Phil Foden (right) and Ruben Dias (second right) both praised Everton's performance(Image: Getty Images)

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and two of his players acknowledged that Everton made them work hard for their victory at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Erling Haaland's second half brace eventually secured a 2-0 win for the hosts, with both goals coming within five minutes of each other either side of the hour mark. But the strikes came after an impressive first half showing from the visitors, for whom Beto missed two good chances and Iliman Ndiaye drew a fine save from Gianluigi Donnarumma.

City were eventually good value for their win, but attacking midfielder Phil Foden acknowledged that Everton made life tough for them.

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"It was difficult," Foden told Premier League Productions. "In the first half we weren't really at it. We weren't playing forward as quickly as we could do.

"We took too long on the ball and couldn't find the space in between the lines. The manager spoke about it at half time and in the...