Although City are struggling of late, the prospect of a trip to the Etihad would still undoubtedly have been daunting for Everton, and they were given a stark reminder of that inside the opening five minutes when Joško Gvardiol powered a header against the post.
That was only a temporary reprieve for Sean Dyche’s men, who soon found themselves behind when Jérémy Doku’s measured ball into the area found Bernardo Silva, whose deflected effort dropped beyond the desperate dive of Jordan Pickford and into the far corner.
Getting back into the game was always likely to be tricky for the Toffees at that point, but Idrissa Gana Gueye was giving it his best shot, striking a wicked half-volley into the hands of stand-in City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
City didn’t heed the Everton warning though, and they had soon surrendered their advantage when another half-volley pegged them back; Iliman Ndiaye gathered Abdoulaye Doucouré’s cross at the far post after City failed to clear before thundering home into the top corner.
Everton could ill afford to become complacent against the champions, and perhaps that message didn’t reach Vitalii Mykolenko, who wiped out Savinho inside the area soon after the restart.
Such is City’s luck at the moment though, the usually reliable Erling Haaland was denied from the spot by Jordan Pickford, moments before Gvardiol headed the rebound into his path only for the Norwegian to head home from an offside position.
Despite his side’s struggles, it took Pep Guardiola until the 75th minute to shuffle his pack, owing to a rather weak-looking bench made up primarily of youngsters.
That first substitute was Kevin De Bruyne, but even he couldn’t really change the flow for City, and to compound matters for Pep Guardiola, Nathan Aké being forced off through injury late on only adds to his selection headache.
A home draw with Everton is another damning indictment of how far City have fallen of late, with no sign of their torrid run ending any time soon as they temporarily climb to sixth.
The picture is more positive for Everton though, who have lost just one of their last seven games, although five have been drawn, keeping the Toffees 15th in the PL table.