
Share
15th October 2016
06:07pm BST

As Stones used his instep to cushion a dropping ball with all the delicacy of a master of his art, his manager led the applause that rippled around the stadium. In the build up, Guardiola had likened Stones to Koeman, his former team mate at Barcelona, and it is such demonstrations of technical ability that make sense of such comparisons even if the 22-year-old does not yet deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as one of the game's modern greats given the disparity in their achievements.
At times, City's dominance was such that Stones was able to step into midfield, playing adroit passes around his opponents and making himself available for the return. It all looked too easy and it probably was as City's control led to complacency after Maarten Stekelenburg had saved Kevin De Bruyne's poorly taken penalty. Chances became harder to come by and although Everton were spending long spells camped in and around their own box, moments of genuine danger were few and far between.
Tellingly, Everton were performing with a level of collective defensive discipline that they had rarely attained with Stones in their ranks and in doing so they created an opportunity for themselves to snatch a victory that should have been most unlikely given the gulf in class between the two teams.
That it was made increasingly possible by Lukaku's sixth goal in his last five matches owed much to their own growing sense of confidence and the poor decision making which can undermine Stones.
There should have been no threat to City's goal when Everton played the ball towards the halfway line but Stones committed himself too early and too high up the pitch. Yannick Bolasie got to the ball in front of him, flicking it on to Lukaku who, left with only Gael Clichy and Claudio Bravo to beat, was not troubled by either on his way to doing what comes naturally to him.
“It's a learning curve and one of the most important lessons you have to learn is that you can't afford to take unnecessary chances,” Alan Hansen once said of Stones but the England international's propensity for taking risks that others wouldn't is yet to be eradicated at City. On this occasion it did not prove fatal as Nolito's goal earned City a point after Sergio Aguero had missed another penalty but Stones remains a work in progress, albeit one who doesn't lack polish.
Catch up with the latest episode of Football Friday Live
Explore more on these topics: