Erling Haaland ends rare goal drought to save soporific Manchester City against Everton

The striking Viking had stopped striking. Erling Haaland had gone two-and-a-half months without scoring. None of Manchester City’s previous 39 goals came from him. And if a strange statistic stemmed to a large part from a foot injury that sidelined him for 10 games, Haaland had gone 392 minutes without finding the net: unexceptional for many a forward, almost uncharted territory for him.

With him starved of service, City had brought up 70 minutes without a shot on target against . They scored got a hand to it, he could not keep it out, a barnstorming solo run where Jarrad Branthwaite was brushed aside before he steered a shot past the goalkeeper. and, however briefly, City were top of the table, their run of successive victories in all competitions extended to 10. Without being particularly good, they prevailed anyway. But that is the difference a goalscorer can make.