Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in English“For 60-odd minutes, we played well and gave them a good game,” David Moyes said after Everton’s 2-0 home defeat to Manchester City.The problem for Moyes and his side was how they finished Saturday’s game, and the extent of the drop-off after the hour mark.Up to that point, most of the best chances in the game had fallen Everton’s way. At 0-0, captain James Tarkowski hit the post with a header, while fellow defender Jarrad Branthwaite forced an instinctive save from Stefan Ortega. At the other end, they had restricted champions City to relatively little.Yet as Moyes later admitted, the game turned when Tarkowski – an ever-present in the Premier League this season — succumbed to a hamstring injury early in the second half.It was a cruel blow for both player and club. Tarkowski had made 111 consecutive Premier League starts and is just two away from equalling former Southampton and Chelsea full-back Wayne Bridge’s record for an outfield player.There is now a considerable chance that he will be deprived of the opportunity to write his name into the history books.Tarkowski wears his fitness record like a badge of honour but pulled up stretching for a long ball downfield, pointed to his hamstring and immediately indicated to the Everton bench that a change would be needed. He trudged off the pitch, visibly despondent and sporting a grimace.While tests will take place in the coming days to determine the extent of the damage, he will no doubt fear his season could be over.If there is one small mercy, it is that Everton are already safe. Had a similar injury struck in any of the previous three seasons, losing their defensive lynchpin would have felt like a disaster. This time, circumstances dictate that it does not.But as it was, Moyes will have learned a valuable lesson about his squad in the closing stages of Saturday’s defeat. Quite evidently, he did not like what he saw.“Our subs didn’t make a difference but theirs did,” he said. “Man City got big control in the second half.“We need these boys to come off the bench and have a big impact in the game. A lot of them have done for me since I’ve been here but I felt as if Manchester City got more joy from theirs than we did.”A usually robust Everton defence — one that came into the game having conceded fewer goals than all but the top two sides in the league — suddenly became hesitant and jittery without their captain and leader.Moyes had the option of shuffling Jake O’Brien inside to cover and using one of three right-backs — Seamus Coleman, Ashley Young and Nathan Patterson — from the bench. But he felt that would have been akin to “changing two positions instead of one” and instead went for Michael Keane as a like-for-like change.City had created little up to that point but started to pounce on errors from a newly fragile Everton back line (illustrated in the expected goals timeline below). If Moyes’ side had shaded the opening hour, in the final 30 minutes, there was only one likely winner.Organisation seemed a particular problem for Everton without Tarkowski.Both goals were eminently avoidable — 20-year-old Nico O’Reilly escaped Dwight McNeil before beating Keane to score the first, with Mateo Kovacic free on the edge of the area for City’s second. Moyes would later also bemoan the “terrible” concession of the ball in the build-up to the opener.On both occasions, the absence of Tarkowski and experienced holding midfielder Idrissa Gueye, substituted on 79 minutes due to cramp, was conspicuous.It will not have been lost on the Everton manager that both of these key players will be out of contract soon; Gueye at the end of this season, and Tarkowski in just over 12 months. Neither has yet been offered a new deal, despite strong performances in recent seasons.Perhaps the nature of Saturday’s defeat will prompt a rethink. If anything, it showed that Everton struggle to compete without the experienced duo.Gueye turns 36 in September but in his absence, Everton lack a presence in midfield to snuff out attacks before they develop into something more dangerous. Tim Iroegbunam is his usual replacement and the 21-year-old possesses talent but lacks the positional expertise to guide the side through important games. Iroegbunam’s cameos also feel like an audition for Moyes as he assesses his midfield options before the summer.The absence of Tarkowski in the closing stages, meanwhile, left the whole back line looking shakier.O’Brien, Branthwaite and Vitalii Mykolenko are capable defenders in their own right — Mykolenko excelled against City — but none is a natural leader. Each seemed to be waiting for the other to take control. That indecision played into City’s hands.Speaking afterwards, Moyes admitted his team had struggled to overcome the loss of their captain.“Tarky coming off changed a lot of things in the game and it shouldn’t have,” he said. “You could feel it and Man City sensed it as well. I didn’t feel as comfortable.“So it’s something we’ll need to consider because if we do lose him, he, Jarrad (Branthwaite) and the goalkeeper (Jordan Pickford) are an incredibly strong part of the team, and when one of them is out, you can see that it can have a big effect.”Defensive solidity has been Everton’s strong point in recent seasons. Without it, they almost certainly would have been relegated.Saturday showed how reliant they are on Tarkowski and Gueye, and offered a potential window into what life might be like without them.(Top photo: Peter Byrne/Getty Images)
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