiting for Deulofeu's run down the right and picks him out with a neat through ball. The Spaniard has plenty of time to pick Lukaku out but hammers his cross (or maybe it was a shot?) into the side netting.
City haven't looked too solid at the back, either. After Vincent Kompany's aborted comeback against Sunderland a few weeks ago, Manuel Pellegrini has kept his faith in Nicolas Otamendi and Eliaquim Mangala. Here's what he had to say on the injury front:
Bony has a kick in his calf so maybe he's not fit for tomorrow. In a few days more he should be fine to come back. Vincent Kompany and Samir Nasri are out.
"We'll try to do everything we can to recover our injured players as soon as we can. With Nasri it's difficult – he needs an amount of time as he's had surgery on his muscle.
Team news is expected in the next 10 minutes but we already know Wilfried Bony has joined Vincent Kompany and Samir Nasri on the Manchester City injury list. Sergio Aguero is all but certain to start his third game in eight days.
For Everton, Joel Robles is likely to return in goal but Phil Jagielka and Steven Pienaar are unlikely to return.
Liverpool took one step into the Capital One Cup final with a 1-0 win away to Stoke City on Tuesday 5 January. With the first leg at home, Everton can take a decisive step in ensuring we have a Merseyside derby in February's final, but to do that they will have to remedy their increasingly woeful form at Goodison Park.
In just three of their 11 matches on their own turf this season have Roberto Martinez's side come out on top. Their form in general has been unsatisfactory in recent weeks having won just two of their last eight – but both of those came on the road.
Conversely, Manchester City had been wretched away from home in recent months. Prior to their win at Watford, Manuel Pellegrini's had previously gone five games away from home without a win, scoring just once in that period. But Sergio Aguero's excellent header ended that run on Saturday in impressive fashion.
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