A second-half Gabriel Jesus double gave Manchester City a 2-1 victory over Everton at the Etihad on New Year's Day
VAR ruled out Phil Foden's early strike for an offside on Riyad Mahrez in the build-up, before Mahrez himself was denied a spot-kick by VAR after Lucas Digne's tug on his shirt
Jesus did eventually give City the lead after the break, finding the top corner from 15 yards (51), before the Brazilian finished off a fine team move to double City's advantage (58)
Everton halved the deficit through Richarlison's far-post finish after Claudio Bravo's poor pass out from the back (71), before Jesus was denied a hat-trick by the post
The result means City move 11 points behind Liverpool, who have two games in hand, and a point behind second-placed Leicester
 Everton are 10th, five points off the top six
On a day of injuries across the Premier League, Everton's Bernard was the latest victim in the warm-up, which came courtesy of a tackle from team-mate Yerry Mina
 But the visitors started well, with Seamus Coleman forcing a fine fingertip stop from Bravo
For City, who had ended their most successful decade on a down note with three defeats in their last nine league games, an early goal was chalked off by VAR
Foden looked to have bagged only his second Premier League strike, turning home at the far post from Joao Cancelo's fine low ball, but VAR saw that Mahrez was offside from the initial ball out wide to him in the build-up
VAR came to the fore again moments later as an offside flag went up against Mahrez as he was played through on goal, although replays showed he was well onside
 VAR subsequently looked at a potential tug on Mahrez's shirt from Digne in the box, but nothing was given
The scores were level at the break, meaning City have failed to score a first-half goal in six of their last eight home Premier League games, but they got their opener just six minutes after the restart
Ilkay Gundogan's brilliant pass through the heart of Everton's defence was controlled well by Jesus, and the Brazilian found the top-right corner from 15 yards despite Jordan Pickford getting a touch
Jesus struck again not long after, his seventh goal in six games against Everton, finding the bottom-left corner with a fierce left-footed effort after Mahrez had fed him inside the box following a fine City move
 But it was game on with 20 minutes remaining as Bravo's poor pass out from goal put Cancelo under pressure; Everton robbed the ball back, before Theo Walcott's cross-shot deflected off Benjamin Mendy and into Richarlison's path at the far post to tap home
Sub Moise Kean had a fine chance to equalise, deciding on a scissor-kick effort in space in the box when a touch may have been a better option, before Jesus was denied a hat-trick at the other end, first by the post and then Pickford's low stop down to his left
Dominic Calvert-Lewin could have easily seen red late on for an off-the-floor, scissor-motion tackle on Fernandinho, but referee Andre Marriner only gave a yellow
City held on, and though there was anxiety late on, on balance the game was completely controlled by the champions as they look to at least put some pressure on Liverpool at the top of the table
Man City boss : "We played top
 I am so delighted about the performance
 Being far away from first after being champions for two seasons, normally teams in these situations give up and finish seventh or eighth in the table
"Maybe we are still going to finish seventh or eighth in the table but not because we don't try
 We were there and we played so good
 It was a good victory for us
"Everton boss  : "The second part of the game when we went down, we showed more spirit, more intensity
 We scored a goal, we tried to equalise
 That was a good sign
 We could do better in the first half
"City now host Port Vale in the FA Cup third round on Saturday at 5
31pm, before going to Manchester United in the Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg on Tuesday,Everton go to Liverpool in the FA Cup third round at 4
01pm on Sunday, before hosting Brighton the following Saturday at 3pm in the Premier League
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