Everton manager Sam Allardyce has admitted that the Toffees were effectively in damage limitation mode in the second half of their 3-1 loss to Manchester City.
The table-topping Citizens were three goals up by the half-time mark as they completely dominated proceedings in Saturday's Premier League game at Goodison Park, even though Yannick Bolasie did score a consolation.
Indeed, Man City's final possession figure of 82.13% is the highest by an away side in a single Premier League game since such data became available in the 2003-04 campaign.
Allardyce - whose side drew 1-1 with Man City earlier in the season - claimed that he could not criticise his players for their performance, given the strength of the opposition.
"You are 2-0 down so early on and then you try to go to get back in the game because you panic a little bit and we opened ourselves up too much and conceded a third from the counterattack," Allardyce told Sky Sports News. "At 2-0 we became disheveled and lost doing things as a team together. We put that right in the second half.
"As the game went on Yannick gave us a lift with the goal but in the end, they are such a wonderful side for me the second half was making sure we didn't get beat by any more. You can't knock the players for how hard they tried and how well they recovered in the second half and you can only admire the quality of a team 16 points ahead."
Man City are the 10th team to have beaten every other top-flight club within the same season, and the first since Manchester United in 2010-11.
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