CITY 3 EVERTON 0
League Division 1
21st February 1976
attendance 33,148
scorers Hartford(8), Tueart(26 pen), Royle(69)
City Corrigan, Clements, Donachie, Doyle, Watson, Oakes, Barnes, Keegan, Royle, Hartford, Tueart – sub Clements(unused)
Everton Lawson, Bernard, Darracott, Lyons, Kenyon, Hurst, Hamilton, Dobson, Irvine, Connolly, Telfer – sub Jones(45)
KEEGAN GIVES BOOK A BOOST
One week before a Wembley Cup final may not be the ideal time to start experimenting with team selection. Yet Manchester City did, and it paid off so well that Gerry Keegan can prepare to wear the no. 2 shirt against Newcastle on Saturday.
City march to Wembley on the well oiled machinery which earned them this comfortable victory with goals from Hartford, Tueart and Doyle.
But as it was achieved against a mediocre Everton side, City will probably enthuse more over Keegan’s performance than the two points which keeps them in contact for a top four place.
Keegan was playing at right-back for the first time in a career of less than a dozen first team games. Yet he looked so composed and so capable he might have been playing there all his life.
“Very pleasing performance.” was the way City boss Tony Book summed up Keegan’s display bur Book wouldn’t be committed on his Wembley line-up.
It was Keegan’s beautifully flighted free-kick which Lawson punched off the head of Royle to Hartford, who slammed it home to give City the lead.
Everton were unlucky when Kenyon got a depressed fracture of his left cheek after a collision with Royle and was replaced in the second half by Gary Jones.
But by that time Tueart had converted a penalty after Lyons had floored Royle and when Royle scored against his former club, City’s day was complete.
Norman Wynne writing for The Sunday People 22nd February 1976