By Adam Millington
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – Everton boss Frank Lampard believes the “character, determination and fight” which his team exhibited in their 1-1 draw with Premier League champions Manchester City on Saturday is an example they need to follow going forwards.
His side had gone a goal down after Erling Haaland opened the scoring for City in the first half but came away with a point thanks to Demarai Gray’s spectacular effort from a distance.
With 11 minutes of time added on in the second half, his side defended resolutely to guard themselves from relentless waves of City attacks.
“For me I think, particularly at City, it’s character, personality and flight (which is the most important element of the game) because it’s 11 against 11 and we know how good their 11 is,” Lampard told a news conference.
“It wasn’t a complicated gameplan defensively, a lot of stuff is getting across and doing your job … keep going no matter what… That has to be the blueprint going forwards.
“I didn’t want to see a performance where a goal went in or something happened and our heads go down because when I see that I don’t like it.
“I asked for the opposite and they gave me absolutely the opposite.”
After suffering a late heartbreak at home to Wolves in their previous game, when they lost 2-1, Lampard was happy to see his players respond to the task at hand against the champions.
He added: “We deserved a point and it’s a big one for us because it comes off of a sucker-punch against Wolves where I felt we played well and could’ve won and lost it.
“To come to the champions and get something back in a tough game is a big deal for us, a big deal for the dressing room.”
(Reporting by Adam Millington, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
